Saya bayar cukai di kaunter bayaran.

I pay tax at the payment counter.

Breakdown of Saya bayar cukai di kaunter bayaran.

• saya: I
• di: at
• kaunter bayaran: the payment counter
• bayar: to pay
• cukai: the tax

Questions & Answers about Saya bayar cukai di kaunter bayaran.

Is the verb showing tense? How do I say I paid / am paying / will pay?

Malay verbs don’t change for tense. You add time/aspect words:

• Past/completed: Saya sudah/telah bayar cukai di kaunter bayaran.
• In progress: Saya sedang/tengah bayar cukai di kaunter bayaran.
• Future: Saya akan bayar cukai di kaunter bayaran.
• Just did: Saya baru bayar cukai di kaunter bayaran. (Formal style often uses membayar instead of bayar.)

Should it be bayar or membayar?

Both are correct.

• bayar = colloquial/neutral, common in speech: Saya bayar cukai…
• membayar = more formal/polite/written: Saya membayar cukai… Meaning is the same; choose based on formality.

What’s the difference between bayar, bayaran, and pembayaran?

• bayar: to pay (verb)
• bayaran: a payment/fee/charge (noun, result)
• pembayaran: the act/process of payment (more formal/official noun) Hence both kaunter bayaran and kaunter pembayaran are seen.

Why is it di and not ke?

• di marks location (where something happens): di kaunter bayaran = at the payment counter.
• ke marks movement/direction (to): Saya pergi ke kaunter bayaran untuk membayar cukai. Use di for place of the action; ke for going somewhere.

Does cukai mean “tax” or “taxes”? Do I need to mark plural?

Malay usually doesn’t mark plural, so cukai can mean tax/taxes. To be specific you can say:

• cukai saya (my tax/taxes)
• dua jenis cukai (two kinds of taxes) Reduplication (cukai-cukai) is rare and used to emphasize variety, not needed here.

How do I say “my tax” or specify the type of tax?

• My tax(es): cukai saya
• Income tax: cukai pendapatan
• Road tax: cukai jalan
• Service tax: cukai perkhidmatan Examples: Saya bayar cukai pendapatan di kaunter bayaran. / Saya bayar cukai jalan di kaunter bayaran.

Is there an article like “the”? How do I say “at the payment counter” vs “at that payment counter”?

Malay has no articles. Specificity comes from context or demonstratives:

• at the/that payment counter: di kaunter bayaran itu
• at this payment counter: di kaunter bayaran ini Counting/classifying uses classifiers (e.g., sebuah kaunter), but after di, you normally just say di kaunter without a classifier.

Can I use aku instead of saya?

• saya: neutral and polite; safe in public and formal situations.
• aku: casual/intimate; fine with friends/family, but too informal for a counter/government setting. Stick with saya at the counter.

Can I front the location: “Di kaunter bayaran, saya bayar cukai”?

Yes. Di kaunter bayaran, saya bayar cukai is natural for topicalizing the place. Neutral word order (subject–verb–object–place) is also fine: Saya bayar cukai di kaunter bayaran.

How do I negate this sentence?

Use tidak with verbs.

• I don’t pay taxes at the counter: Saya tidak bayar cukai di kaunter bayaran.
• I didn’t pay (add a time word): Semalam saya tidak bayar cukai di kaunter bayaran.
• I haven’t paid yet: Saya belum bayar cukai di kaunter bayaran.

How do I say it in the passive voice?

• The tax is/was paid at the payment counter: Cukai dibayar di kaunter bayaran. To mention the agent, you can add oleh (formal): Cukai dibayar oleh saya di kaunter bayaran, but it’s more natural to use the active: Saya (mem)bayar cukai…

What’s the difference between Malaysian Malay and Indonesian for this sentence?

Indonesian typically: Saya membayar pajak di loket pembayaran. Differences:

• cukai (MY) vs pajak (ID)
• kaunter (MY) vs loket (ID)
• membayar is more standard than bayar in Indonesian formal style.

Any quick pronunciation tips for these words?

• saya: SAH-yah (light y)
• bayar: BAH-yar (rolled/tapped r)
• bayaran: bah-YAH-rahn
• cukai: CHOO-kai (ai like eye)
• kaunter: KOWN-te(r) (au like ow in “cow”; final r lightly tapped)
• di: dee Malay stress is light and even; keep vowels clear.

Is there any nuance between kaunter bayaran and kaunter pembayaran?

Both are correct and widely used. kaunter bayaran is very common on signage; kaunter pembayaran can feel a bit more formal/technical. No change in meaning here.

Is di here the same as the passive prefix di-?

No. Two different things:

• di (separate word) = preposition “at/in/on”: di kaunter.
• di- (attached prefix) = passive marker on verbs: dibayar. Don’t write dikaunter or di bayar; it’s di kaunter and dibayar.