Learn Hardcore Malay: Di wad, ubat akan diberikan setiap empat jam sehingga pesakit pulih. - In the ward, medicine will be given every four hours until the patient recovers.

di is a preposition meaning “in” or “at.” In Malay, prepositions always precede the noun they modify, so di wad literally means “at the ward.” You can also say di dalam wad (“inside the ward”), but in formal or concise medical contexts speakers often drop dalam. Both are grammatically correct; di wad simply sounds more direct.

Why does the sentence start with ubat as the subject, and why don’t we mention who gives the medicine?

This sentence uses the passive voice, which in Malay focuses on the thing receiving the action (here, ubat). The agent (for example, a nurse) is omitted because it’s either obvious from context or not important. If you wanted to include the agent you could say Ubat akan diberikan oleh jururawat, but in clinical notes the doer is usually assumed.

How is the passive verb akan diberikan formed? What do the parts di-, beri, and -kan mean?

di- is the passive voice prefix.
beri is the root verb “to give.”
-kan is a suffix that can make the verb transitive or emphasize its application.
Putting them together, diberikan means “(be) given,” and adding akan in front makes it future tense: “will be given.”

What role does akan play in akan diberikan? Is this how you form the future tense in Malay?

Yes. Malay does not conjugate verbs for tense; instead, you use auxiliary words. akan before a verb indicates future (“will”), so akan diberikan = “will be given.” For past, you might use telah or context alone.

What does setiap empat jam mean, and why is setiap used here?

setiap means “every.” When you want to express a recurring interval, you say setiap + time unit. Thus setiap empat jam literally means “every four hours.” You could also say setiap 4 jam in informal contexts, but spelling out numbers is common in formal writing.

What is the function of sehingga in sehingga pesakit pulih? Could we use sampai or hingga instead?

sehingga is a conjunction meaning “until,” marking the endpoint of an action. You can often replace it with hingga (more literary) or sampai (more colloquial) without changing the basic meaning:

formal: sehingga pesakit pulih
neutral: hingga pesakit pulih
conversational: sampai pesakit pulih

Why aren’t there articles like “the” or “a” before wad or pesakit?

Malay does not have definite or indefinite articles. A noun standing alone can mean “a,” “the,” or even “some,” depending on context. Here, wad and pesakit are understood generically: “the ward” and “the patient,” without needing extra words.

Is the word order in Malay flexible? Could we say Ubat akan diberikan di wad setiap empat jam sehingga pesakit pulih?

Yes, Malay word order is relatively flexible, especially for adverbials (place, time, manner). Your version is perfectly acceptable. Placing di wad after the main verb phrase or at the very beginning depends on what you want to emphasize, but the core meaning remains the same.

What part of speech is pulih, and why doesn’t it change form?

pulih is an intransitive verb meaning “recover.” Malay verbs do not change form for person, number, or tense. You convey time by adding particles (like akan for future) or letting context determine it. Here, pulih stays in its base form after sehingga.