Breakdown of Doktor di hospital itu memberi saya ubat percuma.
saya
I
itu
that
di
at
memberi
to give
hospital
the hospital
doktor
the doctor
ubat
the medicine
percuma
free
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Questions & Answers about Doktor di hospital itu memberi saya ubat percuma.
What is the role of the prefix me- in memberi?
me- is the active verb prefix in Malay. The root verb is beri (“give”), and adding me- turns it into the transitive verb memberi (“to give”).
Why is saya placed directly after memberi instead of after ubat percuma?
When the object is a personal pronoun, Malay typically places it immediately after the verb: memberi saya (“give me”). If the object is a noun, you often include kepada and say memberi ubat kepada saya (“give medicine to me”).
Is kepada necessary before saya in this sentence?
No. With personal pronouns, kepada (“to”) can be dropped. So memberi saya = “give me”. If you want a more explicit structure, you can say memberi ubat kepada saya.
What does di mean in di hospital itu, and why does itu come after hospital?
di is a preposition meaning “at” (location). itu is the demonstrative “that”. In Malay, demonstratives and most modifiers follow the noun, so hospital itu = “that hospital”.
Why does ubat percuma have the adjective percuma after the noun ubat?
In Malay, adjectives follow the nouns they describe. ubat percuma = “medicine [that is] free”. You can add a linker yang (→ ubat yang percuma), but it’s optional for simple adjectives.
Why are doktor, hospital, and ubat not marked for plural?
Malay generally does not inflect nouns for number. Plurality is understood from context or expressed with quantifiers (e.g., beberapa ubat = “several medicines”) or by reduplication.
Could you add yang before di hospital itu to form a relative clause?
Yes. doktor yang di hospital itu = “the doctor who is at that hospital”. However, Malay often omits yang when the meaning is already clear.