Polis menangkap penjahat itu.

Malay normally uses Subject–Verb–Object, just like English.

• Polis = the subject
• menangkap = the verb
• penjahat itu = the object

So the sentence is literally structured as:

• Polis = police
• menangkap = arrest/catch
• penjahat itu = that/the criminal

That makes this sentence very straightforward for an English speaker in terms of word order.

Menangkap is the active verb meaning to catch or to arrest, depending on context.

It comes from the root:

• tangkap = catch, seize, arrest

With the active verb prefix:

• meN- + tangkap → menangkap

This meN- prefix is very common in Malay and often forms active verbs. In this sentence, menangkap shows that polis is actively doing the action to penjahat itu.

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

So:

• penjahat itu = that criminal or the criminal
• buku ini = this book

This is different from English, where we say that criminal with that before the noun.

In many contexts, itu can also make the noun sound more definite, so penjahat itu may be understood as the criminal even though the literal structure is criminal that.

It can mean either, depending on context.

• penjahat = criminal
• penjahat itu = that criminal / the criminal

In real usage, itu often works both as:

• a demonstrative: that
• a marker of something already known or identifiable: the

So if the meaning shown to the learner is The police arrested the criminal, that is perfectly natural.

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

That means nouns often appear without any article:

• polis = police / the police
• penjahat = criminal / a criminal / the criminal

Definiteness is usually understood from:

• context
• word order
• words like itu
• sometimes classifiers or other markers

So Malay often leaves this unstated where English requires an article.

It can be either, depending on context.

Polis can mean:

• a police officer
• the police as a force or group

Malay nouns usually do not change form for singular vs. plural the way English nouns often do. The sentence could therefore mean:

• A police officer arrested the criminal
• The police arrested the criminal

Context tells you which is intended.

Malay verbs do not usually change form for tense the way English verbs do.

So menangkap can mean:

• arrest
• arrests
• arrested
• is arresting

The time is usually understood from context or shown with time words such as:

• semalam = yesterday
• tadi = earlier
• sekarang = now
• esok = tomorrow

For example:

• Polis menangkap penjahat itu semalam. = The police arrested the criminal yesterday.

Without a time word, the sentence is neutral and context decides the tense in English translation.

Yes.

• Polis menangkap penjahat = The police arrested a criminal / criminals / criminal(s), depending on context
• Polis menangkap penjahat itu = The police arrested that/the criminal

Adding itu makes the object more specific and identifiable. Without itu, the noun is less specific.

This sentence is in the active voice, where the doer comes first:

• Polis menangkap penjahat itu.
• The police arrested the criminal.

A common passive version in Malay would be:

• Penjahat itu ditangkap oleh polis.
• The criminal was arrested by the police.

Here:

• di- marks the passive verb: ditangkap
• oleh means by

So Malay, like English, can use both active and passive structures.

Penjahat is a very common general word for criminal, villain, or bad person, depending on context.

In everyday learning materials, it is often translated simply as criminal. But in real use, its exact nuance can vary a bit.

For a more legal or formal sense, Malay may sometimes use other terms depending on context, but penjahat is perfectly normal in a basic sentence like this.

No. Malay verbs do not change according to the subject.

So the verb stays the same whether the subject is singular or plural:

• Polis menangkap penjahat itu
• Mereka menangkap penjahat itu
• Ali menangkap penjahat itu

The verb menangkap does not change. This is one of the simpler parts of Malay grammar for English speakers.