Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya keluarkan telefon dari poket untuk memadam mesej lama. - I take the phone out of my pocket to delete old messages.

keluarkan is the causative form of keluar (“to go out”). By adding the suffix -kan, it becomes transitive (“to cause to go out” → “to take out”). So Saya keluarkan telefon literally means “I took out the phone.”

Why is it keluarkan and not mengeluarkan, while we see memadam used for “delete”?

In standard Malay the fully affixed causative would be mengeluarkan (meN- prefix + keluar + -kan). In everyday or semi-formal speech, speakers often drop the meN- prefix on some verbs and just use the root plus -kan, yielding keluarkan. For padam, the root plus the meN- prefix (memadam) is already the common transitive form, so it remains as is.

What is the role of dari, and can we use daripada instead?

Both dari and daripada mean “from.” Dari is shorter and more common in casual speech; daripada is slightly more formal or used in written Malay. You can say either dari poket or daripada poket with no change in basic meaning.

What does untuk indicate in this sentence?

untuk marks purpose, equivalent to English “in order to” or simply “to.” So untuk memadam mesej lama means “to delete old messages.” It introduces a purpose clause that shares the same subject (saya) as the main clause.

Why do we see memadam instead of just padam?

padam is the root verb (“to erase/delete”). To make it clearly transitive (“to delete something”), Malay adds the meN- prefix, forming memadam. In very casual speech you might hear padam alone, but memadam is the standard way to show the action is done to an object.

How do you express past tense, since there’s no past marker in Saya keluarkan telefon…?

Malay verbs do not change form for tense. Time is inferred from context or added time words. Saya keluarkan telefon… can be past or present. To clarify past action, you could add tadi (“earlier”):
Saya keluarkan telefon dari poket tadi untuk memadam mesej lama.

Why is lama placed after mesej, and not before as in English?

In Malay, adjectives normally follow the noun they modify. So you say mesej lama (“old message”) rather than lama mesej. Placing lama before would usually be interpreted as the adverb meaning “for a long time.”

How would you explicitly show that you deleted multiple old messages?

Malay does not require a plural marker. mesej lama can mean “old message(s).” To emphasize plurality, you can use reduplication: mesej-mesej lama, literally “old messages.”

Why isn’t saya repeated before memadam?

In a purpose clause introduced by untuk, if the subject is the same as the main clause, you omit the pronoun. The action of memadam is understood to be done by saya, so no second saya is needed.

Why are there no articles like “the” or “a” before telefon or mesej?

Malay does not use definite or indefinite articles. Context tells you whether you’re talking about a specific phone or one in general. If you need emphasis you can add words like satu (“one/a”) or possessives like telefon saya (“my phone”), but there’s no direct equivalent of “the.”