Learn Hardcore Malay: Kucing saya duduk di depan pintu.

dua ekor kucing saya = my two cats
banyak kucing saya = many of my cats
kucing-kucing saya = my cats (reduplication; more common in writing or to emphasize plurality)

Are there other ways to say my cat besides kucing saya?

Yes, some common alternatives are:

kucingku – more informal/intimate; -ku is a suffix meaning my.
saya punya kucing – literally I own cat; more colloquial/spoken.
kucing saya – neutral and widely used, good default.

So:

Kucing saya duduk di depan pintu.
Kucingku duduk di depan pintu.
Saya punya kucing duduk di depan pintu. (sounds more casual/spoken)

Why is there no word for is in Kucing saya duduk di depan pintu?

Malay normally doesn’t use a separate verb like English to be in this kind of sentence. The verb duduk already covers the idea of “is sitting” or “sits”.

So:

English: My cat is sitting in front of the door.
Malay: Kucing saya duduk di depan pintu.

You don’t add anything like adalah here. Adalah is used in different structures (mainly with nouns and some formal definitions), not before verbs like duduk.

Does duduk mean sit or is sitting? Is there a difference?

duduk literally means to sit, but Malay doesn’t mark tense the same way English does. Context decides whether it’s:

sits (habitual)
is sitting (right now)
sat (past)

In your sentence:

Kucing saya duduk di depan pintu.

It can mean:

My cat is sitting in front of the door (now).
or
My cat sits in front of the door (as a habit).

If you want to make it clear that it’s happening right now, you can add sedang:

Kucing saya sedang duduk di depan pintu.
= My cat is currently sitting in front of the door.

Do I need sedang here, or is Kucing saya duduk di depan pintu already okay?

Kucing saya duduk di depan pintu is perfectly natural and common. Native speakers usually understand from context whether it’s now, habitual, or past.

Use sedang only when you really want to emphasize the ongoing nature:

Without sedang: neutral, flexible
With sedang: clearly in the middle of doing it right now

So both are correct:

Kucing saya duduk di depan pintu.
Kucing saya sedang duduk di depan pintu.

What is the role of di in di depan pintu? Can I just say depan pintu?

di is a preposition meaning at / in / on.

depan means front, so:

di depan = in front (at the front)

di depan pintu = in front of the door.

In careful/standard Malay, you normally keep di:

Kucing saya duduk di depan pintu. ✅

In casual speech, people sometimes drop di and say kucing saya duduk depan pintu, and it’s understood, but di depan pintu is the standard and safest form, especially in writing and for learners.

What is the difference between depan, di depan, and di hadapan?

depan: “front” (bare noun).
di depan: “in front (of)” – normal, everyday form.
di hadapan: also “in front (of)”, a bit more formal or literary.

In your sentence, all of these are grammatically possible:

Kucing saya duduk di depan pintu. (most common)
Kucing saya duduk di hadapan pintu. (more formal / written)

Just depan pintu alone is more colloquial and usually understood as “in front of the door” in speech.

Why is it di depan pintu and not something like pada depan pintu?

For locations, Malay almost always uses di, not pada:

di rumah = at home
di sekolah = at school
di depan pintu = in front of the door

pada is used more for:

abstract time or situations (e.g. pada masa itu = at that time)
some formal or set expressions

So pada depan pintu is not natural. Use di for physical location: di depan pintu.

How do I say in front of the door versus in front of a door? Does pintu mean the door here?

Malay doesn’t mark the vs a the way English does. pintu by itself is neutral:

di depan pintu can mean:
- in front of a door
- in front of the door

Context usually tells you which one.

To make it clearly the door, you can add a demonstrative:

di depan pintu itu = in front of that door / the door
di depan pintu ini = in front of this door

Can I change the word order, like Di depan pintu, kucing saya duduk?

Yes, you can front the location phrase for emphasis or style:

Kucing saya duduk di depan pintu. (neutral, most common)
Di depan pintu, kucing saya duduk. (emphasizes the location first)

Both are grammatical.

What you shouldn’t do is split it unnaturally, like:

Kucing saya di depan pintu duduk. ❌ (sounds wrong)

Can I drop saya and just say Kucing duduk di depan pintu?

Yes. If it’s already clear from context whose cat you’re talking about, Malay often omits possessors:

Kucing duduk di depan pintu.
= A/the cat is sitting in front of the door. (whose cat is understood from context, or not important)

Add saya when you want to specify it is my cat:

Kucing saya duduk di depan pintu.

What’s the difference between saya and aku in kucing saya vs kucing aku?

Both mean I / me, but with different levels of formality:

saya: polite, neutral, safe in almost all situations (formal and informal).
aku: informal/intimate, used with close friends, family, or when talking to yourself.

So:

kucing saya – polite/neutral
kucing aku – casual, friendly

The rest of the sentence stays the same:

Kucing aku duduk di depan pintu. (to a close friend)
Kucing saya duduk di depan pintu. (neutral / polite)

Is di here a prefix or a separate word? I’ve seen di- used as a prefix in Malay.

In di depan pintu, di is a separate word functioning as a preposition (at/in/on).

Malay also has di- as a prefix to form passive verbs (e.g. ditulis, dibuka). The difference is in spelling:

Preposition: di is written separate from the next word
- di rumah, di depan pintu
Passive prefix: di- is written attached to the verb
- ditulis (written), dibuka (opened)

So in your sentence, di is the location preposition, not a passive prefix.