Penyiram itu dekat cangkul.

In Malay, demonstratives like ini and itu usually come after the noun.

So:

• penyiram itu = that watering can / the watering can
• cangkul itu = that hoe / the hoe

This is the normal Malay word order. English says that watering can, but Malay says watering can that.

It can feel like either one, depending on context.

Literally, itu is usually that. But in many real sentences, it also helps mark something as specific/known, so in natural English it may be translated as the.

So penyiram itu could be understood as:

• that watering can
• the watering can

The exact English choice depends on the situation.

Malay often leaves out the verb to be in simple sentences like this.

So instead of saying something equivalent to The watering can is near the hoe with a separate word for is, Malay simply says:

• Penyiram itu dekat cangkul.

This is completely normal. In many basic Malay sentences, no separate copula is needed.

Here, dekat means near or close to.

So dekat cangkul means near the hoe or close to the hoe.

A useful thing to know is that dekat is very common in everyday Malay for location. It is natural and widely used in speech.

In this sentence, it functions like near in English, expressing location relative to something else.

Malay grammar does not always divide words in exactly the same way English does, but for a learner, the important point is:

• dekat + noun = near + noun

So:

• dekat cangkul = near the hoe

You may also see related patterns such as dekat dengan, especially when learners are trying to map it onto English close to, but in this sentence plain dekat cangkul is fine and natural.

Malay does not normally use articles like English a, an, and the.

So cangkul by itself can mean:

• a hoe
• the hoe

The context tells you which is meant.

If the speaker wants to make it clearly specific, they can say:

• cangkul itu = that hoe / the hoe

It depends on context.

Penyiram comes from the root siram, which relates to watering or pouring water onto something. So penyiram can refer to something used for watering, such as a watering can or similar watering tool.

In a sentence like this, watering can is often the most natural English translation, but the exact object depends on context.

Yes, that is also understandable and natural.

Compare:

• Penyiram itu dekat cangkul.
• Penyiram itu di dekat cangkul.

Both can mean that the watering can is near the hoe. The version without di is very common in everyday Malay. The version with di dekat can sound a bit more explicitly locational.

As a learner, you will hear both kinds of patterns.

If you say:

• Cangkul itu dekat penyiram.

the basic location relationship is the same, because near is mutual: if the watering can is near the hoe, the hoe is near the watering can.

However, the topic changes. In the original sentence, the speaker is talking about the watering can. In the reversed sentence, the speaker is talking about the hoe.

So the location relation stays the same, but the sentence focuses on a different thing.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation is:

• pen-yi-ram ee-too deh-kat chan-gkool

A few notes:

• penyiram has ny like the ny sound in canyon
• dekat is roughly deh-kat
• cangkul begins with c pronounced like English ch

Malay pronunciation is usually quite regular, so once you learn the sound of each letter combination, reading gets easier.