Suaranya sumbang tetapi tidak serak.

not

Breakdown of Suaranya sumbang tetapi tidak serak.

• tetapi: but
• suara: the voice
• sumbang: off-key

Questions & Answers about Suaranya sumbang tetapi tidak serak.

What does suaranya mean exactly?

It is suara + -nya.

• suara = voice or sound
• -nya = a suffix that often means his, her, or its

So suaranya usually means his voice or her voice here. Depending on context, -nya can also make something sound more definite, like the voice.

Why is suaranya written as one word?

Because -nya is attached directly to the noun as a suffix.

So:

• suara = voice
• suaranya = his/her voice

This is very common in Malay. You also see things like:

• rumahnya = his/her house
• namanya = his/her name

Why is there no word for is in the sentence?

Malay often leaves out the verb to be when describing something with an adjective.

So:

• Suaranya sumbang literally looks like His/her voice off-key
• Natural English translation: His/her voice is off-key

This is normal Malay sentence structure.