Saya menunggu pesanan di kedai di seberang jalan.

I am waiting for the order at the shop across the street.

Breakdown of Saya menunggu pesanan di kedai di seberang jalan.

• saya: I
• di: at
• kedai: the shop
• di seberang: across
• jalan: the street
• pesanan: the order
• menunggu: to wait for

Questions & Answers about Saya menunggu pesanan di kedai di seberang jalan.

What role does di play in di kedai di seberang jalan?

The word di is a preposition in Malay used to mark location (equivalent to English “at,” “in,” or “on”). Here you have two locative phrases: di kedai (“at the shop”) and di seberang jalan (“across the street”). Each di attaches to its noun phrase to show where the action takes place.

Why is pesanan used without a possessive pronoun, like “pesanan saya” (my order)?

In Malay you often drop the possessive pronoun when the owner is clear from context. Saying menunggu pesanan naturally implies “waiting for (my) order.” Adding saya (“my”) is grammatically correct but usually redundant if it’s obvious you’re talking about your own order.

Can I omit the second di and say kedai seberang jalan instead of di kedai di seberang jalan?

Yes. In informal or spoken Malay, people often say kedai seberang jalan without the preposition before seberang jalan, and everybody understands. In formal/standard Malay, you should include di for each locative phrase: di kedai di seberang jalan.

Why is the phrase ordered as di kedai di seberang jalan rather than di seberang jalan di kedai?

Malay generally uses a head-first structure: the main location (di kedai) comes first, and the modifier (di seberang jalan) follows to specify which shop. If you swap them, you’d end up saying you’re at the street across from a shop, which changes the meaning.

What’s the difference between menunggu and menanti?

Both verbs mean “to wait.” menunggu is the everyday, conversational term, while menanti is more formal or literary. In normal speech you’ll almost always hear menunggu.

What does seberang mean?

seberang means “across” or “opposite side of” something (often a road or river). When you say di seberang jalan, you literally mean “at the across-of the street,” i.e. “across the street.”

Why isn’t there a word for “the” (definite article) in that sentence?

Malay does not have articles like “a” or “the.” Definiteness is inferred from context. If you really need to emphasize “that shop,” you could add itu (“that”) as in di kedai itu di seberang jalan, but it’s optional.