Gerai itu sukar dicari waktu malam.

to be

Breakdown of Gerai itu sukar dicari waktu malam.

• itu: that
• waktu malam: the night
• cari: to look for
• gerai: the stall
• sukar: difficult

Questions & Answers about Gerai itu sukar dicari waktu malam.

Why is there no word like “is” (e.g. adalah) in Gerai itu sukar dicari waktu malam?

Malay often omits a verb meaning “to be” in sentences with an adjective.
So:

• Gerai itu sukar dicari waktu malam.
  literally: “That stall difficult to find at night.”
  meaning: “That stall is hard to find at night.”

Using adalah here is possible but sounds more formal and a bit heavy:

• Gerai itu adalah sukar dicari waktu malam. (grammatical, but not very natural in everyday speech)

For normal conversation and neutral writing, you simply put noun + adjective with no “is”.

What exactly does sukar mean, and how is it different from susah or payah?

Sukar means “difficult / hard” and is fairly neutral to slightly formal.

Common synonyms:

• susah – very common, more conversational:
  
  • Gerai itu susah dicari waktu malam.
    (very natural in speech)
• payah – can mean “hard, troublesome,” sometimes with a sense of effort or hassle:
  
  • Gerai itu payah nak cari waktu malam. (colloquial)

In most everyday situations, susah is more common than sukar in speech.
In written / formal Malay (e.g. news, exams), sukar is very standard.

What is the structure of sukar dicari? Is dicari passive?

Yes. Dicari is the passive form of cari (“to look for / to search for”).

• cari = to search for
• di-
  • cari → dicari = “to be searched for / to be looked for”

In Gerai itu sukar dicari, the stall (gerai itu) is the thing being searched for.
Literally: “That stall is difficult to-be-searched-for.”

There is no explicit “by someone”; it’s understood as “by people / by you” in general.
This is a common pattern: [subject] + sukar/mudah + di-verb.

Can I say sukar untuk dicari instead of sukar dicari? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say:

• Gerai itu sukar untuk dicari waktu malam.

The meaning is the same: “That stall is hard to find at night.”

Nuance:

• sukar dicari – slightly more compact and natural in many contexts.
• sukar untuk dicari – sounds a bit more explicit or slightly more formal/emphatic.

Both are correct; in everyday speech, many people would just say susah nak cari or susah dicari.

Why is it dicari and not mencari? Can I say sukar mencari gerai itu?

Dicari (passive) makes the stall the grammatical subject:

• Gerai itu sukar dicari.
  “That stall is difficult to be found.”

If you use mencari (active), the implied subject becomes “someone who searches”:

• Sukar mencari gerai itu waktu malam.
  literally “It’s difficult to search for that stall at night.”

Both are grammatical and natural, but the focus shifts:

• Gerai itu sukar dicari focuses on the stall (it’s the thing that’s hard to find).
• Sukar mencari gerai itu focuses on the action of searching.

English does something similar:
“That stall is hard to find” vs “It’s hard to find that stall.”

What does gerai mean exactly? How is it different from kedai?

Gerai usually refers to a stall / booth / small stand, often in:

• food courts
• roadside setups
• markets or fairs

Kedai is more like a shop / store, usually a more permanent business:

• kedai buku – bookshop
• kedai runcit – convenience store / grocer

You’d typically say:

• gerai makan, gerai burger, gerai durian (food stalls)
• kedai makan, kedai pakaian, kedai elektrik (shops)

So Gerai itu sukar dicari suggests a stall, not a full shop.

What does waktu malam mean, and is waktu necessary? Could I just say malam?

Waktu means “time”.
waktu malam literally = “night time” / “the time of night”.

Alternatives:

• Gerai itu sukar dicari malam. – Often understood, but feels a bit clipped.
• Gerai itu sukar dicari pada malam hari. – more formal / explicit.
• Gerai itu sukar dicari pada waktu malam. – very clear and standard.

In everyday usage, waktu malam is a very common, natural way to say “at night”, and waktu helps make it sound complete and smooth.

Why is there no pada before waktu malam? Can I say pada waktu malam?

Yes, you can say:

• Gerai itu sukar dicari pada waktu malam.

In Malay, the preposition pada (“at/on”) is often optional with time expressions, especially in less formal contexts:

• waktu malam
• pada waktu malam

Both are correct. With pada, the sentence sounds slightly more formal or explicit; without pada, it sounds more conversational but still standard.

Can waktu malam be moved to the beginning of the sentence?

Yes. Malay word order is flexible with time expressions. For example:

• Waktu malam, gerai itu sukar dicari.
• Pada waktu malam, gerai itu sukar dicari.

These still mean “At night, that stall is hard to find.”

Putting waktu malam at the front is often used when you want to emphasize the time or set the scene first.

Why is itu placed after gerai? In English we say “that stall,” not “stall that.”

Malay demonstratives normally come after the noun:

• gerai itu – that stall
• buku ini – this book
• rumah itu – that house

So:

• gerai itu = “that stall”
• literally: “stall that”

This is a standard pattern in Malay:
noun + ini (“this”) / itu (“that”).

Is itu necessary here? What changes if I remove it?

Gerai itu sukar dicari waktu malam.
= “That stall is hard to find at night.”

If you drop itu:

• Gerai sukar dicari waktu malam.

This becomes more generic/undefined, something like:

• “A stall is hard to find at night.”
• or “Stalls are hard to find at night.” (depending on context)

With itu, you’re clearly referring to a specific stall that both speaker and listener know about. Without itu, it sounds like a general statement.

Are there synonyms for dicari I could use here, like dijumpai or ditemui?

Yes, you can use:

• dijumpai – “to be found”
• ditemui – “to be found / encountered”

Examples:

• Gerai itu sukar dijumpai waktu malam.
• Gerai itu sukar ditemui waktu malam.

These sound a bit more like “hard to be found/encountered,” which is very close in meaning.
Dicari emphasizes the searching process; dijumpai/ditemui emphasize the result (being found). All are natural in context.

How would people say this more casually in everyday Malaysian speech?

A very natural colloquial Malaysian version might be:

• Gerai tu susah nak cari waktu malam.

Changes:

• Gerai itu → Gerai tu (colloquial pronunciation of itu)
• sukar → susah (more common in speech)
• dicari → nak cari (“to look for,” using nak = hendak = want/to)

Meaning stays the same: “That stall is hard to find at night,” but this version sounds like what you’d actually hear among friends in Malaysia.