Saya selalu beli kopi di kedai berdekatan.

I always buy coffee at the nearby shop.

Breakdown of Saya selalu beli kopi di kedai berdekatan.

• saya: I
• beli: to buy
• di: at
• selalu: always
• kedai: the shop
• kopi: the coffee
• berdekatan: nearby

Questions & Answers about Saya selalu beli kopi di kedai berdekatan.

Why is beli used here instead of membeli?

In colloquial Malay, especially in speech and informal writing, the root form of a verb is often used without the prefix. So beli (buy) replaces the more formal membeli. Both mean the same thing, but beli sounds more natural in casual contexts like this sentence.

Where should the adverb selalu (always) go?

Adverbs of frequency in Malay typically follow the subject and come before the verb. Hence Saya selalu beli… is natural. Placing it at the end (Saya beli kopi selalu) sounds awkward, and putting it directly before the verb also works but is less common than after the subject.

Why isn’t there an article like “the” or “a” before kopi?

Malay does not use articles such as “the,” “a,” or “an.” Nouns stand alone without them. So you simply say beli kopi, regardless of whether it’s one coffee or many.

What does di kedai mean? Couldn’t it be ke kedai?

di is a locative preposition meaning “at” or “in,” indicating where the buying happens: at the shop. ke means “to” and expresses movement toward a place (e.g., Saya pergi ke kedai – I go to the shop). Since the action here takes place at the shop, di is correct.

Why is it kedai berdekatan and not kedai yang berdekatan?

Malay often strings a noun and adjective directly: kedai berdekatan = “nearby shop.” Using yang (the relative pronoun) is more formal or emphatic: kedai yang berdekatan is grammatically fine but longer. In everyday speech, the shorter form is preferred.

What’s the difference between berdekatan and dekat?

• dekat is the base adjective “near.”
• berdekatan is an adjectival verb form meaning “being near” or “adjacent.”

Both convey proximity, but kedai berdekatan (adjacent shop) is more idiomatic than kedai dekat, which isn’t wrong but less common in this context.

Do I need to mark kopi as plural if I buy more than one?

No. Malay nouns do not change for number. beli kopi can mean one coffee or several. If you need specificity, add a quantity: beli dua cawan kopi (buy two cups of coffee).

Can I say Saya selalu membeli kopi di kedai terdekat instead?

Yes. That’s perfectly grammatical. Here you use the formal verb membeli, and kedai terdekat means “the nearest shop” (superlative) rather than “a nearby shop.” The nuance shifts slightly, but the core meaning remains the same.