Lelaki itu buta.

Malay often leaves out the verb to be when linking a subject to an adjective or noun.

So:

• Lelaki itu buta = The man is blind
• literally: man that blind

This is completely normal in Malay. You do not need a separate word for is here.

Compare:

• Dia sakit = He/She is sick
• Rumah itu besar = That house is big

Malay usually just puts the subject first and the description after it.

Itu usually means that, but in sentences like this it often works a bit like the in English.

So:

• lelaki itu = that man / the man

In natural translation, English often uses the man even though the Malay word is literally that man.

A useful pattern is:

• lelaki ini = this man
• lelaki itu = that man / the man

Malay demonstratives like ini and itu come after the noun, not before it.

Because in Malay, demonstratives such as ini (this) and itu (that) normally come after the noun.

So Malay says:

• lelaki itu = that man
• rumah ini = this house

English does the opposite:

• that man
• this house

This post-noun position is very common in Malay grammar.

Because buta is the predicate adjective: it describes the subject lelaki itu.

The sentence structure is:

• Lelaki itu = subject
• buta = description/predicate

So the pattern is:

• [subject] + [adjective]

Examples:

• Perempuan itu cantik = The woman is beautiful
• Budak itu lapar = The child is hungry
• Lelaki itu buta = The man is blind

So buta comes last because it is what is being said about the man.

Yes.

• lelaki buta usually means a blind man or blind man as a noun phrase
• lelaki itu buta means the man is blind

This is an important difference.

Compare:

• lelaki buta itu = that blind man
• lelaki itu buta = that man is blind

So word order matters a lot.

A quick way to see it:

• if buta is part of the noun phrase, it means blind man
• if buta comes after the full subject lelaki itu, it means is blind

In this sentence, buta is an adjective meaning blind.

It can also appear in some extended expressions or figurative meanings, such as being blind to something, but for a beginner the main meaning is the adjective blind.

In Lelaki itu buta, it is simply describing the man’s condition.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation is:

• lelaki: luh-LAH-kee
• itu: EE-too
• buta: BOO-tah

A few useful notes:

• Malay pronunciation is generally quite regular.
• u is usually like oo in food
• a is usually like a in father
• stress is often fairly even, though learners often naturally say le-LA-ki, i-tu, bu-ta

You do not need strong English-style stress to be understood.

Sometimes, but not in this sentence.

Lelaki usually means man or male person. In Lelaki itu buta, the natural English translation is The man is blind.

If you translated it as The male is blind, that would sound strange in normal English unless you were talking in a biological or technical context.

So for everyday use:

• lelaki = man
• perempuan = woman

Malay does not mark tense in the same way English does.

So Lelaki itu buta does not explicitly say is, was, or will be. The time is understood from context.

Depending on context, it could correspond to:

• The man is blind
• The man was blind
• The man will be blind

But in isolation, English usually translates it as the present: The man is blind.

If Malay speakers want to make time clearer, they often add time words such as:

• semalam = yesterday
• sekarang = now
• esok = tomorrow

You would usually use tidak before the adjective:

• Lelaki itu tidak buta = The man is not blind

This is the normal way to negate adjectives and verbs in Malay.

A useful pattern:

• tidak for verbs and adjectives
• bukan mainly for nouns and noun phrases

So:

• Lelaki itu tidak buta = correct
• Lelaki itu bukan buta = generally not the normal choice here

That is generally not the natural way to say it.

In Malay, adalah is not normally used before an adjective like buta in a simple sentence.

So the natural sentence is:

• Lelaki itu buta

not:

• Lelaki itu adalah buta

For beginners, the safest rule is:

• with simple adjective sentences, just leave adalah out

Examples:

• Rumah itu besar = natural
• Dia marah = natural
• Lelaki itu buta = natural

Not with the same meaning.

• lelaki = man / male
• orang = person / people

So:

• Lelaki itu buta = The man is blind
• Orang itu buta = That person is blind

If you use orang, you lose the specific meaning man.

It is a very common standard word, but not the only possible one you may encounter.

For learners, lelaki is a safe and useful everyday word meaning man or male.

You may also see other words in different regions or styles, but for this sentence, lelaki itu buta is perfectly normal Malay.

Yes.

• Lelaki ini buta = This man is blind
• Lelaki itu buta = That man is blind / The man is blind

So the structure stays the same; only the demonstrative changes.

This is a very useful pair to remember:

• ini = this
• itu = that

And both usually come after the noun.

Grammatically, it is neutral and straightforward.

However, because it directly states a disability or condition, whether it feels polite depends on context, tone, and purpose. As a grammar example, it is fine. In real conversation, speakers may choose wording more carefully depending on the situation.

So from a language-learning point of view:

• Lelaki itu buta is a normal grammatical sentence
• social appropriateness depends on context, just as in English

A very useful pattern is:

• [noun phrase] + [adjective]

So from this sentence:

• Lelaki itu
  • buta
• The man
  • blind

You can build many similar Malay sentences:

• Budak itu kecil = The child is small
• Kereta itu mahal = The car is expensive
• Perempuan itu cantik = The woman is beautiful

This is one of the most common and important Malay sentence patterns.