Kakinya patah.

-nya is a clitic often meaning his, her, or its when attached to a noun.

So:

• kaki = leg / foot
• kakinya = his leg, her leg, or its leg

In this sentence, kakinya is the thing being talked about.

You usually know from context. Malay does not mark gender in -nya.

So kakinya patah could mean:

• his leg is broken
• her leg is broken

The sentence itself does not tell you which one.

Malay often does not use a copula like English is/are in simple sentences like this.

So English:

• His leg is broken

Malay:

• Kakinya patah

This is completely normal Malay. The meaning is is understood without saying a separate word.

It can be thought of as either, depending on how you explain Malay grammar.

In this sentence, patah means broken or to be broken. Many learners find it easiest to treat it as a stative predicate:

• kakinya = his/her leg
• patah = broken

So the whole sentence works like His/her leg is broken.

It can mean leg or foot, depending on context.

That is very common in Malay. If the meaning shown to you is leg, then that is the intended reading here. In other contexts, kaki can also refer to the foot.

So learners should remember that kaki covers a wider range than a single English word sometimes does.

Attaching -nya directly to the noun is a very common and natural way to show possession in Malay.

• kakinya = his/her leg

Using punya is possible in some contexts, but it often sounds more colloquial, emphatic, or structurally different:

• kaki dia = his/her leg
• kakinya = his/her leg

For a short, neutral sentence like this, kakinya patah is very natural.

Yes, but it is not exactly the same in focus.

• Kakinya patah focuses on the leg: His/her leg is broken.
• Dia patah kaki focuses more on the person: He/She broke a leg or He/She has a broken leg.

Both are possible, but the structure and emphasis are different.

The usual neutral order is:

• subject/topic first
• predicate after

So:

• kakinya = the leg
• patah = broken

That gives the natural sentence Kakinya patah.

You may sometimes see different orders in special contexts, but for a basic statement, this order is the normal one.

Malay does not use articles like English a/an/the in the same way.

So kakinya patah does not need a separate word for the. Definiteness is often understood from context, possession, or the situation.

Because kakinya already means his/her leg, it is naturally definite enough.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation is:

• ka-ki-nya

The ny sound is like the sound in Spanish señor, or roughly like the ny in British English canyon.

So kakinya sounds approximately like:

• kah-kee-nyah

And patah is approximately:

• pah-tah

The h at the end is lightly pronounced.

Yes. -nya is a very useful ending in Malay and can do several jobs depending on the sentence.

But in kakinya patah, the most natural function is possession:

• kakinya = his/her leg

So for this sentence, the safest understanding is simply that -nya marks whose leg it is.

It is neutral and perfectly normal.

It does not sound especially formal or especially slangy. You could use it in everyday speech and in writing, depending on context.

That makes it a very useful sentence pattern to learn.