Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Malay grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Semakin lambat kita mula mendaki, semakin panas matahari.
Why is semakin repeated in both clauses?
Semakin… semakin… is a fixed correlative pattern in Malay that expresses “the more… the more…”. You place semakin before each clause to link them: “the more A happens, the more B happens.”
What does each word in Semakin lambat kita mula mendaki mean?
- Semakin = “the more” / “as… increasingly”
- Lambat = “late”
- Kita = “we” (inclusive; you and I)
- Mula = “start”
- Mendaki = “to climb”
So, word-by-word it’s “the more late we start climbing…”
Can lambat here mean “slow” instead of “late”?
In Malay lambat can mean both “late” (in time) and “slow” (in speed). In this sentence, it clearly refers to time (“late”), not to climbing speed.
Why is kita used instead of kami or anda?
- Kita = “we” including the listener.
- Kami = “we” excluding the listener.
- Anda = “you.”
Because the speaker is including the person being addressed in the act of climbing, kita is the correct inclusive pronoun.
What does mula mendaki mean? Why are there two verbs?
- Mula = “to start”
- Mendaki = “to climb”
Putting them together (mula mendaki) means “to start climbing.” Malay often stacks verbs when one describes the initiation of another.
Why is there no word for “the” or “a” in this sentence?
Malay does not use articles like English. Nouns stand alone without the, a, or an. Context tells you whether it’s definite or indefinite.
Why is it panas matahari instead of matahari panas?
Here panas functions as a noun meaning “heat,” so panas matahari is “the heat of the sun.” If you said matahari panas, panas is an adjective (“hot”) describing the sun itself (“the sun is hot”).
Could we say matahari semakin panas instead?
Yes, matahari semakin panas means “the sun is getting hotter.” But that only talks about the sun. Semakin lambat kita mula mendaki, semakin panas matahari links the timing of our climb with how hot the sun becomes.
Why isn’t there a conjunction like dan (“and”) between the clauses?
In the semakin… semakin… structure, the two parts are directly connected. Inserting dan would interrupt the comparative correlative pattern.
Can we use lebih instead of semakin to form “the more… the more…”?
No. Lebih means “more” but doesn’t create the “the more… the more…” link. You need semakin… semakin…, or in very casual speech lagi… lagi…, to get that correlative meaning.
Is lagi… lagi… a valid alternative to semakin… semakin…?
Yes, in informal spoken Malay people often say:
“Lagi lambat kita mula mendaki, lagi panas matahari.”
It means the same but is more casual. In writing and formal speech, semakin… semakin… is preferred.