Breakdown of Polis mengesan ancaman itu.
itu
that
polis
the police
ancaman
a threat
mengesan
to detect; trace
Questions & Answers about Polis mengesan ancaman itu.
Why is the word order Polis mengesan ancaman itu and not something else?
This sentence follows the very common Malay pattern:
Subject + Verb + Object
- Polis = subject
- mengesan = verb
- ancaman itu = object
So it works very much like English The police detected that threat in terms of basic word order.
Does polis mean the police or a police officer?
It can depend on context.
- polis often means the police in a general sense
- In some contexts, it can also refer to a police officer
If you want to make a police officer very explicit, Malay often uses:
- seorang polis = a police officer
In Polis mengesan ancaman itu, the most natural reading is usually the police.
Why is there no word for the before polis?