Learn Hardcore Malay: Murid pintar itu menjemur peta lama supaya dakwat tidak luntur. - That smart pupil sun-dries the old map so the ink does not fade.

itu is a post-nominal demonstrative meaning “that.” In Malay you normally attach itu after the noun phrase instead of placing “that” before it, so Murid pintar itu = “that smart student.”

Can I drop itu and still mean “the smart student”?

Dropping itu makes murid pintar indefinite (“a smart student”). To mark definiteness (“the smart student”), Malay either uses itu (murid pintar itu), a classifier like satu (satu murid pintar), or depends on context. Without itu, you lose the “that/the” nuance.

Why is the adjective lama placed after peta? Why not lama peta?

Malay adjectives routinely follow the noun they modify. So peta lama = “old map.” Putting lama before peta (i.e. lama peta) would be ungrammatical in Malay.

What does menjemur mean, and how is that verb formed?

menjemur comes from the root jemur (“to dry in the sun”) plus the meN- actor-focus prefix. Because the root starts with j, the prefix assimilates to menj-, yielding menjemur. It’s a transitive verb: “to dry something (in sunlight).”

Could I use mengeringkan instead of menjemur? What’s the difference?

mengeringkan (from kering) means “to dry” in a general sense (air-dry, heat, machine, etc.). menjemur specifically implies drying in the sun or out in the open air. If you just want “remove moisture” by any method, use mengeringkan, but for sun/air-drying, menjemur is more precise.

What does supaya mean, and can I replace it with agar or untuk?

supaya = “so that,” “in order that,” introducing a purpose clause. You can often swap supaya with agar (slightly more formal) with no change in meaning:

… supaya dakwat tidak luntur.
… agar dakwat tidak luntur.
You cannot use untuk directly before a finite clause. untuk would require an infinitive: e.g. untuk tidak melunturkan dakwat (but that shifts focus and is less idiomatic here).

Why is there no subject in the clause after supaya?

Malay allows you to omit the subject in a subordinate clause when it’s clear from context. Here, supaya dakwat tidak luntur literally is “so that the ink doesn’t fade,” and dakwat itself functions as the subject of tidak luntur. No extra pronoun is needed.

Why is tidak placed before luntur, and what exactly does luntur mean?

tidak negates verbs and adjectives; it always comes immediately before the word it negates. luntur means “to fade” (color, ink). So tidak luntur = “does not fade.” In this sentence, it negates the verb luntur to express “the ink won’t fade.”