Polis menangkap pengganas itu.

Malay normally uses Subject–Verb–Object word order, just like basic English sentences.

• Polis = the subject
• menangkap = the verb
• pengganas itu = the object

So the structure is:

Polis + menangkap + pengganas itu
= Police + arrested/caught + that/the terrorist

Malay does not use articles like a/an/the in the same way English does. Very often, nouns appear without any article at all.

So polis can mean things like:

• police
• the police
• sometimes even a police officer, depending on context

In this sentence, context tells you that polis refers to the police.

It can depend on context.

In Malay, many nouns do not change form for singular vs. plural. So polis can refer to:

• a police officer
• the police
• police officers in general

In a sentence like Polis menangkap pengganas itu, it is most naturally understood as the police or a police officer/the police force carrying out the arrest. Context would decide the exact nuance.

menangkap comes from the root tangkap, which means catch or arrest.

The verb has the prefix meN-, which often forms an active verb. Here:

• root: tangkap
• prefixed form: menangkap

The initial t of tangkap changes after the meN- prefix, giving menangkap rather than mentangkap.

So menangkap means to catch or to arrest in an active sense.

This is due to a common Malay sound change with the meN- prefix.

When meN- is added to roots beginning with certain consonants, the beginning sound may change. With tangkap:

• meN-
  • tangkap
• the initial t drops
• the nasal adjusts
• result: menangkap

This is a normal pattern in Malay verb formation. Learners usually just memorize the resulting form, but over time the pattern becomes familiar.

It can mean either, depending on context.

For example:

• menangkap ikan = to catch fish
• menangkap pencuri = to catch/arrest a thief

With polis as the subject and pengganas as the object, the natural English meaning is arrested rather than just caught, because police arrest people.

Yes. Pengganas is derived from ganas, which means violent, fierce, or brutal.

The prefix peng- often forms a noun referring to a person associated with an action or quality. So:

• ganas = violent
• pengganas = terrorist / violent offender

In modern usage, pengganas is the normal word for terrorist.

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

So:

• pengganas itu = that terrorist / the terrorist
• rumah itu = that house
• orang itu = that person

This is a very common word order pattern in Malay.

Grammatically, itu literally means that. But in many sentences, especially in translation, noun + itu can sound very natural in English as the + noun.

So pengganas itu could be understood as:

• that terrorist
• the terrorist

The exact best translation depends on context. If the person has already been identified in the conversation, English often prefers the terrorist.

Because of the sentence order and the verb form.

In a normal active Malay sentence:

• the subject comes first
• then the active verb
• then the object

So in Polis menangkap pengganas itu:

• Polis = subject
• menangkap = active verb
• pengganas itu = object

Also, menangkap is an active meN- verb, which strongly suggests that the noun before it is the doer of the action.

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

So menangkap by itself does not specifically mean:

• catches
• is catching
• caught
• has caught

Any of these can be possible depending on context.

So Polis menangkap pengganas itu could mean:

• The police arrest the terrorist
• The police are arresting the terrorist
• The police arrested the terrorist

In real use, time words or context tell you which one is meant.

Malay can use reduplication to show plurality in some cases, but with words like polis, it is often unnecessary and can sound unnatural depending on context.

Usually Malay leaves number to context, so polis alone is enough.

If you want to be more specific, you might use something like:

• seorang polis = a police officer
• beberapa orang polis = several police officers

So in this sentence, plain polis is perfectly normal.

Yes, this is an active sentence.

• Polis is doing the action.
• pengganas itu receives the action.

A passive-style version in Malay could be:

Pengganas itu ditangkap oleh polis.
= The terrorist was arrested by the police.

Here:

• ditangkap is the passive form
• oleh polis = by the police

This contrast is useful because Malay often distinguishes active meN- forms and passive di- forms very clearly.