Saya bercuti dengan keluarga saya.

I go on vacation with my family.

Breakdown of Saya bercuti dengan keluarga saya.

• saya: I
• dengan: with
• keluarga: the family
• bercuti: to go on vacation

Questions & Answers about Saya bercuti dengan keluarga saya.

What does Saya mean in this sentence?

Saya is the first-person singular pronoun in Malay, which translates to I (or me in object form) in English.

What is the meaning and function of bercuti in this sentence?

Bercuti means to be on holiday or to take a vacation. It is a verb created by adding the prefix ber- to cuti (which means holiday). In Malay, verbs like this are not conjugated for tense, so context usually informs when the action takes place.

How does the preposition dengan function here?

The word dengan translates to with in English. It is used to indicate accompaniment or association. In this sentence, it connects the action of being on holiday to the group that the speaker is vacationing with—namely, keluarga saya (my family).

Why is the possessive saya repeated in keluarga saya?

In Malay, possession is typically expressed by placing the possessor after the noun. Thus, keluarga saya literally means family my, which is rendered as my family in English. Even though saya is used as the subject, it is repeated to clearly show that the family belongs to the speaker.

How is tense indicated in Malay verbs like bercuti?

Malay verbs do not change form to indicate tense. Instead, the timing of actions is understood through context or by using separate time markers. In this sentence, bercuti stands alone, with the context implying the appropriate tense (whether it’s happening now, generally, or in the future).

Can I omit the second saya and just say keluarga when referring to my family?

While it's sometimes possible to drop the possessive if the context already makes it clear whose family is being discussed, including saya in keluarga saya explicitly communicates that it is my family. Omitting it might lead to ambiguity, especially for learners who are still familiarizing themselves with possessive structures in Malay.