Kami saling memberi span dan pengikis.

In Malay, kami means we but not including the listener, while kita means we including the listener.

So Kami saling memberi span dan pengikis means that the group doing the action does not include the person being spoken to.

A learner often needs to watch for this distinction, because English we can mean either one.

• kami = we, excluding you
• kita = we, including you

Saling means each other, one another, or mutually.

It shows that the action goes both ways between members of the group. So in this sentence, the people in kami are giving things to one another, not just giving them to someone else.

A useful pattern is:

• saling + verb = do something to each other

Examples:

• mereka saling membantu = they help each other
• kami saling mengenali = we know each other

That is the normal placement. In Malay, saling usually comes before the verb it modifies.

So:

• saling memberi = give each other

This is more natural than trying to place saling after the verb.

A common pattern is:

• subject + saling
  • verb + object

So this sentence follows a very typical structure:

• Kami
  • saling
    • memberi
      • span dan pengikis

Memberi is the active verb form of beri, which means give.

The root is:

• beri = give

With the prefix meN-, it becomes:

• memberi = to give / gives / giving

This is a very common Malay verb formation. The prefix marks an active verb.

So:

• beri = root/base idea
• memberi = the actual verb form used in a normal sentence

Because saling already makes the meaning reciprocal. The sentence does not need to separately state the receiver as each other in another way.

In English, we say:

• We gave each other sponges and scrapers

In Malay, the reciprocal idea is already built into:

• kami saling memberi ...

If you wanted to explicitly mention a recipient in a non-reciprocal sentence, Malay often uses kepada:

• Kami memberi hadiah kepada mereka = We gave gifts to them

But with saling, the recipient is understood to be the other members of the group.

Malay usually does not require a special plural ending like English -s.

Whether a noun is singular or plural is often understood from:

• context
• numbers
• words like para, beberapa, banyak
• or the overall meaning of the sentence

So span dan pengikis can mean:

• a sponge and a scraper
• sponges and scrapers

The exact number is not always the main focus unless the speaker wants to make it clear.

That is very normal in Malay.

Yes. Span is a borrowed word, ultimately from English sponge.

It is used in Malay to mean sponge.

Borrowed words are common in Malay, especially for everyday objects, technology, and modern life. Their spelling is often adjusted to fit Malay pronunciation and spelling patterns.

So:

• sponge → span

Pengikis means something like scraper or scraping tool.

It is formed from the root:

• kikis = scrape / scratch off

With the prefix peng-, it becomes a noun meaning a tool or agent connected with the action:

• pengikis = scraper

This is a useful pattern in Malay:

• verb/root → tool/person associated with the action

For example:

• tapis = filter, strain
• penapis = filter / strainer

So pengikis is structurally very typical Malay word formation.

Yes, the most natural reading is that the members of the group were mutually giving sponges and scrapers to one another.

Because saling memberi is reciprocal, the action is shared among the group.

The phrase span dan pengikis is the thing being exchanged. In a simple reading, it means the people were giving sponges and scrapers to each other.

As in many Malay sentences, it does not spell out every detail of distribution. It does not tell you, for example, whether:

• each person gave one sponge and one scraper
• different people gave different items
• there were many of each item

It just states the mutual action involving those objects.

You could express reciprocity in other ways, but saling is the neatest and most natural choice here.

For example, Malay can also use expressions like:

• satu sama lain = one another / each other

But that structure is often used differently in the sentence.

For this exact idea, kami saling memberi ... is simple and idiomatic.

A learner should remember:

• saling is a very common shortcut for reciprocal actions

So for many everyday sentences, saling + verb is the easiest pattern to use.

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

So memberi by itself does not tell you whether the action is:

• present
• past
• future

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

• semalam = yesterday
• sekarang = now
• esok = tomorrow
• sudah = already
• akan = will

So Kami saling memberi span dan pengikis could mean:

• we give each other sponges and scrapers
• we gave each other sponges and scrapers
• we are giving each other sponges and scrapers

The context decides.