Breakdown of Bayaran kecil hanya untuk pemeriksaan doktor, bukan untuk ubat.
adalah
to be
kecil
small
untuk
for
bukan
not
hanya
only
doktor
the doctor
ubat
the medicine
bayaran
the payment
pemeriksaan
the examination
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Questions & Answers about Bayaran kecil hanya untuk pemeriksaan doktor, bukan untuk ubat.
What does bayaran kecil mean, and why isn’t there an article like “a”?
bayaran means “payment” or “fee,” and kecil means “small.” Malay does not use articles such as “a” or “an.” The phrase bayaran kecil by itself conveys “a small fee” or “small fee.”
What role does hanya play in this sentence, and why is it placed before untuk pemeriksaan doktor?
hanya means “only” or “just.” In Malay, it normally appears immediately before the word or phrase it limits. Here it restricts the payment to being only for the doctor’s examination: “only for the doctor’s check-up.”
Why do we use untuk twice (“untuk pemeriksaan doktor, bukan untuk ubat”)? Could we drop it before ubat?
untuk means “for.” Repeating it clarifies that both elements—pemeriksaan doktor and ubat—are being contrasted. You could say bukan ubat, but including untuk maintains parallelism:
• Bayaran kecil hanya untuk pemeriksaan doktor, bukan untuk ubat.
Why is pemeriksaan doktor used instead of something like “doctor’s examination” with a possessive?
Malay typically forms noun-noun compounds by placing the modifier second. pemeriksaan doktor literally is “examination [of the] doctor.” There’s no need for a possessive marker like ’s; the order alone shows the relationship.
Why is bukan used to negate “for medicine” instead of tidak?
bukan negates nouns or nominal phrases, while tidak negates verbs or adjectives. Because bukan is negating the noun phrase untuk ubat, it is the correct choice here.
Could we use ubat-ubatan instead of ubat, and what’s the nuance?
ubat is a general word for “medicine.” ubat-ubatan (reduplicated) can emphasize “various medicines” or “all sorts of medicine.” In this context, ubat is sufficient and more natural for “medicine” in general.
Can we say bayaran yang kecil instead of bayaran kecil?
Yes. Adding yang turns it into a relative clause: “the payment that is small.” However, in everyday speech Malay often omits yang when an adjective directly follows a noun, so bayaran kecil is more concise and common.
Is the comma before bukan untuk ubat required?
It’s not strictly required but helps to separate the clauses for clarity, much like in English. You can write:
• Bayaran kecil hanya untuk pemeriksaan doktor bukan untuk ubat
or include the comma to signal the contrast more clearly.