Questions & Answers about Mereka pergi ke gereja.
What does mereka mean here, and is it always translated as they?
Mereka is the standard Malay third-person plural pronoun. In this sentence, it means they because it is the subject.
A useful thing to know is that Malay pronouns do not change form the way English pronouns do. So mereka can correspond to English they or them, depending on the sentence.
It is mostly used for people, not usually for things or animals.
Does pergi mean go, going, or went?
By itself, pergi is not marked for tense. So this sentence can mean different things depending on context, such as:
- They go to church
- They are going to church
- They went to church
Malay often relies on context or time words instead of changing the verb form.
For example:
- Mereka pergi ke gereja semalam = They went to church yesterday.
- Mereka akan pergi ke gereja = They will go to church.
What does ke do in this sentence?