Selain kopi, saya meminati teh hijau.

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Questions & Answers about Selain kopi, saya meminati teh hijau.

What does bold Selian bold actually imply here—do I like coffee as well, or only green tea instead?

Bold Selain bold can be either inclusive (“besides/in addition to”) or exclusive (“other than”), depending on context. The default reading in everyday conversation is usually inclusive: you like coffee and also like green tea.

  • Inclusive (make it explicit): bold Selain kopi, saya juga meminati teh hijau. bold
  • Exclusive/preferential: bold Selain kopi, saya lebih meminati teh hijau. bold
  • Explicitly excluding coffee: bold Saya tidak meminati kopi; sebaliknya saya meminati teh hijau. bold or bold Bukan kopi, tetapi teh hijau. bold
Can I say bold selain daripada bold instead of bold selain bold? What about bold selain dari bold?
  • In formal Standard Malay, bold selain daripada bold is common and correct.
  • In everyday speech and writing, just bold selain bold is very common and perfectly fine.
  • Bold selain dari bold is heard, but many style guides prefer bold daripada bold after bold selain bold (bold daripada bold is often used for comparisons and origins from people/abstract sources; bold dari bold for places/time). Use bold selain daripada bold in formal writing.
Why is it bold teh hijau bold and not “green tea” with the adjective first?

In Malay, adjectives typically follow the noun. So:

  • bold teh hijau bold = tea green (green tea)
  • bold kopi panas bold = coffee hot (hot coffee) Placing the adjective before the noun is ungrammatical in standard Malay.
What’s the nuance difference between bold meminati bold, bold suka bold, bold gemar bold, bold menggemari bold, and bold berminat bold?
  • Bold suka bold: neutral, everyday “like.” Bold Saya suka teh hijau. bold
  • Bold gemar bold: “be fond of,” slightly more formal or careful. Bold Saya gemar teh hijau. bold
  • Bold meminati bold: “be interested in/fancy,” feels a bit more formal; often used with hobbies, fields, celebrities, or items. Bold Saya meminati teh hijau. bold
  • Bold menggemari bold: close to bold gemar bold but more formal/literary. Bold Saya menggemari teh hijau. bold
  • Bold berminat bold: “to be interested,” intransitive; needs a preposition. Bold Saya berminat dengan/terhadap/pada teh hijau. bold Note: In Malaysian Malay, bold menyukai bold is less common; in Indonesian it’s normal.
Does bold meminati bold take a preposition, like bold kepada bold or bold akan bold?

No. Bold meminati bold is transitive and takes a direct object:

  • Correct: bold Saya meminati teh hijau. bold
  • Incorrect: bold Saya meminati kepada/akan teh hijau. bold
Can I just say bold Saya minat teh hijau bold?

Yes, in informal speech many speakers use bold minat bold as a verb: bold Saya minat teh hijau. bold For neutral/formal contexts, use bold Saya meminati… bold or bold Saya berminat dengan/terhadap… bold

How do I say “I prefer green tea to coffee”?

Use bold lebih … daripada/berbanding … bold:

  • bold Saya lebih suka teh hijau daripada kopi. bold
  • bold Saya lebih meminati teh hijau berbanding kopi. bold Use bold daripada bold (preferred) rather than bold dari bold for comparisons.
How do I express tense? Does bold meminati bold mean present, past, or future?

Malay doesn’t mark tense on the verb. You add time words/aspect markers:

  • Past/habitual: bold Dulu saya meminati teh hijau. bold (I used to like…)
  • Present: bold Sekarang saya meminati teh hijau. bold
  • Future/intention: bold Saya akan meminati… bold (rare; better: bold Saya rasa saya akan meminati… bold)
  • Completed: bold Saya sudah/telah meminati teh hijau sejak kecil. bold
  • Progressive: bold Saya sedang meminati teh hijau kebelakangan ini. bold
Is the comma after bold Selain kopi bold required?
When bold Selain kopi bold is fronted as an introductory phrase, a comma is standard in writing: bold Selain kopi, … bold In speech you would naturally pause there.
Can I put bold selain bold at the end: bold Saya meminati teh hijau selain kopi bold?
It’s possible, and people will understand it as “besides coffee, I like green tea.” However, placing bold selain kopi bold at the beginning is clearer and more natural. End placement can sound a bit clunky or ambiguous in writing.
Where should I put bold juga bold to mean “also”?

Most natural:

  • After the subject: bold Selain kopi, saya juga meminati teh hijau. bold Also possible (more casual/emphatic on the object):
  • At the end: bold Saya meminati teh hijau juga. bold Generally avoid: bold Saya meminati juga teh hijau bold (sounds awkward).
How do I pronounce the words?
  • bold selain bold: se-la-in (the bold ai bold is like the “eye” in English; light stress near la)
  • bold meminati bold: me-mi-NA-ti (Malay stress is light; often on the penultimate syllable)
  • bold teh bold: “teh” (short e as in “ten”)
  • bold hijau bold: hi-jau (bold jau bold sounds like “jow” with English j) Malay has fairly even stress; vowels are clear and short.
Are bold kopi bold and bold teh hijau bold definite or indefinite? How do I say “a cup of green tea” or “the green tea”?

Malay has no articles (no “a/the”). The bare noun can be generic or specific from context.

  • “A cup of green tea”: use a classifier/measure word, e.g. bold secawan teh hijau bold (cup), bold segelas teh hijau bold (glass).
  • “The green tea” (specific): add a demonstrative, e.g. bold teh hijau itu/ini bold.
Is this sentence the same in Indonesian?

It’s fully understandable. Indonesian often uses:

  • bold Selain kopi, saya suka/menyukai teh hijau. bold
  • bold Saya lebih suka teh hijau daripada kopi. bold Bold meminati bold also exists in Indonesian, often with the sense “to be interested in/fan of.” The noun–adjective order (bold teh hijau bold) is the same.
Can I use bold kecuali bold instead of bold selain bold?

Bold kecuali bold means “except (for),” which excludes the item. It does not mean “besides/as well as.”

  • Excluding coffee: bold Saya minum semua minuman, kecuali kopi. bold In your sentence, bold selain bold is the appropriate choice if you mean “besides/other than.”
What’s inside bold meminati bold morphologically?

It’s built from the root bold minat bold (interest) with the prefix bold meN- bold and the suffix bold -i bold:

  • bold meN- bold + bold minat bold + bold -i bold → bold meminati bold = “to have an interest in (something)” (transitive; takes a direct object). Compare bold berminat bold: bold ber- bold + bold minat bold → “to be interested,” typically used with a preposition (bold berminat dengan/terhadap/pada X bold).