Learn Hardcore Malay: Bandaraya ini mempunyai kilang besar, tetapi pantainya masih bersih. - This city has large factories, but its beaches are still clean.

Bandaraya literally means city or metropolis. It is a more formal term than bandar, which also means town or city but is more general. In practice, bandaraya often refers to an officially gazetted city with its own municipal government, while bandar can refer to any town or city, big or small.

Why is ini placed after bandaraya instead of before?

In Malay, demonstrative pronouns like ini (this) and itu (that) usually follow the noun they modify. So bandaraya ini means this city. The standard word order is noun + demonstrative.

Why is mempunyai used for has instead of ada?

Both ada and mempunyai can express possession, but there’s a nuance. Ada means there is/there are and can also mean have in casual speech. Mempunyai, derived from punya, is more formal or literary—equivalent to to have or to own. In everyday conversation you might hear Bandar ini ada kilang besar, but in writing mempunyai is preferred.

How do you express plurals like factories in Malay? Why is it kilang besar and not kilang-kilang besar?

Malay nouns typically aren’t marked for number. Context tells you if something is singular or plural. Kilang besar can mean a big factory or big factories. To emphasize plural you can use reduplication—kilang-kilang besar—but it’s common to leave it unmarked and rely on context.

Why is the adjective besar placed after the noun kilang?

In Malay, adjectives generally follow the nouns they describe, unlike English where adjectives come before nouns. So kilang besar means large factory. This noun–adjective order is standard.

What does tetapi mean, and could I use tapi instead?

Tetapi means but or however. Tapi is an informal contraction of tetapi and is very common in spoken Malay. In formal writing you’d use tetapi, while in everyday speech or casual writing tapi is perfectly acceptable.

Why is pantainya spelled as one word, and what does the -nya suffix do here?

Pantainya combines pantai (beach) with the suffix -nya, which can mark third-person possession (its) or function like the definite article (the). Here, pantainya means its beach, referring to the city’s beach, and also implies the beach in context. Attaching -nya to nouns is a common way to express possession or definiteness.

What does masih do in this sentence, and could masih ever come after bersih?

Masih means still and is an adverb that usually precedes adjectives or stative verbs. Pantainya masih bersih literally means its beach is still clean. You would not say bersih masih, because adverbs in Malay normally come before the words they modify; reversing that order would sound ungrammatical.