Pemegang saham itu membaca dokumen sokongan.

Pemegang saham is a compound noun meaning shareholder.

Broken down:

• peN- ... -egang / pegang → related to holding
• saham → share, especially a financial share or stock

So pemegang saham literally means something like holder of shares, which is the normal Malay way to say shareholder.

Malay does not usually use articles like a, an, or the.

That means a noun like dokumen can mean:

• a document
• the document
• sometimes just document/documents in a general sense

The exact meaning depends on context. In this sentence, itu helps make pemegang saham itu more specific.

Itu literally means that, but in many sentences it also helps mark something as specific or already known.

So pemegang saham itu can mean:

• that shareholder
• or sometimes the shareholder, depending on context

This is very common in Malay. The sentence may sound natural in English as either that shareholder or the shareholder, depending on the situation.

In Malay, demonstratives like ini (this) and itu (that) normally come after the noun.

So Malay says:

• pemegang saham itu = that shareholder
• dokumen ini = this document

This is different from English, where this/that comes before the noun.

Baca is the root word meaning read.

Membaca is the verb with the meN- prefix, which commonly forms an active verb, especially in more standard or formal Malay.

So:

• baca = read / to read (root, often used in casual speech too)
• membaca = reads / is reading / read, as an active verb in a sentence

In standard written Malay, membaca is the expected form here.

In this sentence, pemegang saham itu comes before the verb membaca, so it is the subject.

Structure:

• Pemegang saham itu = subject
• membaca = verb
• dokumen sokongan = object

So the sentence means that the shareholder / that shareholder is the one performing the action of reading.

Not exactly. Malay verbs do not change for tense the way English verbs do.

So membaca by itself can mean:

• reads
• is reading
• read

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

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

Without a time marker, the sentence is simply neutral about tense.

Dokumen sokongan literally means document support, but in natural English it means supporting document or supporting documents, depending on context.

Malay often puts the main noun first and the describing word after it.

So:

• dokumen = document
• sokongan = support / supporting

Together, dokumen sokongan means a document that serves as support.

This is a very common Malay pattern.

Not exactly in the same way English uses adjectives.

Sokongan is a noun meaning support, but Malay often uses nouns after other nouns to describe them.

So dokumen sokongan is a noun + noun combination that functions like supporting document in English.

This is why translating word by word can feel strange at first.

Malay nouns usually do not change form for singular vs. plural.

So dokumen sokongan could mean:

• a supporting document
• supporting documents

Context tells you which one is intended.

If Malay speakers want to make plurality very clear, they can use other clues such as:

• numbers
• words like beberapa (several)
• reduplication in some cases

But here, the form itself does not force singular or plural.

It sounds neutral to fairly formal, mainly because of membaca instead of just baca.

In casual speech, someone might say something shorter like:

• Pemegang saham itu baca dokumen sokongan.

That is common in conversation, but membaca is better for standard written Malay.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

puh-MEH-gang SAH-ham EE-too mem-BA-cha doh-KOO-men soh-KONG-an

A few helpful notes:

• c in Malay sounds like ch in chair
• ng sounds like the ng in sing
• Malay spelling is fairly regular, so pronunciation is often easier than English spelling

So membaca sounds like mem-ba-cha, not mem-ba-ka.