Polis mendapati pintu itu rosak.

Malay usually follows Subject–Verb–Object/Complement order, much like English.

So in Polis mendapati pintu itu rosak:

• Polis = subject
• mendapati = verb
• pintu itu rosak = what was found/discovered

So the structure is basically:

The police + found/discovered + that the door was damaged

Polis usually means the police as a force or police officers in general, not necessarily just one officer.

Malay nouns often do not show singular/plural explicitly unless the context makes it necessary. So polis can refer to:

• the police as an institution
• one or more police officers
• police in general

In this sentence, English normally translates it as the police.

Malay does not use articles like a, an, or the the way English does.

So:

• polis can mean police or the police
• pintu can mean door or the door, depending on context

Malay often leaves definiteness to context, or uses words like itu to make something more specific.

Mendapati often means:

• to find
• to discover
• to determine
• to observe

In this sentence, it means something like found/discovered rather than physically finding an object.

So Polis mendapati pintu itu rosak means the police discovered/noticed that the door was damaged.

This is different from simply finding a door somewhere. It is more about coming to the conclusion that the door was damaged.

Yes. Mendapati is built from the root dapat.

Very roughly:

• dapat = get, can, obtain
• mendapati = find, discover, learn, determine

The meN- prefix is a very common Malay verb-forming prefix. It often creates an active verb.

So learners often notice that mendapati looks more formal or specific than just dapat.

Itu literally often means that, but in many sentences it also works like the when referring to a specific thing already known in context.

So pintu itu can mean:

• that door
• the door

In this sentence, English often translates it naturally as the door.

So itu helps mark the door as specific, not just any door.

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

So:

• pintu itu = that door / the door
• rumah itu = that house
• orang ini = this person

This is normal Malay word order.

Malay often does not use a separate verb meaning to be in simple sentences like this.

So where English says:

• the door was damaged

Malay can simply say:

• pintu itu rosak

Literally, this is more like:

• the door damaged

But in correct English, we translate it as the door was damaged or the door is damaged, depending on context.

The tense or time reference is usually understood from context or from other time words if they are present.

In this sentence, rosak behaves like a stative adjective meaning:

• damaged
• broken
• spoiled
• out of order

Malay often uses adjective-like words directly as predicates, without is/was.

So:

• pintu itu rosak = the door is/was damaged

In some contexts, English may feel like it is a verb idea, but grammatically in Malay it is very natural to treat rosak as a descriptive state.

Yes. You could say:

Polis mendapati bahawa pintu itu rosak.

Here, bahawa means that.

So this version is closer to:

The police found that the door was damaged.

However, in everyday Malay, bahawa is often omitted when the meaning is already clear. So:

• Polis mendapati pintu itu rosak
• Polis mendapati bahawa pintu itu rosak

Both are grammatical, but the version without bahawa is shorter and very natural.

Because rosak and dirosakkan do not mean exactly the same thing.

• rosak = damaged, broken, in a damaged state
• dirosakkan = was damaged by someone/something deliberately or actively

So:

• pintu itu rosak focuses on the condition of the door
• pintu itu dirosakkan suggests the door was damaged by an agent

The original sentence only says the police found the door damaged. It does not necessarily say who damaged it.

Yes. Mendapati can take different kinds of objects.

For example:

• Saya mendapati wang itu. = I found the money.
• Mereka mendapati dia bersalah. = They found him guilty.
• Polis mendapati pintu itu rosak. = The police found the door damaged.

So here it is followed by pintu itu rosak, which functions like a small clause: the door + damaged.

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

So mendapati itself does not specifically mean found rather than finds. The time usually comes from context.

Depending on context, the sentence could be understood as:

• The police found the door damaged
• The police find the door damaged
• The police have found the door damaged

In most isolated examples like this, English usually uses the past tense because it sounds most natural.

Yes.

Pintu itu rosak is a complete sentence meaning:

• The door is damaged
• The door was damaged

Malay allows this kind of structure very naturally:

• Rumah itu besar = The house is big
• Kereta saya baru = My car is new
• Pintu itu rosak = The door is damaged

No separate is/was is needed.

Yes. Rosak has a fairly broad meaning. Depending on context, it can mean:

• broken
• damaged
• spoiled
• faulty
• out of order

For a door, English could translate it as:

• damaged
• broken

The best choice depends on the situation. If the door has visible damage, damaged is a safe translation. If it no longer works properly, broken may fit too.

Yes. A passive-style sentence is possible, but it changes the structure.

For example:

Pintu itu didapati rosak oleh polis.

This means:

The door was found to be damaged by the police.

This is grammatical, but the original active sentence:

Polis mendapati pintu itu rosak

is usually simpler and more natural in many contexts.

The active version focuses on what the police discovered. The passive version focuses on the door.