Kuil itu sangat lama.

In Malay, you often do not need a verb like is / am / are when the predicate is an adjective.

So:

• Kuil itu = that temple / the temple
• sangat lama = very old

Malay simply puts them together:

• Kuil itu sangat lama.
• literally: Temple that very old

This is completely normal Malay grammar.
If you translate word-for-word into natural English, you add is: That temple is very old.

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

So:

• kuil ini = this temple
• kuil itu = that temple

This is the normal pattern in Malay, even though English puts this/that before the noun.

A few more examples:

• rumah itu = that house / the house
• buku ini = this book

So kuil itu is the expected word order, not itu kuil.

It can often feel like either one, depending on context.

In a sentence like Kuil itu sangat lama, itu literally means that, but in real usage it can also make the noun feel specific/known, which is sometimes close to English the.

So depending on context, this could be understood as:

• That temple is very old
• The temple is very old

If you are learning, it is safest to remember the core meaning as that, while also knowing that Malay itu can sometimes overlap with English the in natural translation.

Sangat means very.

It comes before the adjective it modifies:

• sangat lama = very old
• sangat besar = very big
• sangat cantik = very beautiful

So in this sentence:

• lama = old
• sangat lama = very old

This is similar to English very old, where very also comes before the adjective.

Yes. Lama can relate to a long time, and from that it can also mean old in the sense of something that has existed for a long time.

For objects, buildings, institutions, and things that have been around a long time, lama is very common:

• bangunan lama = old building
• kuil lama = old temple

This is different from tua, which is more commonly used for living beings such as people and animals:

• orang tua = old person / elderly person
• kucing tua = old cat

So for a temple, lama is the natural choice.

Usually, no—or at least it would sound less natural for a building.

For a temple, house, car, or book, Malay normally uses lama, not tua, when talking about age.

Natural:

• Kuil itu lama. = That temple is old.

Less natural for a building:

• Kuil itu tua.

As a simple rule:

• lama → for things/buildings that have existed a long time
• tua → for people, animals, and sometimes things in more limited or special contexts

So in this sentence, lama is the right word.

Very often, yes.

Malay commonly puts adjectives after the noun:

• kuil lama = old temple
• rumah besar = big house
• buku menarik = interesting book

In your sentence, though, lama is not directly inside the noun phrase kuil itu. Instead, it is the predicate adjective:

• Kuil itu = subject
• sangat lama = what is being said about the subject

So although this sentence is not exactly the same as old temple, it still follows the general Malay tendency for descriptive words to come after the noun or subject.

Yes, you can hear that, especially in speech.

Both of these are possible:

• Kuil itu sangat lama.
• Kuil itu lama sangat.

They both mean The temple is very old.

A rough difference:

• sangat lama sounds more neutral and standard
• lama sangat can sound a bit more conversational or emphatic

If you are a beginner, Kuil itu sangat lama is the safest standard pattern to use first.

You would say:

• Kuil ini sangat lama.

The only change is:

• ini = this
• itu = that

So:

• kuil ini = this temple
• kuil itu = that temple

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation guide is:

• kuil → koo-eel
• itu → ee-too
• sangat → sah-ngat
• lama → lah-mah

A few helpful notes:

• kuil is usually pronounced in two syllables: ku-il
• ng in sangat is like the sound in English sing
• Malay pronunciation is generally quite consistent compared with English

A rough full reading would be:

koo-eel ee-too sah-ngat lah-mah

You could say:

• Kuil-kuil itu sangat lama.

This means Those temples are very old or The temples are very old.

Here:

• kuil-kuil = temples
  Malay often shows plurality by repeating the noun.

However, Malay does not always require explicit plural marking if the meaning is already clear from context. So learners should know that plural marking exists, but it is not used as rigidly as in English.