Saya rasa harga nasi di sini tidak mahal seperti di pejabat itu.

I feel the price of rice here is not expensive like at that office.

Breakdown of Saya rasa harga nasi di sini tidak mahal seperti di pejabat itu.

• saya: I
• nasi: the rice
• itu: that
• sini: here
• di: at
• tidak: not
• pejabat: the office
• harga: the price
• mahal: expensive
• rasa: to feel
• seperti: like

Questions & Answers about Saya rasa harga nasi di sini tidak mahal seperti di pejabat itu.

What does saya rasa mean in the sentence?

It means I think. This phrase is commonly used in Malay to express the speaker's opinion or feeling about something.

What does harga nasi refer to?

Harga nasi literally breaks down into harga (price) and nasi (rice), so it means "the price of rice." Rice is a staple in Malay cuisine, making this a common phrase.

How is negation expressed in this sentence?

Negation is achieved by placing tidak before the adjective mahal. Together, tidak mahal translates as "not expensive," indicating that the price is low or reasonable.

What do di sini and di pejabat itu signify?

Di sini means "here," referring to the speaker’s current location, while di pejabat itu means "in/at that office," referring to a specific location, likely mentioned or known from context. This contrast helps emphasize the difference in price.

What role does seperti play in the sentence?

Seperti functions as a comparative connector meaning "like" or "as." It is used to compare the rice price here to that at the office, suggesting that while the price here is not expensive, it might be different (presumably higher) at the office.

How does the comparative structure in Malay compare to that in English?

In Malay, a structure like tidak [adjective] seperti [comparison phrase] is used, whereas English typically uses "not as [adjective] as [comparison]." For example, "tidak mahal seperti di pejabat itu" would translate to "not as expensive as at that office" in English, showing a difference in word order but a similar overall comparative idea.

Are there alternative ways to express this comparison in Malay?

Yes. One might also use explicit comparative markers. For example, you could say:
"Harga nasi di sini lebih murah daripada di pejabat itu."
This version uses lebih murah (cheaper) combined with daripada to directly compare the prices, conveying the same idea in a slightly different grammatical structure.