Saya mencari kunci kereta di lobi hotel.

I am looking for the car key in the hotel lobby.

Breakdown of Saya mencari kunci kereta di lobi hotel.

• saya: I
• di: in
• hotel: the hotel
• kunci kereta: the car key
• lobi: the lobby
• mencari: to look for

Questions & Answers about Saya mencari kunci kereta di lobi hotel.

What does the prefix in "mencari" do, and can I just say "cari"?

• The root is cari = search/look for.
• The prefix meN- makes an active transitive verb: mencari = to look for (something).
• With roots beginning with c, meN- appears as men-: men + cari → mencari.
• In everyday speech, the bare form is common: Saya cari... is perfectly natural; Cari! is the imperative.

Where is the tense? Does this mean I was/am/will be looking?

Malay doesn’t mark tense on the verb. The sentence can be past, present, or future. Add time/aspect words to be explicit:

• Progressive: Saya sedang/tengah mencari...
• Past: Saya tadi mencari... / Saya sudah/udah mencari...
• Future: Saya akan mencari... / Nanti saya cari...

Is “kunci kereta” singular or plural?

Malay nouns don’t change for number, so kunci kereta can mean “car key” or “car keys.” To be specific:

• One: satu kunci kereta
• Several: beberapa kunci kereta
• Plural in general: kunci-kunci kereta (less common in everyday speech)

How do I say “my car key”?

Use a pronoun after the noun phrase: kunci kereta saya. Other options:

• Informal: kunci kereta aku
• Literary/less common in Malaysia: kunciku
• His/her: kunci keretanya

Why is it “lobi hotel” and not “hotel lobi”?

In Malay, noun–noun compounds put the head first and the modifier second: lobi hotel = “the lobby of a hotel.” Same pattern in kunci kereta (“key of a car”), pintu rumah (“door of a house”).

Can I put the place first, like “In the hotel lobby, I’m looking for the car key”?

Yes. Common variants:

• Di lobi hotel, saya mencari kunci kereta.
• Saya di lobi hotel mencari kunci kereta. Default neutral order is Subject–Verb–Object–Place/Time, but fronting the place is fine for emphasis.

Do I need “for” after “mencari,” like “mencari untuk”?

No “for” is needed after mencari for the object: say mencari kunci, not “mencari untuk kunci.” Use untuk only to mark a beneficiary or purpose:

• Beneficiary: Saya mencari hadiah untuk ibu saya.
• Purpose with a verb: Saya mencari tempat untuk berehat.

What’s the difference between “di,” “ke,” and “dalam/di dalam”?

• di = at/in (location): di lobi hotel (in/at the hotel lobby)
• ke = to/towards (movement): ke lobi hotel (to the hotel lobby)
• dalam/di dalam = inside (emphasizes the interior): di dalam lobi hotel (inside the lobby)

Is “di” the same as the passive prefix “di-”? How do I tell?

No. The preposition di is written separately (e.g., di lobi). The passive prefix di- attaches to a verb (e.g., diambil = “taken”). Spacing is the giveaway.

How do I mark “the” hotel lobby? Is there an article?

Malay has no articles. Use itu to make something specific/definite:

• di lobi hotel itu = in the lobby of that (specific) hotel. You can also name it: di lobi Hotel Merdeka.

Pronunciation tips for the whole sentence?

• saya: SAH-yah (final -a often a relaxed “uh” in Malaysia)
• mencari: m’n-CHA-ree (c = “ch”)
• kunci: KOON-chee
• kereta: kuh-RAY-tah (light tapped r)
• di: dee
• lobi: LOH-bee
• hotel: HOH-tel (clear h)

Does “kereta” mean “car” or “train”?

In Malay, kereta = car. “Train” is kereta api (literally “fire vehicle”). Note: in Indonesian, “car” is mobil.

Is “lobi” the only word for “lobby”?

Lobi is the common loanword. A formal Malay term you may see is ruang legar. Both are understood.

Is “Saya mencari” formal? What would casual speech sound like?

• Neutral/formal: Saya mencari kunci kereta di lobi hotel.
• Casual: Saya cari kunci kereta kat lobi hotel.
• Very casual: Aku tengah cari kunci kereta kat lobi hotel. Notes: tengah/sedang marks progressive; kat/dekat is a common colloquial “at/in.”

How do I say “I’m still looking for the car key in the hotel lobby”?

Use masih for “still”:

• Saya masih mencari kunci kereta di lobi hotel.

Can I make this passive or front the object?

Yes, but be mindful of naturalness:

• Object-fronted (topicalization): Kunci kereta saya, saya cari di lobi hotel.
• Passive with di- (more formal, and can sound stiff here): Kunci kereta saya sedang dicari di lobi hotel.

Do I need a classifier/measure word with “kunci”?

Not unless you’re counting. Common, natural choices:

• satu kunci (one key)
• sebuah kunci (one key; “buah” is a general classifier) You’ll also hear seberkas kunci for “a bunch of keys.”

Is “kunci” ever a verb?

Yes. kunci as a verb means “to lock.” For example: Saya kunci pintu = I lock the door. In your sentence it’s clearly a noun because it’s followed by a modifier (kereta).