Saya sangka kabinet itu kayu padu, rupanya hanya venir.

Sangka means to think/assume/suspect, often based on an impression that may later turn out to be wrong.

In this sentence, it fits well because the second clause corrects the first idea:

• Saya sangka ... = I thought / I assumed ...
• rupanya ... = but it turned out ...

Compared with some related words:

• fikir = think in a broader sense, including thinking deeply or considering something
• ingat = often remember, but can also mean think/be under the impression
• agak = guess/estimate

So sangka is a very natural choice here because the speaker had a mistaken belief.

Both are possible, but they differ in style.

• saya sangka = very common, natural, everyday Malay
• saya menyangka = more formal or careful in style

Malay often allows the bare verb root after a subject pronoun in ordinary speech and neutral writing. So Saya sangka kabinet itu... sounds completely normal.

Malay can use bahawa to introduce a clause, but it is often omitted.

So these both work:

• Saya sangka kabinet itu kayu padu.
• Saya sangka bahawa kabinet itu kayu padu.

The version without bahawa is more common in everyday use. English often needs that or at least strongly allows it, but Malay usually just moves straight into the clause.

In Malay, demonstratives normally come after the noun.

So:

• kabinet ini = this cabinet
• kabinet itu = that cabinet

This is the standard word order. For an English speaker, it may feel reversed at first, but it is completely normal in Malay.

Malay often leaves out the verb to be in this kind of sentence. This is called a zero copula.

So:

• kabinet itu kayu padu literally looks like that cabinet solid wood
• but it means that cabinet is/was solid wood

Malay does this very often with:

• nouns
• adjectives
• descriptive phrases

Whether English needs is or was is understood from context. In this sentence, the overall meaning makes the past interpretation clear.

Kayu padu means solid wood.

Here:

• kayu = wood
• padu = solid, dense, compact

So the idea is that the cabinet was thought to be made of real wood throughout, not just covered with a thin outer layer.

A learner should also know that in real-life usage, speakers may use other expressions too, including more specific or more borrowed terms. But kayu padu is understandable and matches the contrast with venir very well.

Here, rupanya does not mean literal appearance. In this sentence it works as a discourse marker meaning:

• it turns out
• apparently
• as it turns out

So:

• rupanya hanya venir = it turns out it’s only veneer

Although rupa is related to appearance or form, rupanya is very often used in this idiomatic way in Malay.

Hanya means only and is usually placed before the word or phrase it limits.

So:

• hanya venir = only veneer

The idea is that the cabinet is not solid wood; it is merely veneer. This placement is very natural in Malay.

You may also hear cuma in everyday speech:

• rupanya cuma venir

That would mean almost the same thing, but hanya is a bit more neutral or standard.

Basically, venir is a noun meaning veneer.

In this sentence, Malay uses it as the predicate without any is/was:

• hanya venir = only veneer

That is normal in Malay. A noun can stand as the predicate of the sentence.

If you wanted to be more explicit, you could say things like:

• rupanya hanya lapisan venir = it turns out it’s only a veneer layer
• rupanya cuma berlapis venir = it turns out it’s only veneered

So the original sentence is slightly compact, but perfectly understandable.

The comma separates two closely connected parts:

1. Saya sangka kabinet itu kayu padu
2. rupanya hanya venir

The first part gives the speaker’s assumption. The second part gives the correction or reality.

In English, this often corresponds to a pause like:

• I thought..., but it turns out...

Malay often uses punctuation this way with rupanya because it introduces the unexpected result.

Yes, you often could, but the nuance changes slightly.

• Saya sangka kabinet itu kayu padu = I assumed/thought the cabinet was solid wood
• Saya ingat kabinet itu kayu padu = I thought the cabinet was solid wood / I was under the impression...

Both can work. However:

• sangka often sounds a bit more like an assumption or inference
• ingat can sound more like a belief the speaker had in mind

Because the sentence is about a mistaken assumption based on appearance, sangka is especially suitable.

Yes, it is natural and understandable. But in everyday speech, people might also say it in slightly different ways, for example:

• Saya sangka kabinet itu kayu padu, rupanya cuma venir.
• Saya ingat kabinet itu kayu padu, tapi rupanya hanya venir.
• Saya sangka kabinet itu diperbuat daripada kayu padu, rupanya berlapis venir saja.

The original sentence is good Malay. The alternatives just show different levels of explicitness, formality, and everyday style.