Guru menilai tugasan saya dengan adil.

Breakdown of Guru menilai tugasan saya dengan adil.

dengan
with
guru
the teacher
tugasan
the task
saya
my
menilai
to evaluate
adil
fairly
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Questions & Answers about Guru menilai tugasan saya dengan adil.

What is the basic structure of the sentence Guru menilai tugasan saya dengan adil?

The structure is Subject–Verb–Object–Adverbial, similar to English:

  • Guru – subject (the teacher)
  • menilai – verb (evaluates / evaluated)
  • tugasan saya – object (my assignment)
  • dengan adil – adverbial phrase (fairly, literally with fairness)

So it is directly parallel to “The teacher evaluated my assignment fairly.”

How does possession work in tugasan saya? Why is it literally “assignment my”?

In Malay, possessives are usually formed by putting the noun first, then the pronoun:

  • tugasan saya = assignment my = my assignment
  • kereta saya = car my = my car
  • buku guru itu = book teacher that = that teacher’s book

So tugasan saya is the normal way to say “my assignment.” The order is noun + possessor, not possessor + noun as in English.

What is the difference between tugas and tugasan?
  • tugas = task, duty, responsibility (the root word)
  • tugasan = an assignment, a given piece of work (often school-related)

In a school context, tugasan is like “assignment” or “project.”
You could say:

  • Saya ada banyak tugasan hari ini. – I have many assignments today.
  • Tugas saya sebagai guru ialah mengajar. – My duty as a teacher is to teach.
What exactly does menilai mean, and what is its root form?

The root word is nilai, which can mean value, score, or assessment.
With the prefix meN-, it becomes menilai, which means to evaluate / to assess / to grade.

So Guru menilai tugasan saya literally means The teacher evaluates/assesses my assignment (possibly also “marks/grades my assignment,” depending on context).

Is there any tense in menilai? How do I know if it’s past, present, or future?

Menilai itself is not marked for tense. Malay verbs don’t change form for past/present/future.
Guru menilai tugasan saya dengan adil can mean:

  • “The teacher evaluates my assignment fairly.” (habitual/present)
  • “The teacher evaluated my assignment fairly.” (past)
  • “The teacher will evaluate my assignment fairly.” (future, from context)

To be explicit, you can add time markers:

  • telah menilai – has evaluated / evaluated
  • sedang menilai – is evaluating
  • akan menilai – will evaluate
Why is it dengan adil and not just adil? What is the function of dengan here?

Dengan literally means with, and it is often used to turn an adjective into an adverbial phrase (“with X-ness” → “X-ly”):

  • dengan cepat – quickly (with speed)
  • dengan senyap – quietly (with silence)
  • dengan adil – fairly (with fairness)

You can sometimes drop dengan (e.g. Guru menilai dengan adil is still okay), but dengan adil sounds natural and clearly marks adil as describing how the teacher evaluates.

Could I say secara adil instead of dengan adil? Are they different?

Yes, secara adil also means fairly / in a fair way. Both dengan adil and secara adil can function like English adverbs:

  • Guru menilai tugasan saya dengan adil.
  • Guru menilai tugasan saya secara adil.

Both are acceptable and natural. In everyday speech, dengan + adjective is often more common; secara can sound slightly more formal or written, but the difference here is small.

Can I leave out dengan adil and still have a correct sentence?

Yes.
Guru menilai tugasan saya. is a complete and correct sentence meaning “The teacher evaluates/assessed my assignment.”

Adding dengan adil simply adds extra information about how the teacher evaluated it (fairly). Removing it just removes that detail.

What is the difference between guru and cikgu?

Both refer to a teacher, but they differ in usage and tone:

  • guru – the neutral, general word for “teacher,” used in writing, descriptions, and formal contexts.
  • cikgu – more informal, often used as a form of address (like calling someone “Teacher” directly), especially at school.

Examples:

  • Guru itu menilai tugasan saya. – That teacher evaluated my assignment.
  • Cikgu, sudah menilai tugasan saya? – Teacher, have you already evaluated my assignment?
Why is saya used here? Could I use aku instead?

Saya is the standard polite / neutral first-person pronoun in Malay. It’s used in almost all formal and semi-formal situations, and it’s always safe.

Aku is more informal and intimate, used among close friends, in casual speech, or in song lyrics/drama.
You could say Guru menilai tugasan aku dengan adil, but it sounds very casual and might not fit a formal or polite context, especially when talking about a teacher.

Is there a passive version of this sentence in Malay? How would it change the nuance?

Yes, a common passive form is:

  • Tugasan saya dinilai guru dengan adil.My assignment was evaluated by the teacher fairly.

Here:

  • dinilai – passive form of menilai
  • tugasan saya moves to the front as the topic
  • guru appears after the verb (no oleh is needed in everyday Malay, though oleh guru is also possible and more explicit)

The active form (Guru menilai tugasan saya…) focuses on the teacher as the doer;
the passive form (Tugasan saya dinilai…) focuses more on my assignment as the topic.

Could I use memeriksa or menyemak instead of menilai? Are they the same?

They are related but not identical:

  • menilai – to evaluate, assess, judge quality or give a grade/score.
  • memeriksa – to check, inspect (e.g., for mistakes, completeness).
  • menyemak – to review, to go through and check (often for corrections).

So:

  • Guru menilai tugasan saya. – The teacher evaluates/grades my assignment.
  • Guru memeriksa tugasan saya. – The teacher checks my assignment (for errors, etc.).
  • Guru menyemak tugasan saya. – The teacher goes through my assignment to review/check it.

All can be used in a school context, but menilai emphasizes assessment/marking, while memeriksa/menyemak emphasize checking/reviewing.

How do I pronounce menilai and adil correctly?

Malay pronunciation is generally phonetic:

  • menilai: me-ni-lai

    • me as in “mer-” in “merger”
    • ni like “nee”
    • lai rhymes with English “lie”
  • adil: a-dil

    • a like “a” in “father”
    • dil like “deel,” but short and crisp (not a long English “ee”)

Stress is usually fairly even, but you can slightly stress the second syllable in menilai (me-NI-lai).