Kami menjemur pakaian di atas rumput supaya cepat kering.

We sun-dry clothes on the grass so they dry quickly.

Breakdown of Kami menjemur pakaian di atas rumput supaya cepat kering.

• supaya: so that
• di atas: on
• kami: we
• kering: dry
• cepat: quickly
• menjemur: to sun-dry
• pakaian: the clothing
• rumput: the grass

Questions & Answers about Kami menjemur pakaian di atas rumput supaya cepat kering.

Why is the verb menjemur used instead of simply jemur?

In Malay, to form an active transitive verb you attach the meN- prefix to the root. Because jemur (“to dry in the sun”) begins with j, it takes the men- form, giving menjemur (“to hang [something] out to dry”). Without the prefix, jemur is just the root and isn’t marked as an action performed by a subject.

What’s the difference between kami and kita? Why use kami here?

Both mean “we,” but:

• kami excludes the listener (“we, but not you”).
• kita includes the listener (“we, including you”).
  Since the speaker is talking about themselves and others without the person they’re speaking to, kami is correct.

Why is there no article like the or a before pakaian?

Malay does not use definite or indefinite articles. A bare noun can be general or specific depending on context. If you need “the clothes,” you might say pakaian itu (“those clothes”) or pakaian itu cepat kering (“the clothes dry quickly”).

What does di atas rumput mean, and why is there di?

di atas literally means “on top of.”

• di is the preposition marker indicating location (“at/on/in”), attached before a place word.
• rumput is “grass.”
  So di atas rumput = “on the grass.” Without di, you lose the location marker and the phrase becomes less grammatical.

Why use supaya cepat kering instead of something like untuk cepat kering?

All three—supaya, agar, and untuk—can express purpose, but there’s a nuance:

• supaya and agar introduce a subordinate clause and often sound more formal or “purpose- clause”-like.
• untuk
  • verb is more colloquial and directly links actions (“to [do something]”).
    Here, supaya cepat kering (“so that [it] dries quickly”) fits the typical “purpose clause” structure.

Why is it cepat kering and not kering cepat?

In Malay adjective order, degree words like cepat (“quick/fast”) generally come before the adjective they modify:
• cepat kering = “quickly dry” or “dry quickly.”
Reversing to kering cepat is unusual; it might be understood but isn’t the normal collocation.

Could I say kami menjemur pakaian di rumput instead?

Yes, you can drop atas and say di rumput, meaning “on the grass,” though di atas rumput (“on top of the grass”) is more precise. Simply di rumput is more casual and still understood.