Batang itu terlalu tinggi.

In Malay, you often do not need a verb meaning to be in simple descriptive sentences.

So:

• Batang itu tinggi = That trunk/pole is tall
• Batang itu terlalu tinggi = That trunk/pole is too tall

Malay can put the noun phrase directly before the adjective. This is very normal.

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

So:

• batang itu = that trunk/pole
• batang ini = this trunk/pole

This is different from English, where this and that come before the noun.

A useful pattern is:

noun + ini/itu

Terlalu means too, in the sense of more than is good, wanted, or acceptable.

So terlalu tinggi means:

• too tall
• too high

It is stronger than just saying something is very tall.

Compare:

• tinggi = tall / high
• sangat tinggi = very tall / very high
• terlalu tinggi = too tall / too high

So terlalu often suggests a problem or excess.

This is an important distinction.

• sangat tinggi = very tall/high
  This is just a strong description.
• terlalu tinggi = too tall/high
  This suggests it exceeds some limit.

For example:

• Bangunan itu sangat tinggi = The building is very tall.
• Pagar itu terlalu tinggi = The fence is too high.

So if you only want to say very, do not use terlalu.

It can mean both, depending on the noun and the context.

For example:

• orang itu tinggi = that person is tall
• dinding itu tinggi = that wall is high / tall
• harga itu tinggi = that price is high

So in Batang itu terlalu tinggi, tinggi could be understood as too tall or too high, depending on what kind of batang is meant.

Batang has several possible meanings in Malay, so context matters.

Common meanings include:

• a trunk or stem
• a pole or long rod-like object
• a classifier for certain long objects
• in some contexts, part of a tree trunk

So Batang itu terlalu tinggi could refer to something like:

• a trunk
• a stem
• a pole

The exact meaning depends on the wider context or the translation you were given.

Yes. Batang itu is a full noun phrase meaning that trunk/pole/stem.

It is made of:

• batang = the noun
• itu = that

Then terlalu tinggi describes it.

So the sentence structure is basically:

noun phrase + adverb + adjective

or more specifically:

batang itu + terlalu + tinggi

Because in Malay, the adjective normally comes after the noun it describes when it is part of the predicate.

Here the sentence is structured like:

• Batang itu = subject
• terlalu tinggi = predicate description

So the description naturally comes after the thing being talked about.

This is normal Malay word order.

Usually, no, not in this basic pattern.

For this/that + noun, Malay normally uses:

• batang ini
• batang itu

not:

• ini batang
• itu batang

There are special cases in spoken emphasis or different sentence structures, but for a learner, the safe rule is:

noun + ini/itu

You can say:

Batang itu tidak terlalu tinggi.

Here:

• tidak negates adjectives and verbs
• terlalu tinggi = too tall

If you want to say simply is not tall, you can say:

Batang itu tidak tinggi.

So:

• tidak tinggi = not tall
• tidak terlalu tinggi = not too tall

In informal speech, you can often just use rising intonation:

Batang itu terlalu tinggi?

In a more formal style, you can use adakah:

Adakah batang itu terlalu tinggi?

Both mean:

Is that trunk/pole too tall?

Yes, it is a natural and grammatical Malay sentence.

It follows a very common pattern:

noun + itu/ini + terlalu + adjective

Similar examples:

• Rumah itu terlalu besar. = That house is too big.
• Pokok itu terlalu tinggi. = That tree is too tall.
• Meja itu terlalu kecil. = That table is too small.

So this sentence is a useful model for making many other descriptions.

If you mean the whole tree, Malay would usually use pokok.

• pokok = tree / plant
• batang = trunk / stem / pole-like object

So if the intended meaning is That tree is too tall, the more usual sentence would be:

Pokok itu terlalu tinggi.

If the original sentence uses batang, it probably refers specifically to the trunk, stem, or some long upright object.

A very useful pattern is:

[noun] + itu/ini + terlalu + [adjective]

Examples:

• Rumah itu terlalu mahal. = That house is too expensive.
• Bilik ini terlalu sejuk. = This room is too cold.
• Kerusi itu terlalu rendah. = That chair is too low.

So from Batang itu terlalu tinggi, you can learn how to describe something as too + adjective in Malay.