Breakdown of Anjing itu tidur di tepi katil.
itu
that
tidur
to sleep
anjing
the dog
katil
the bed
di tepi
beside
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Questions & Answers about Anjing itu tidur di tepi katil.
What does itu mean in this sentence?
itu is a demonstrative particle meaning that or functioning like the. In Malay it follows the noun to make it definite.
Why is itu placed after anjing, not before?
Malay places the noun before its demonstrative. English puts the or that before the noun, but Malay reverses the order: anjing itu rather than itu anjing.
What grammatical role does di play in di tepi katil?
di is a preposition indicating location. It corresponds to English at, in, or on, so di tepi katil means at the side of the bed.
Why is there a space between di and tepi? Could we write ditepi?
When di is a locative preposition, it stays separate. Only the passive prefix di- attaches directly to verbs (e.g., dibaca, “is read”). Thus di tepi must be two words.
How do we know anjing is singular? There’s no plural marker.
Malay often omits number marking. Context and words like itu imply singular. To explicitly pluralize, you can reduplicate: anjing-anjing (“dogs”).
How do we express past or future since tidur doesn’t change form?
Malay verbs are not inflected for tense. You add time words (e.g., semalam for yesterday) or aspect markers (e.g., sudah for already, akan for will) or rely on context.
Could we omit itu and just say Anjing tidur di tepi katil?
Yes. Anjing tidur di tepi katil means A dog sleeps at the side of the bed. Without itu, it’s indefinite or less specific but still correct.
What’s the difference between di tepi katil and di sebelah katil?
Both mean beside the bed, but sebelah often implies right next to, whereas tepi is a more general edge/side.
How would you say the dog is sleeping soundly at the side of the bed?
Use the adverb nyenyak for “soundly”:
Anjing itu tidur nyenyak di tepi katil.