Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya jumpa kunci anda di lobi hotel. - I found your key in the hotel lobby.

Yes, jumpa is perfectly natural in everyday Malaysian Malay for “to find.” The more formal options are menjumpai or sometimes menemui (often used in formal writing or for “discover/encounter”). If you want to stress it was accidental, use terjumpa: Saya terjumpa kunci...

Does jumpa also mean “meet”? How do I avoid confusion?

Yes. With people, jumpa can mean “meet” (e.g., Saya jumpa dia in colloquial Malay). The object tells you the meaning: with an inanimate noun like kunci, it means “find.” To be explicit for “meet,” use berjumpa (dengan) or bertemu (dengan): Saya berjumpa dengan dia di lobi.

Do I need a past-tense marker like “already” (sudah/dah/telah)?

Malay doesn’t mark tense by default; context is enough. You can add aspect/time markers:

Completed: Saya dah/sudah jumpa kunci...
Formal completed: Saya telah menjumpai kunci...
Time: Saya jumpa kunci... tadi/semalam.

Is anda the natural way to say “your” here?

Anda is neutral/formal and very common in writing, customer messaging, or announcements. In face-to-face conversation in Malaysia, many speakers prefer:

awak (friendly/neutral with peers)
A title: encik/puan/cik (polite: kunci encik/puan)
kamu is region- and context-dependent and can sound blunt to adults; kau is very informal.

How do I make it politely addressed to a specific person (Mr./Ms.)?

Use a title after the noun:

To a man: Saya jumpa kunci encik di lobi hotel.
To a woman: Saya jumpa kunci puan di lobi hotel. You can add the name: kunci Encik Ahmad / kunci Puan Aisha.

Can I say kuncimu instead of kunci anda/awak?

The suffix -mu exists but in Malaysia it sounds literary/poetic and is far less common in speech. It’s frequent in Indonesian and in formal/religious texts. For everyday Malay, stick to kunci awak/anda or a title (kunci encik/puan).

Does di mean “at” or “in”? Do I need di dalam?

di covers both “at” and “in” for locations, so di lobi hotel is enough. di dalam (inside) adds emphasis to being inside a bounded space; you could say di dalam lobi hotel, but it’s usually unnecessary because a lobby is already “inside.”

How do I make “the hotel lobby” versus just “a hotel lobby”?

Malay has no articles. You make definiteness explicit with demonstratives or modifiers:

Definite/specific: di lobi hotel itu/tersebut or di lobi Hotel ABC
Indefinite/unspecified: context usually suffices, but you can say di lobi sebuah hotel if you really need “at a hotel’s lobby.”

Is the word order fixed? Can I front the location or the object?

Default is SVO: Saya jumpa kunci anda di lobi hotel. You can topicalize for emphasis:

Location first: Di lobi hotel, saya jumpa kunci anda.
Object first: Kunci anda saya jumpa di lobi hotel. (focus on the key)

Should it be kunci or anak kunci?

Both exist. In Malaysia today, kunci is the common everyday word. anak kunci is also understood and used by some speakers; it can sound a bit traditional/regional. With compounds, kunci bilik/kereta is most common.

How do I say “room key” or “car key”?

Room key: kunci bilik
Car key: kunci kereta Example: Saya jumpa kunci bilik encik di lobi hotel.

How do I say “I happened to find” or “I just found”?

Accidental discovery: Saya terjumpa kunci awak di lobi hotel.
Very recent: Saya baru jumpa kunci awak di lobi hotel. / Saya baru tadi jumpa... / Saya baru sahaja jumpa...

What’s the difference between di and ke here?

di marks location (static): di lobi hotel. ke marks movement/destination: pergi ke lobi hotel. So you “found [something] di lobi,” but you “went ke lobi.”

How do I say I didn’t find it?

Use tidak (formal) or tak (colloquial) before the verb:

Saya tidak jumpa kunci awak di lobi hotel.
Saya tak jumpa kunci awak di lobi hotel.

Any quick pronunciation tips for the sentence?

Saya: SA-ya (final “a” like “father”)
jumpa: jum-PA (u like “oo” in “book”; c in Malay is “ch,” but here it’s “j” so “j” as in “jam”)
kunci: kun-CI (c = “ch”)
anda: AN-da
di: dee
lobi: LO-bee
hotel: HO-tel (h pronounced)

Is the spacing of di correct? I’ve seen it attached in other words.

Yes. The preposition di is written separately before a place: di lobi, di rumah. It’s attached only when it’s the passive prefix di-, as in ditulis (“is written”) or dilihat (“is seen”).