Log inSign up

Di rumah, saya suka keadaan senyap sebelum tidur.

Di rumah, saya suka keadaan senyap sebelum tidur.
At home, I like a silent atmosphere before sleeping.

Breakdown of Di rumah, saya suka keadaan senyap sebelum tidur.

saya
I
suka
to like
di
at
sebelum
before
tidur
to sleep
rumah
the house
keadaan
the situation
senyap
silent
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Malay grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Malay now

Questions & Answers about Di rumah, saya suka keadaan senyap sebelum tidur.

Why is di used in Di rumah instead of pada?

In Malay, di is the normal preposition for a physical location and is usually translated as at / in / on (place):

  • di rumah = at home / in the house
  • di sekolah = at school
  • di pejabat = at the office

pada is more often used for:

  • time: pada pukul tiga (at three o’clock), pada hari Isnin (on Monday)
  • people or abstract things: pada saya (in my opinion / for me), kepercayaannya pada Tuhan (his faith in God)

So pada rumah is not natural Malay. For place, use di.

What is the difference between di rumah and di dalam rumah?
  • di rumah = at home / at the house
    • General location, not emphasizing inside vs outside. Similar to English at home.
  • di dalam rumah = inside the house
    • Emphasizes inside the building, not outside.

In the sentence Di rumah, saya suka keadaan senyap sebelum tidur, we just want the idea “at home”, so di rumah is the most natural choice.

Could I also say Saya suka keadaan senyap di rumah sebelum tidur? Does the word order matter?

Yes, both are grammatically correct:

  1. Di rumah, saya suka keadaan senyap sebelum tidur.
  2. Saya suka keadaan senyap di rumah sebelum tidur.

The difference is mostly in emphasis:

  • Putting Di rumah at the beginning makes “at home” the topic/background:
    • At home, (as for that situation) I like quiet before sleeping.
  • Sentence 2 starts with Saya and sounds more neutral, like a straightforward statement of preference.

Malay often puts time/place phrases at the beginning, especially in spoken language, so version 1 feels very natural.

Why use saya instead of aku here? What’s the difference?

Both mean “I / me”, but they differ in formality and relationship:

  • saya

    • Polite, neutral, standard.
    • Used in most situations: with strangers, at work, in writing, in class.
    • Safe default for learners.

  • aku

    • Informal, intimate, or emotional.
    • Used with close friends, family, to God, in songs, poetry, or when expressing strong feelings.
    • Can sound rude or too casual in the wrong context.

In a neutral example sentence like this, saya is the appropriate choice.

What exactly does keadaan senyap mean, and why not just say saya suka senyap?

Breakdown:

  • keadaan = state / condition / situation
  • senyap = quiet / silent

So keadaan senyap literally means “a quiet state / a condition of quiet”, i.e. “quietness / a quiet environment”.

Alternatives:

  • Saya suka senyap sebelum tidur.

    • Also correct and natural.
    • Here senyap works like a noun: I like quiet / quietness before sleeping.

  • Saya suka keadaan senyap sebelum tidur.

    • Slightly more formal or explicit, emphasizing the state/condition of things being quiet, not just the abstract idea of “quiet”.

You may also hear very natural variants like:

  • Saya suka suasana senyap sebelum tidur. (I like a quiet atmosphere before sleeping.)
  • Saya suka keadaan sunyi sebelum tidur. (sunyi = lonely/quiet)
Does sebelum tidur mean “before I sleep”? Why is there no subject?

Yes, sebelum tidur here is understood as “before (I) sleep / before going to sleep”.

In Malay, when the subject of the main clause and the time clause is the same, the subject in the time clause is often omitted:

  • Saya mandi sebelum tidur.
    = I shower before (I) sleep.

You can say:

  • sebelum saya tidur
    • Adds a bit of emphasis on saya, or helps when there could be ambiguity about who sleeps.

Both are correct; sebelum tidur is shorter and very common.

Is the comma after Di rumah necessary?

The comma in Di rumah, saya suka keadaan senyap sebelum tidur is optional but common.

  • It marks a natural pause after the initial place phrase.
  • It can make reading easier, especially in writing.

Without comma:

  • Di rumah saya suka keadaan senyap sebelum tidur.
    Still correct; just a bit more “run-on” in writing. In speech, you would usually pause after Di rumah anyway.
Why is there no word for “the” or “my” in rumah? How do we know it’s “at home”?

Malay has no articles like “a / an / the”, and often drops possessives when obvious from context.

  • rumah by itself can mean:
    • a house / the house / home
      depending on context.

In Di rumah, saya suka…, because the subject is saya (I), listeners naturally understand di rumah as “at (my) home”, unless something else in the context says otherwise.

If you need to be explicit, you can say:

  • di rumah saya = at my house
  • di rumah mereka = at their house
  • di rumah kawan saya = at my friend’s house
Is there any difference between senyap, sunyi, diam, and tenang? They all seem like “quiet”.

They all relate to “quiet”, but with different nuances:

  • senyap

    • Quiet / silent (focus on absence of noise).
    • keadaan senyap = a quiet/silent condition.

  • sunyi

    • Quiet and also empty / lonely.
    • jalan yang sunyi = a quiet, deserted road.

  • diam

    • Silent as in not speaking / not making a sound.
    • diam! = be quiet!
    • Dia diam sahaja. = He/she just stayed silent.

  • tenang

    • Calm, peaceful, not tense.
    • Can refer to atmosphere or feelings.
    • suasana tenang = a calm atmosphere; hati tenang = a calm heart.

In your sentence, senyap (or sunyi) fits well; tenang would shift the meaning more toward a calm, peaceful feeling/atmosphere rather than just lack of noise.