Dia menjawab soalan sejarah.

He/She answers the history question.

Breakdown of Dia menjawab soalan sejarah.

• dia: he/she
• soalan: the question
• sejarah: history
• menjawab: to answer

Questions & Answers about Dia menjawab soalan sejarah.

Does dia mean he or she? How do I show the gender in Malay?

Dia is a gender‑neutral third‑person singular pronoun. It can mean he, she, or sometimes they (singular, in a very general sense). Malay usually does not mark gender at all.

If you really need to clarify gender, you normally rely on context, or you specify the person another way, for example:

• Lelaki itu menjawab soalan sejarah. – The man answered the history question.
• Perempuan itu menjawab soalan sejarah. – The woman answered the history question.

But in everyday conversation, dia is almost always enough; people understand from context who you mean.

Why is there no word for the in soalan sejarah? Shouldn’t it be the history question?

Malay does not have articles like a, an, or the. The noun soalan on its own can be translated as a question, the question, or just question, depending on context.

So:

• Dia menjawab soalan sejarah.
  Depending on the situation, could be:
  • He/She answered a history question.
  • He/She answered the history question.

If you really need to be very specific, you add other words instead of an article:

• Dia menjawab satu soalan sejarah. – He/She answered one history question.
• Dia menjawab semua soalan sejarah. – He/She answered all the history questions.

What is the function of sejarah in soalan sejarah? Why is it after soalan?

Sejarah means history. In soalan sejarah, sejarah is acting like an adjective that comes after the noun it modifies.

Malay often uses noun + noun to express [main noun] + [type or category]:

• soalan sejarah – a history question / question about history
• buku sejarah – a history book
• peperiksaan sejarah – a history exam

The head noun comes first (soalan = question), and the modifier comes after (sejarah = history). So literally, soalan sejarah is something like question (of) history.

Is soalan singular or plural here? Could it mean questions?

Soalan is grammatically unmarked for number. It can mean question or questions, depending on context.

To be explicit:

• soalan – question / questions (context decides)
• soalan-soalan – questions (plural is emphasized, often in writing)
• banyak soalan sejarah – many history questions
• beberapa soalan sejarah – several history questions

In Dia menjawab soalan sejarah, it most naturally suggests a/the history question, but it could also be understood as history questions if the surrounding context makes that clear.

What is the difference between jawab and menjawab?

Jawab is the root word meaning answer (as a verb or a noun, depending on context).
Menjawab is the meN- verb form built from jawab, and it is the standard transitive verb to answer.

• jawab

  • As a verb (informal, or in imperatives):
    
    • Dia jawab soalan itu. – He/She answered that question. (very colloquial)
    • Jawab soalan ini. – Answer this question.
  • As a noun:
    
    • Dia beri saya jawab yang betul. – He/She gave me the correct answer.

• menjawab

  • Standard, neutral, and good in writing:
    
    • Dia menjawab soalan sejarah. – He/She answered the history question.

In careful or formal Malay, you will usually see menjawab when you have a clear object like soalan sejarah.

How is tense shown here? Why can Dia menjawab soalan sejarah be translated as answered, answers, or is answering?

Malay verbs generally do not change form for tense. The verb menjawab stays the same for past, present, and future. Tense or time reference is usually understood from context or from time words.

The bare sentence:

• Dia menjawab soalan sejarah.

could be:

• He/She answers the history question. (present / habitual)
• He/She is answering the history question. (present continuous)
• He/She answered the history question. (past)

If you want to be explicit, you add markers or time expressions:

• Dia sedang menjawab soalan sejarah. – He/She is (currently) answering the history question.
• Dia sudah / telah menjawab soalan sejarah. – He/She has already answered the history question.
• Dia akan menjawab soalan sejarah. – He/She will answer the history question.
• Tadi dia menjawab soalan sejarah. – Just now/earlier he/she answered the history question.

Can I drop dia in this sentence, like Spanish or Japanese can drop subjects?

Yes, Malay often omits pronouns when they are clear from context.

So you might hear:

• Menjawab soalan sejarah.

in conversation, especially if it is obvious who is doing the answering. For example, in a classroom where the teacher is commenting:

• (Dia) menjawab soalan sejarah dengan baik.
  – (He/She) answered the history question well.

In writing or in complete, standalone sentences, including dia is more natural, but dropping it is perfectly grammatical in context.

Is Dia menjawab soalan sejarah also acceptable as a general or habitual statement, like He answers history questions?

Yes. Without any time markers, Malay sentences are flexible and can express general or habitual actions.

• Dia menjawab soalan sejarah.

can mean:

• A specific event, if the context is specific:
  
  • Yesterday, during the exam, he answered the history question.
• A habitual or general description if the context is general:
  
  • In competitions, he answers history questions.

To force a habitual meaning, you can add time words:

• Dia selalu menjawab soalan sejarah. – He/She always answers history questions.
• Setiap tahun, dia menjawab soalan sejarah dalam pertandingan kuiz. – Every year, he/she answers history questions in quiz competitions.

Could soalan sejarah mean the question of history (like a philosophical idea), or is it always a history question?

By default, soalan sejarah is understood very concretely as a question about history (e.g. in school exams, quizzes, homework).

It could be interpreted more abstractly (the question of history) in a very specific academic or philosophical context, but that would be unusual; writers would normally make that clearer with additional words, for example:

• soalan tentang makna sejarah – the question about the meaning of history
• soalan falsafah mengenai sejarah – philosophical question concerning history

So in ordinary usage, soalan sejarah = a history question.

How would I say his history question or her history question in Malay?

You would usually attach the possessive suffix -nya or use a possessive pronoun after the noun phrase.

Some options:

• soalan sejarahnya – his/her history question (context decides whose)
• soalan sejarah dia – his/her history question (also common in speech)

Examples in a sentence:

• Dia menjawab soalan sejarahnya.
  – He/She answered his/her history question. (The possessor is understood from context.)

If you want to be extra clear, you can name the person:

• Ali menjawab soalan sejarahnya. – Ali answered his history question.
• Siti menjawab soalan sejarahnya. – Siti answered her history question.

How would I break this sentence down word by word with parts of speech?

• Dia – third‑person singular pronoun (he/she); subject.
• menjawab – verb (to answer); action done by dia.
  
  • Built from root jawab with prefix meN- to form a standard active verb.
• soalan – noun (question); direct object of the verb.
• sejarah – noun (history), functioning as a post‑modifier of soalan; together soalan sejarah = history question.

So the structure is:

[Subject] [Verb] [Object + Modifier]
Dia menjawab soalan sejarah.