Breakdown of Wartawan muda itu menulis artikel tentang cara mengawal maklumat palsu.
Questions & Answers about Wartawan muda itu menulis artikel tentang cara mengawal maklumat palsu.
Itu literally means “that”, but very often it functions like a marker of definiteness, similar to “the” in English.
- wartawan muda = a young journalist (could be any)
- wartawan muda itu = that young journalist / the young journalist (a specific one both speaker and listener know about)
So in this sentence, wartawan muda itu is best understood as “the young journalist” rather than just any young journalist.
Yes. Malay doesn’t mark plural on nouns by default, so wartawan muda itu can mean:
- the young journalist (singular), or
- the young journalists / those young journalists (plural),
depending on context.
If you want to force a plural meaning, you can use:
- para wartawan muda itu = the young journalists / those young journalists (more formal)
- wartawan-wartawan muda itu = the young journalists (reduplication shows plurality; stylistically heavier)
In everyday usage, wartawan muda itu alone is often enough; listeners infer singular vs plural from context.
In Malay, adjectives normally come after the noun:
- wartawan muda = young journalist
- artikel menarik = interesting article
- maklumat palsu = fake information
So the order noun + adjective is standard.
Putting muda wartawan is ungrammatical in Malay.
The only common exceptions are set phrases like orang tua (old person / parents), but in general remember: NOUN + ADJECTIVE.
Menulis is the meN--prefixed verb form that functions like the normal finite verb “to write”:
- Dia menulis artikel. = He/She writes an article.
Tulis by itself is the bare root. It is used:
- in imperatives:
- Tulis nama kamu di sini. = Write your name here.
- in some fixed phrases or informal writing, especially online/chat, but in a full sentence like this, standard Malay prefers menulis.
So for a neutral, complete sentence with a 3rd person subject, menulis is the natural choice.
Malay generally does not mark tense on the verb. Menulis can mean:
- wrote, has written, is writing, or writes, depending on context.
To make time clearer, Malay uses time adverbs or aspect markers:
- Wartawan muda itu telah menulis artikel… = the young journalist has written / wrote an article…
- Wartawan muda itu sedang menulis artikel… = is currently writing an article…
- Wartawan muda itu akan menulis artikel… = will write an article…
In your sentence, Wartawan muda itu menulis artikel…, the time reference is understood from the wider context.
Tentang is a preposition meaning “about / regarding”:
- artikel tentang cara mengawal maklumat palsu = an article about ways to control fake information.
You can replace tentang with:
- mengenai – also “about/regarding”; sounds slightly more formal or neutral.
- pasal – very common in informal / colloquial speech, more casual.
So:
- artikel tentang cara… (standard, neutral)
- artikel mengenai cara… (slightly more formal)
- artikel pasal cara… (colloquial / spoken)
All are understandable; the main difference is register.
Both are possible:
- cara mengawal maklumat palsu
- cara untuk mengawal maklumat palsu
They mean essentially the same: “ways/methods to control fake information”.
Notes:
- cara + verb (like cara mengawal) is very common and natural, especially in titles, headlines, and concise writing.
- cara untuk + verb is also common, slightly more explicit, and often used in more explanatory or spoken contexts.
So your sentence is perfectly natural as cara mengawal, and adding untuk would not make it wrong.
Mengawal comes from the root kawal and generally means to control, regulate, guard, keep in check.
In mengawal maklumat palsu, it can include:
- controlling (managing the flow of) fake information,
- limiting or curbing its spread,
- keeping it in check.
So while a very literal translation is “control fake information”, in context (e.g. media, social media, misinformation), it often has the broader sense of controlling or limiting the spread of fake information.
They are related but not identical:
- maklumat palsu = false information (broader: can be data, claims, rumours, etc.)
- berita palsu = fake news (more specifically news items, reports, news stories)
So:
- For technical / general discussions about misinformation, maklumat palsu is appropriate.
- For news media context (fake news articles, news reports), berita palsu is very common.
In your sentence, maklumat palsu suggests a broader category than just news articles.
To clearly mark plural, you have a few options:
para wartawan muda itu
- para is a plural marker for people, often used in formal contexts.
- Meaning: the young reporters / those young reporters.
wartawan-wartawan muda itu
- wartawan-wartawan = plural by reduplication.
- Also means the young reporters, but can feel heavier or more formal/written.
In less formal contexts, you can also just say wartawan muda itu and rely on context, but if you explicitly want plural, options 1 or 2 are clearer.
A common informal / spoken version might be:
- Wartawan muda tu tulis artikel pasal cara nak kawal maklumat palsu.
Changes:
- itu → tu (colloquial shortened form)
- menulis → tulis (bare root often used in casual speech)
- tentang → pasal (informal “about”)
- optionally cara nak kawal instead of cara mengawal
- nak (from hendak) = want/to; here it functions like “to” in “how to control”.
The original sentence is more standard / neutral; the casual version is what you’d likely hear in everyday conversation.
Key points:
c in Malay is pronounced like English “ch”.
- cara ≈ “chah-rah” (two syllables: cha-ra).
ng is a single sound, like “ng” in sing.
- mengawal ≈ “muh-ngah-wal” (roughly me-ngawal; ng at the start of the second syllable).
maklumat:
- stress is generally even, but English speakers often hear it as “mahk-loo-mat”.
- pronounced mak-lu-mat with clear vowels a-u-a.
Malay vowels are generally pure and short:
a, e, i, o, u are pronounced consistently (no diphthong like English “ay”, “ow” etc.).
In Malay, the normal structure here is:
- menulis [direct object] [preposition phrase]
So:
- menulis artikel tentang cara mengawal maklumat palsu
= wrote an article about ways to control fake information.
If you say:
- menulis tentang artikel…
= wrote about the article… (different meaning) - menulis tentang cara artikel…
is ungrammatical/confusing.
The intended meaning is “wrote an article (which is) about X”, so we keep:
- artikel as the main object of menulis, and
- tentang cara… as a phrase describing what the article is about.