Learn Hardcore Malay: Kami pergi ke panggung wayang di tingkat kedua.

kami = we (excluding the listener)
- Used when the listener is not part of the group.
kita = we (including the listener)
- Used when the listener is part of the group.

In Kami pergi ke panggung wayang di tingkat kedua, kami tells us that the speaker’s group went, but the person being spoken to did not go with them. If the speaker wanted to include the listener, they would say Kita pergi… instead.

Why isn’t there any word for did or went (past tense) in this sentence?

Malay verbs usually do not change form for tense. The verb pergi can mean:

go
went
will go

The tense is understood from context or from time words, for example:

Kami pergi ke panggung wayang tadi. – We went to the cinema just now.
Kami akan pergi ke panggung wayang. – We will go to the cinema.
Sekarang kami pergi ke panggung wayang. – Now we are going to the cinema.

So in your sentence, pergi by itself can be understood as went if the surrounding context is in the past.

If pergi already means “go”, why do we also need ke?

pergi is the verb to go.
ke is a preposition meaning to / towards (a destination).

You normally use them together:

pergi ke sekolah – go to school
pergi ke rumah nenek – go to grandma’s house
pergi ke panggung wayang – go to the cinema

You can sometimes drop the verb and just say ke panggung wayang in very telegraphic or informal contexts (like on signs or in note-style speech), but the standard full sentence uses both: pergi (go) + ke (to).

What exactly does panggung wayang mean? Are panggung and wayang separate words?

Yes, panggung and wayang are separate words:

panggung = stage / platform / theatre area
wayang = show, performance; traditionally shadow-puppet plays, but also used more generally for shows

Together, panggung wayang functions as a compound meaning roughly cinema or movie theatre. In modern Malaysian usage it usually means a place where you watch movies, not a live theatre stage (that would more naturally be something like panggung teater or panggung seni).

Can I just say pawagam or wayang instead of panggung wayang?

Yes, depending on region and style:

pawagam – common modern word for cinema in Malaysia; shorter and very natural in speech:
- Kami pergi ke pawagam di tingkat kedua.
wayang – informally, some speakers just say tengok wayang for “watch a movie”:
- Kami pergi tengok wayang. – We went to watch a movie.

panggung wayang is still correct and understood, but pawagam is often more colloquial and concise in everyday Malaysian speech.

Why isn’t there a word like a or the before panggung wayang?

Malay generally does not use articles like English a / an / the. So:

panggung wayang can mean a cinema, the cinema, or simply cinema depending on context.

If you really need to be explicit, you can add other words:

sebuah panggung wayang – a cinema (literally “one classifier cinema”)
panggung wayang itu – that / the cinema

But in most everyday sentences, just panggung wayang is enough and is the natural form.

Do we need a classifier like sebuah before panggung wayang?

You can use a classifier, but you don’t have to:

With classifier:
- Kami pergi ke sebuah panggung wayang di tingkat kedua. – We went to a cinema on the second floor.
Without classifier (your sentence):
- Kami pergi ke panggung wayang di tingkat kedua.

Both are grammatically correct. In casual speech and simple statements of where you went, people often skip the classifier, especially when the exact number doesn’t matter. Classifiers become more important when you’re counting or being precise:

Ada dua buah panggung wayang di sini. – There are two cinemas here.

Does di tingkat kedua describe where we went, or which cinema we went to?

In this word order:

Kami pergi ke panggung wayang di tingkat kedua.

di tingkat kedua is most naturally read as describing the cinema (i.e., the cinema that is on the second floor), not the action of going.

So the meaning is:
We went to the cinema that is on the second floor.

If you wanted to focus on where you ended up (on the second floor), you might rephrase, for example:

Kami pergi ke tingkat kedua, ke panggung wayang. – We went to the second floor, to the cinema.

But your original sentence is usually understood as specifying which cinema.

What’s the difference between tingkat kedua and tingkat dua?

Both involve the number 2, but:

kedua = ordinal number (second)
dua = cardinal number (two)

So:

tingkat kedua = the second floor (ordinal)
tingkat dua = floor two / level two (more like the label “2”)

In everyday speech, you will hear both, and the difference is often small, but:

tingkat kedua is more clearly “the second floor” in a grammatical sense.
tingkat dua sounds a bit more like naming the floor by its number, as you might see on a button in an elevator.

Your sentence with di tingkat kedua is perfectly natural.

Can I move di tingkat kedua to earlier in the sentence?

You technically can move it, but clarity and naturalness change:

Kami pergi ke panggung wayang di tingkat kedua.
- Natural; di tingkat kedua clearly describes panggung wayang.
Kami pergi di tingkat kedua ke panggung wayang.
- Grammatically odd; sounds like “We went on the second floor to the cinema”, which is confusing.
Di tingkat kedua kami pergi ke panggung wayang.
- Grammatically okay, but now di tingkat kedua is more like a setting (“On the second floor, we went to the cinema”). This sounds a bit unusual unless there’s a bigger context, like describing several things happening on different floors.

For a simple, neutral sentence, the original word order is best.

Why are there two prepositions, ke and di, in the same sentence?

They have different roles:

ke = to / towards (movement to a destination)
- pergi ke panggung wayang – go to the cinema
di = at / in / on (location, where something is)
- di tingkat kedua – on the second floor

So the structure is:

pergi ke (go to) + panggung wayang (cinema)
that cinema is located di tingkat kedua (on the second floor)

It’s normal and very common in Malay to have a movement preposition (ke) and a location preposition (di) together when you say you went to a place that is in/on another place.

Could we drop kami and just say Pergi ke panggung wayang di tingkat kedua?

Yes, in casual speech or note-style language, subjects are often dropped when they are clear from context:

Pergi ke panggung wayang di tingkat kedua.
- Could mean “(We / I / they) went to the cinema on the second floor.”

However:

In neutral, clear, full sentences (especially in writing or when context is not obvious), it’s better to keep kami.
Dropping kami removes information about who is doing the action.

So your full sentence with Kami is more complete and unambiguous.

How would I say “We are going / will go to the cinema on the second floor” instead of “We went…”?

You can keep the same structure and add a time marker or a future marker:

Kami akan pergi ke panggung wayang di tingkat kedua.
- We will go to the cinema on the second floor. (akan = will)
Nanti kami pergi ke panggung wayang di tingkat kedua.
- Later we will go to the cinema on the second floor. (nanti = later)
Sekarang kami pergi ke panggung wayang di tingkat kedua.
- Now we are going to the cinema on the second floor. (sekarang = now)

The verb pergi itself doesn’t change; you just change the time word or add akan to express future.