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Questions & Answers about Kereta pejabat rosak.
What is the basic structure of the sentence "Kereta pejabat rosak"?
The sentence is built with a compound noun serving as the subject – "kereta pejabat" (meaning "office car") – followed by an adjective, "rosak" (meaning "broken"). Notice that Malay does not require a linking verb like "is" to connect the subject and its description.
Why is there no linking verb such as "is" between "kereta pejabat" and "rosak"?
In Malay, descriptive sentences often omit linking verbs. The adjective directly following the subject is enough to describe its state, so there is no need for an equivalent to the English "is."
Why is the adjective "rosak" placed after the noun instead of before it?
Malay typically follows a noun–adjective order, which means adjectives come after the noun they modify. This is the opposite of English, where adjectives usually come before the noun.
What does "pejabat" mean, and what is its role in the noun phrase "kereta pejabat"?
"Pejabat" means "office." In "kereta pejabat," it functions attributively—that is, it tells us what type of car it is. Similar to a compound noun in English, it specifies that the car is an office car.
Why isn’t an article like "the" used before "kereta" in the sentence?
Malay does not use articles such as "a" or "the." The definiteness or indefiniteness of a noun is understood from the context rather than from specific words placed before the noun.
Does the sentence indicate any particular tense, and how does Malay handle tense in such cases?
No, the sentence does not show an explicit tense because Malay verbs are not conjugated for tense like in English. Instead, the context of the conversation or additional time markers would clarify when the state applies.
Can more context or modifiers be added to "Kereta pejabat rosak" without changing its basic structure?
Yes, additional modifiers can be added to provide extra context (for example, time or location). For instance, you could say "Hari ini, kereta pejabat rosak" to indicate that the office car is broken today. Despite these additions, the basic sentence structure—with the compound noun followed by its descriptive adjective—remains unchanged.