Tembikar itu retak.

Tembikar usually refers to pottery or earthenware—things made from baked clay. Depending on context, it can mean:

• pottery in a general/material sense
• a pottery item
• sometimes a clay pot / earthen vessel

So in this sentence, tembikar itu most naturally means that piece of pottery or the pottery item.

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

• tembikar itu = that pottery / the pottery
• rumah itu = that house
• buku ini = this book

This is a very common Malay word order pattern. English puts this/that before the noun, but Malay usually puts ini/itu after it.

It can feel like either, depending on context.

• Literally, itu means that.
• But in many sentences, noun + itu can also function a bit like the in English, meaning a specific known thing.

So tembikar itu retak could be understood as:

• That pottery is cracked
• or The pottery is cracked

Malay does not have a separate word exactly equivalent to English the, so itu often helps make the noun definite or specific.

In this sentence, retak works like a stative predicate—something that in English may be translated with is cracked.

So:

• tembikar itu retak = the pottery is cracked

Malay often does not sharply separate adjectives and stative verbs the way English does. Words like retak, besar (big), cantik (beautiful), and sakit (sick/hurt) can appear directly after the subject as the main predicate.

So it is often best to think of retak here as cracked / has a crack / is cracked, rather than forcing it into only one English category.

Malay usually does not need a verb like is/are in simple descriptive sentences.

English:

• The pottery is cracked

Malay:

• Tembikar itu retak

This is completely normal. In Malay, the subject can be followed directly by a description or state.

Compare:

• Rumah itu besar = That house is big
• Dia sakit = He/She is sick
• Tembikar itu retak = That pottery is cracked

So the absence of is is standard Malay grammar.

Yes, you could, but the meaning becomes less specific.

• Tembikar itu retak = that/the pottery is cracked
• Tembikar retak = pottery is cracked / a pottery item is cracked / cracked pottery

Without itu, the noun is usually less definite. In real context, that may or may not matter.

If you are talking about one specific object that both speakers know, tembikar itu retak sounds more natural.

By itself, retak does not mark tense. Malay often leaves tense to context.

So Tembikar itu retak most naturally means:

• The pottery is cracked
• or That pottery has a crack

If you want to show past time more clearly, Malay often adds time words or context:

• Tembikar itu retak semalam = The pottery cracked yesterday
• Tembikar itu sudah retak = The pottery is already cracked / has become cracked
• Tembikar itu telah retak = The pottery has cracked / had cracked
  (more formal)

Malay relies heavily on context rather than verb tense endings.

This is a very useful distinction.

• retak = cracked, has a crack, split but not necessarily broken apart
• pecah = broken, shattered, burst, split open

So:

• Tembikar itu retak = the pottery has a crack
• Tembikar itu pecah = the pottery is broken / shattered

A pot can be retak without being fully pecah.
In many situations, retak suggests damage that is less severe than pecah.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation guide is:

• tembikar ≈ tem-bee-kar
• itu ≈ ee-too
• retak ≈ ruh-tak or reh-tak

A few helpful notes:

• e in Malay can vary somewhat depending on the word and speaker.
• r is usually a tapped or lightly rolled sound, not the strong English r.
• Stress in Malay is generally not as heavy or dramatic as in English.

A rough full reading: tem-bee-kar ee-too reh-tak

Yes. Retak is used for many things that can crack, for example:

• dinding retak = the wall is cracked
• cermin retak = the mirror is cracked
• skrin telefon retak = the phone screen is cracked
• tanah retak = the ground is cracked

So retak is a common word for physical cracking in many contexts.

Yes, very normal. The pattern is:

noun + itu/ini + description/state

Examples:

• Rumah itu besar = That house is big
• Baju ini cantik = This shirt is pretty
• Air itu sejuk = That water is cold
• Tembikar itu retak = That pottery is cracked

This is one of the most basic and important sentence patterns in Malay, so it is worth getting comfortable with it early.