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Questions & Answers about Jangan mengarut.
What does jangan do in this sentence?
Jangan is the usual Malay word for a negative command, so it means don’t.
- Jangan pergi. = Don’t go.
- Jangan bising. = Don’t be noisy.
- Jangan mengarut. = Don’t talk nonsense / Don’t be ridiculous.
So structurally, jangan + verb/expression is a very common pattern.
Why is it mengarut and not just karut?
The basic root is karut, which is associated with nonsense or rambling nonsense. The prefix meng- turns it into a verb, so mengarut means something like:
- to talk nonsense
- to babble nonsense
- to be ridiculous in what one says
Malay often builds verbs this way with the meN- prefix:
- ambil → mengambil = to take
- ajar → mengajar = to teach
- karut → mengarut = to talk nonsense
In everyday speech, learners should remember the full form mengarut as the normal verb.
Why isn’t there a word for you in the sentence?