Teman saya cantik.

My friend is beautiful.

Breakdown of Teman saya cantik.

• adalah: to be
• cantik: beautiful

Questions & Answers about Teman saya cantik.

What is the overall meaning of Teman saya cantik. and what does each word mean?

Teman saya cantik. translates to My friend is beautiful. Here, teman means friend, saya means my, and cantik means beautiful. The sentence is a simple descriptive statement.

Why is there no linking verb like is in this sentence compared to English?

In Malay, linking verbs such as is are often omitted when stating identity or qualities. The sentence structure places the subject and its quality next to each other without an explicit verb, which is a common grammatical feature in Malay.

How does the possessive structure work in teman saya?

In Malay, the possessor typically follows the noun. Teman saya literally means friend my, which corresponds to my friend in English. This construction does not require an extra word for possession like the apostrophe-s in English.

Why does the adjective cantik come after the noun, and is this typical in Malay?

Yes, it is typical in Malay for adjectives to follow the noun they modify. In Teman saya cantik., the adjective cantik comes after teman saya to describe the friend, adhering to the standard noun–adjective order in Malay.

Is the adjective cantik used only for females, or can it describe a male as well?

While cantik means beautiful and is most commonly used to describe females in everyday Malay, context matters. For a male, words like tampan (handsome) or gagah (dashing) are more conventional, but cantik may be used in poetic or metaphorical contexts regardless of gender.

How does Malay indicate singular or plural in this sentence, and what would change if referring to multiple friends?

Malay nouns like teman do not change form based on singularity or plurality. Here, context implies a singular friend. To explicitly indicate plurality, reduplication is often used; for instance, teman-teman would mean friends.