Kami melicinkan permukaan itu.

In Malay, kami means we, but not you. It is the exclusive form of we.

• kami = we, excluding the listener
• kita = we, including the listener

So Kami melicinkan permukaan itu means that we did it, but you are not part of that we.

Melicinkan comes from the adjective licin, which means smooth or slippery.

The verb is formed like this:

• licin = smooth
• meN- ... -kan → often makes a verb meaning to make something become ...
• melicinkan = to smooth something, to make something smooth

So this is a causative-type verb: it means causing the surface to become smooth.

Because Malay often uses the pattern meN- + root + -kan to form a transitive verb, especially when the meaning is to make something become a certain way.

Here:

• licin = smooth
• melicinkan = to make something smooth

The ending -kan is important because it shows that the action is being done to an object. In this sentence, the object is permukaan itu.

Permukaan means surface.

It comes from muka, which can mean face or front, but permukaan is the normal noun used for the surface of something.

So:

• permukaan meja = the surface of the table
• permukaan air = the surface of the water

In your sentence, permukaan itu means that surface.

In Malay, demonstratives like ini and itu usually come after the noun.

So:

• permukaan itu = that surface
• buku ini = this book

This is normal Malay word order. English says that surface, but Malay says surface that.

Usually it means that surface, because itu is the demonstrative that.

However, depending on context, Malay demonstratives can sometimes also make a noun feel more definite, so in some situations it may be translated naturally as the surface.

Still, the most direct meaning here is:

• permukaan itu = that surface

The sentence follows normal Malay Subject–Verb–Object order:

• Kami = subject
• melicinkan = verb
• permukaan itu = object

So it is structured very much like English:

• We / smoothed / that surface

A simple pronunciation guide is:

meh-LEE-cheen-kan

A few helpful points:

• c in Malay is pronounced like ch in chair
• i is usually pronounced like ee
• each syllable is pronounced fairly clearly

So melicinkan sounds roughly like:

me-li-cin-kan
with cin sounding like cheen

No. Malay verbs do not change form for tense the way English verbs do.

So melicinkan by itself does not mean specifically:

• smooth
• smoothed
• are smoothing
• will smooth

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

• semalam = yesterday
• sekarang = now
• nanti = later

So Kami melicinkan permukaan itu could mean we smooth that surface, we are smoothing that surface, or we smoothed that surface, depending on context.

Yes, sometimes it can be omitted if the subject is already clear from context.

For example, in conversation or instructions, Malay often drops subjects when they are obvious.

But including kami makes the sentence fully clear and complete:

• Kami melicinkan permukaan itu. = We smoothed that surface.

If you remove kami, the sentence becomes more context-dependent.

Yes. A few alternatives are possible, depending on style and emphasis.

For example:

• Kami menghaluskan permukaan itu. = We smoothed/refined that surface.
• Permukaan itu kami licinkan. = That surface, we smoothed.
  This changes the emphasis.

But Kami melicinkan permukaan itu is a perfectly normal and grammatical way to say it.