Breakdown of Mana tahu tembikar retak dan rapuh itu masih cantik.
itu
that
dan
and
masih
still
cantik
beautiful
Questions & Answers about Mana tahu tembikar retak dan rapuh itu masih cantik.
Why does mana tahu mean something like who knows / maybe, when mana usually means where?
Because mana tahu is an idiomatic expression. You should not interpret it word by word here.
In this sentence, mana tahu works like:
- who knows
- you never know
- perhaps
- it may turn out that
So although mana often relates to where / which, the phrase mana tahu has its own fixed meaning in everyday Malay.
A close alternative is siapa tahu, which also means who knows.
Is Mana tahu tembikar retak dan rapuh itu masih cantik. a question?
No. In this sentence, it is being used as a statement, not a real question.
It expresses possibility or surprise, similar to:
- Who knows, that cracked and brittle pottery may still be beautiful.
- You never know, that cracked and brittle pottery might still be beautiful.
So even though tahu means to know, the whole sentence is declarative in meaning.
Why are the describing words after tembikar instead of before it?