Banjir kilat menutup jalan.

• banjir = flood
• kilat = flash / sudden, and by itself it can also mean lightning depending on context
• menutup = to close / closes / is closing
• jalan = road / street / way

So the structure is:

• banjir kilat = flash flood
• menutup = closes / is blocking
• jalan = the road / roads, depending on context

Yes. This sentence follows the very common Subject–Verb–Object pattern:

• Banjir kilat = subject
• menutup = verb
• jalan = object

So it works like:

• Flash flood
  • closes
    • road

That makes it quite straightforward for an English speaker.

Tutup is the root word, meaning close or shut.

menutup is the active verb form made with the prefix meN-. In this sentence, menutup means closes / is closing / shut(s).

So:

• tutup = the root
• menutup = the active verb actually used in the sentence

Using menutup sounds normal and grammatical in standard Malay when you want a subject actively doing something.

Here, kilat means flash in the sense of sudden or rapid.

So banjir kilat is the fixed expression for flash flood.

Even though kilat can also mean lightning, in this phrase you should understand it as part of the set term banjir kilat.

No. Jalan is a very common Malay word with several meanings depending on context, including:

• road / street
• way / route
• to walk or to function / run in some other sentence types

In Banjir kilat menutup jalan, it is clearly a noun meaning road or street.

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

So jalan can mean:

• a road
• the road
• sometimes even roads

The exact meaning depends on context.

If you want to be more specific, Malay can add words like:

• jalan itu = that road / the road
• sebuah jalan = a road (less common in this kind of sentence)

But leaving the article out is completely normal.

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

So menutup by itself does not tell you whether it means:

• closes
• is closing
• closed
• has closed

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

• semalam = yesterday
• sekarang = now
• tadi = earlier
• akan = will

So Banjir kilat menutup jalan could be understood as A flash flood closed the road, A flash flood is closing the road, or A flash flood closes the road, depending on context.

Yes, jalan could refer to one road or more than one, depending on context.

Malay often does not mark plural unless it needs to. If you want to make it clearly plural, one common way is reduplication:

• jalan-jalan = roads

But in real usage, especially in news-style sentences, Malay often leaves the noun unreduplicated if the meaning is already clear.

So menutup jalan may be translated as:

• closed the road
• closed roads

depending on the situation.

Yes. It sounds natural, especially in a news report, headline, or formal statement.

It is short and direct, which is very common in Malay news language.

In everyday speech, someone might also say things like:

• Jalan ditutup oleh banjir kilat. = The road was closed by a flash flood.
• Banjir kilat tutup jalan. = More casual, less formal
• Banjir kilat menutup jalan raya. = The flash flood closed the main road/highway

So your sentence is perfectly natural, especially in standard written Malay.

Yes. That would change the focus.

• Banjir kilat menutup jalan. = The flash flood closed the road.

  • Focus on the doer: the flash flood

• Jalan ditutup oleh banjir kilat. = The road was closed by the flash flood.

  • Focus on the road

So menutup gives you an active sentence, while ditutup gives you a passive one.

A simple approximate pronunciation for an English speaker is:

bahn-jeer kee-laht muh-noo-toop jah-lahn

A few helpful points:

• banjir: the j sounds like the j in job
• kilat: the k is clear, and the last t is usually light
• menutup: stress is not as strong as in English; say each syllable clearly
• jalan: both a sounds are like ah

Malay pronunciation is generally quite regular, so once you know the spelling, it is usually easier to pronounce than English.