Dia membersihkan span.

Yes—dia can mean either he or she. Malay third-person singular pronouns do not usually mark gender.

So Dia membersihkan span could mean:

• He cleans the sponge
• She cleans the sponge
• He is cleaning the sponge
• She is cleaning the sponge

You need context to know which one is meant.

Because bersih by itself usually means clean as an adjective.

• bersih = clean
• membersihkan = to clean something / to make something clean

So:

• Span itu bersih = The sponge is clean
• Dia membersihkan span = He/She cleans the sponge

In other words, bersih describes a state, while membersihkan describes an action.

It is built from the root bersih with the prefix meN- and the suffix -kan:

• bersih = clean
• meN- + bersih + -kan → membersihkan

A useful way to think of it is:

• meN- often forms an active verb
• -kan often gives the sense of causing something to become a certain way, or doing the action to an object

So membersihkan literally has the sense to make clean.

This is a normal sound change in Malay morphology.

The active prefix is often written as meN-, but the N changes depending on the first sound of the root. With a root beginning in b, it becomes mem-:

• baca → membaca
• buka → membuka
• bersih → membersihkan

So membersihkan is the expected form.

Yes. This sentence follows the common Subject–Verb–Object order:

• Dia = subject
• membersihkan = verb
• span = object

So the structure is very similar to English:

• He/She cleans the sponge

This is one reason Malay word order often feels fairly accessible to English speakers.

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

So Dia membersihkan span can mean different things depending on context, such as:

• He/She cleans the sponge
• He/She is cleaning the sponge
• He/She cleaned the sponge

If you want to make time clearer, Malay often adds time words like:

• sedang = currently/in the middle of
• sudah / telah = already
• akan = will

For example:

• Dia sedang membersihkan span = He/She is cleaning the sponge
• Dia sudah membersihkan span = He/She has cleaned / already cleaned the sponge

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

So span can mean:

• a sponge
• the sponge

Context tells you which one is intended.

If needed, Malay can add other words to make things more specific, but in a simple sentence like this, the noun often appears by itself.

Yes, it is used in Malay, and it is a loanword. Learners often notice that some everyday Malay words come from other languages, including English.

So even though span may look familiar, it still behaves like a normal Malay noun in the sentence:

• Dia membersihkan span

That is completely natural Malay.

Yes, and many learners will hear forms like that in everyday speech.

• membersihkan is a more explicit, standard verb meaning to clean
• cuci often means wash / clean and is very common in daily conversation

So:

• Dia membersihkan span sounds standard and a bit more formal or careful
• Dia cuci span sounds more everyday and conversational

Both can be natural, but membersihkan is especially useful when you want the clear sense of making something clean.

A simple learner-friendly breakdown is:

mem-ber-sih-kan

Roughly:

• mem as in mem-ory without the final ory
• ber with a short e
• sih like seeh
• kan like kahn

The r in Malay is usually trilled or tapped more clearly than in most English accents.

Sometimes, yes—especially when the subject is already clear from context.

For example, if everyone already knows who is being talked about, a speaker may simply say:

• Membersihkan span or use another natural conversational structure.

However, in a full clear sentence for learners, Dia membersihkan span is a very normal and helpful form because it clearly shows the subject.

Yes. In this sentence it is a transitive verb, meaning it takes a direct object.

The object here is:

• span

So the pattern is:

• someone cleans something
• dia membersihkan span

This is another reason the suffix -kan is useful to notice: it often appears in verbs that act on an object.