Melihat lembu yang sakit itu membuat kami berasa kasihan.

Here melihat is a verb, but the whole phrase melihat lembu yang sakit itu functions like a noun idea: seeing the sick cow.

So the structure is roughly:

• Melihat lembu yang sakit itu = Seeing the cow that was sick
• membuat kami berasa kasihan = made us feel pity

This is very natural in Malay. A verb phrase can act as the subject of a sentence, much like an English -ing phrase:

• Running every day is healthy.
• Melihat lembu yang sakit itu membuat kami berasa kasihan.

So yes, it behaves a lot like English seeing.

Yang introduces a describing clause, similar to who, which, or that in English.

So:

• lembu = cow
• sakit = sick / ill
• lembu yang sakit = the cow that is sick / the sick cow

In this sentence, yang sakit tells you which cow is being talked about.

A few similar examples:

• budak yang tinggi = the child who is tall
• rumah yang besar = the house that is big
• orang yang saya jumpa = the person whom I met

In Malay, itu usually comes at the end of the whole noun phrase.

So:

• lembu yang sakit itu = that sick cow / the cow that is sick

Not:

• lembu itu yang sakit unless you mean something different, like the cow is the one that is sick

This is an important pattern:

• buku merah itu = that red book
• orang yang memakai topi itu = that person wearing a hat

So itu comes after all the words that describe the noun.

It can feel like either, depending on context.

Literally, itu means that, but in many sentences it also helps mark something as specific, so in natural English it may be translated as the.

So:

• lembu yang sakit itu could be:
  • that sick cow
  • the sick cow

Malay does not use articles exactly like English a/an/the, so words like itu often help show definiteness.

Malay does not have articles like English a, an, and the.

Instead, specificity is usually understood from context or shown by words like:

• itu = that / the specific one
• ini = this

So English needs the sick cow, but Malay can say:

• lembu yang sakit itu

without needing a separate word exactly equal to the.

Literally, it means something like:

• made us feel pity

Breakdown:

• membuat = to make / cause
• kami = us
• berasa = to feel
• kasihan = pity / sympathy

So the whole part means that seeing the cow caused an emotional reaction in us.

A very literal gloss would be:

• Seeing the sick cow made us feel pity.

Yes, both are possible, but they are slightly different in style and structure.

• berasa kasihan = to feel pity / to feel sorry
• kasihan by itself can also express pity, often more directly

So these are all possible depending on style:

• membuat kami berasa kasihan
• membuat kami rasa kasihan
• membuat kami kasihan — less natural in this exact structure
• kami berasa kasihan
• kami kasihan akan lembu itu — more formal/literary style

In modern everyday Malay, rasa kasihan or berasa kasihan is very natural.

Both relate to feeling, but:

• berasa is a little more formal or standard in writing
• rasa is very common in everyday speech

So:

• kami berasa kasihan = slightly more careful/standard
• kami rasa kasihan = very natural in conversation

Both are correct.

Malay distinguishes between two kinds of we/us:

• kami = we/us, excluding the listener
• kita = we/us, including the listener

So membuat kami berasa kasihan means:

• it made us feel sorry, but not necessarily you

If the speaker wanted to include the listener, they could say:

• membuat kita berasa kasihan

This is a very important difference in Malay.

Yes, absolutely. That is also natural.

Compare:

• Melihat lembu yang sakit itu membuat kami berasa kasihan.

  • Seeing the sick cow made us feel pity.
  • More focused on the act of seeing as the cause.

• Kami berasa kasihan melihat lembu yang sakit itu.

  • We felt sorry on seeing the sick cow.
  • More focused on we felt sorry.

Both are correct; the emphasis is just a little different.

These words are related, but not identical:

• melihat = to see, to look at; fairly neutral and standard
• tengok = to look/watch; very common in speech, slightly less formal
• nampak = to be visible / to see / to notice, depending on context

In this sentence, melihat works well because it is a clear, standard way to say seeing.

Possible alternatives:

• Tengok lembu yang sakit itu membuat kami berasa kasihan.

  • understandable, but a bit more conversational

• Nampak lembu yang sakit itu membuat kami berasa kasihan.

  • possible in speech, but less neat in standard written style

So melihat is a good choice for a model sentence.

Kasihan is flexible. Depending on the sentence, it can behave like:

• pity as a noun-like idea
• pitiful or deserving pity
• an exclamation meaning poor thing!

Examples:

• Saya berasa kasihan. = I feel pity / I feel sorry.
• Budak itu kasihan. = That child is pitiful / poor child.
• Kasihan! = Poor thing!

So in your sentence, berasa kasihan means to feel pity/sympathy.

It sounds mostly neutral to slightly formal, especially because of:

• melihat instead of tengok
• berasa instead of rasa

A more conversational version might be:

• Tengok lembu yang sakit itu buat kami rasa kasihan.

A more standard/written version is the original:

• Melihat lembu yang sakit itu membuat kami berasa kasihan.

So the original is very suitable for textbook or standard written Malay.