Markah itu salah; kalau begitu, semak pemarkahan.

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

• markah itu = that mark / that score
• buku ini = this book

So markah itu is the normal Malay word order. To an English speaker, it may feel reversed, but it is completely standard.

In this sentence, itu points to a specific mark that both speaker and listener already know about.

Malay often leaves out the verb to be in simple sentences.

So:

• Markah itu salah literally looks like that mark wrong
• but naturally means That mark is wrong

This is normal in Malay. You do not need a separate word like is in many present-tense statements.

Other examples:

• Dia guru = He/She is a teacher
• Rumah itu besar = That house is big

Here, salah means wrong, incorrect, or mistaken.

So Markah itu salah means the mark itself is not correct, for example:

• the score was added wrongly
• the wrong number was entered
• the grading was mistaken

It does not mean the mark is morally bad. It means it is incorrect.

Yes, literally it is close to if like that, but the natural English meaning is:

• if so
• in that case
• if that is the case
• then

So in this sentence, kalau begitu connects the first idea to the next step:

• The mark is wrong; in that case, check the grading.

It is a very common phrase in Malay conversation and writing.

Semak here is an imperative: a command or instruction.

Malay often uses the bare verb for commands, without stating the subject.

So:

• Semak pemarkahan. = Check the marking/grading.

The subject you is understood, just like in English commands:

• Check the grading.
• not You check the grading. unless you want extra emphasis

This makes semak perfectly normal here.

Both can sometimes be translated as check, but they are not always identical.

• semak often means check/review carefully, especially to verify correctness
• periksa often means inspect, examine, or look into

In this sentence, semak pemarkahan is very natural because the idea is to review the marking and see whether it was done correctly.

Periksa pemarkahan is possible in some contexts, but semak feels especially suitable for checking for errors.

This is an important distinction.

• markah = the mark/score/grade itself, the result
• pemarkahan = the marking/grading, the process or system of giving marks

So the sentence moves from the result to the process:

• Markah itu salah = The score is wrong.
• semak pemarkahan = check the grading/marking.

In English, it is similar to the difference between:

• the score
• the scoring / grading

Pemarkahan is a derived noun built from markah.

A simple way to understand it is:

• base word: markah
• derived noun: pemarkahan

This pattern often creates a noun referring to a process, system, or act related to the base word.

So pemarkahan means something like:

• marking
• grading
• the awarding of marks

You do not need to memorize all the technical morphology at once, but it is useful to notice that Malay often builds new meanings with prefixes and suffixes like this.

In Malay, nouns usually do not change form for singular vs plural.

So markah can mean:

• a mark / score
• or marks / scores

Context tells you which one is meant.

In Markah itu salah, it most naturally refers to one specific mark/score, because of itu and the context.

If Malay really wants to show plural clearly, it can use repetition:

• markah-markah itu = those marks

But very often Malay simply leaves number to context.

Yes, this sentence sounds fairly standard and somewhat formal, especially because of pemarkahan.

It fits well in contexts like:

• school administration
• exam discussions
• official instructions
• written comments

In more casual speech, someone might say something like:

• Markah tu salah; kalau begitu, semak balik.
• Markah tu salah; cuba semak pemarkahan.

A more polite version could be:

• Sila semak pemarkahan.
• Tolong semak semula pemarkahan.

So the original sentence is natural, but it leans a bit toward careful or formal Malay.

The semicolon links two closely related parts:

1. Markah itu salah
2. kalau begitu, semak pemarkahan

It shows that the second part follows logically from the first.

In ordinary writing, you could also see:

• Markah itu salah. Kalau begitu, semak pemarkahan.
• Markah itu salah, jadi semak pemarkahan.

So the semicolon is not changing the grammar very much. It mainly helps the punctuation reflect the close connection between the two clauses.