Learn Hardcore Malay: Kanak-kanak itu tidak dibenarkan berkeliaran di jalan gelap. - That child is not allowed to wander on the dark road.

kanak-kanak is normally understood as children in general.
It can still refer to one child in context, especially when specified (e.g. seorang kanak-kanak = one child).
The hyphen simply marks reduplication in writing.

You’ll also hear other words like budak (kid) or anak (child), but kanak-kanak is a bit more formal or neutral and often used in writing, education, and official contexts.

Does kanak-kanak itu mean “that child” or “those children”?

It can mean either, depending on context, because Malay doesn’t always mark singular/plural explicitly.

kanak-kanak itu could be:
- that child (a specific child that both speaker and listener know)
- those children (a specific group of children)
- the child / the children (where itu works like “the” for a known referent)

If you really want to make the number clear, you can say:

seorang kanak-kanak itu – that one child
kanak-kanak itu semua – all those children (informal but common)

In your sentence, without more context, kanak-kanak itu is often translated as either the child or the children, and both can be correct in English.

What exactly does itu do here? Is it like “the” or “that”?

Itu is a demonstrative, roughly “that”, but in Malay it often plays the role that “the” plays in English.

Basic uses:

After a noun: kanak-kanak itu ≈ “that child / those children” or “the child / the children”
On its own as a pronoun: Itu saya. = “That’s me.”

When itu comes after a noun (kanak-kanak itu), it usually refers to something already known in context, just like “the” or “that”:

kanak-kanak itu – that/the child (we already know which one)
kanak-kanak ini – this child / these children (near the speaker)

Fronted itu (e.g. itu kanak-kanak…) is uncommon and sounds marked or poetic; the natural order is what you see: kanak-kanak itu.

Why is tidak used here, not bukan?

Malay has two main words for “not”:

tidak – negates verbs and adjectives
bukan – negates nouns and pronouns, or used for contrast

In your sentence, the predicate is dibenarkan berkeliaran (“allowed to wander”), which is a verb phrase. So you must use tidak:

Kanak-kanak itu tidak dibenarkan berkeliaran…
The child is not allowed to wander…

Compare:

Dia bukan guru. – He/She is not a teacher. (noun → bukan)
Dia tidak marah. – He/She is not angry. (adjective → tidak)
Dia tidak makan. – He/She does not eat / is not eating. (verb → tidak)

So tidak dibenarkan = not allowed.

What is the structure and meaning of dibenarkan?

Dibenarkan is a passive verb built from:

benar – true, right, correct
benarkan – to allow / to permit (literally: to “make right/okay”)
di-…-kan – passive circumfix: di-
- verb + -kan

So:

membenarkan – to allow, to permit (active voice)
- Mereka membenarkan kanak-kanak itu berkeliaran.
  They allow the child to wander.
dibenarkan – is/are allowed (passive voice)
- Kanak-kanak itu tidak dibenarkan berkeliaran.
  The child is not allowed to wander.

Meaning-wise, tidak dibenarkan = not permitted, not allowed, somewhat formal.

Is tidak dibenarkan the same as “forbidden” or “not allowed”?

Functionally, yes, in most contexts:

tidak dibenarkan ≈ not allowed / not permitted

It often appears in formal or semi-formal language:

Merokok tidak dibenarkan di sini. – Smoking is not allowed here.

If you want stronger or more explicit prohibition, you might see:

dilarang – forbidden, prohibited
- Merokok dilarang. – Smoking is prohibited.

In everyday speech to a child, someone would more likely say:

Kamu tak boleh berkeliaran di jalan gelap.
You can’t (mustn’t) wander in dark streets.

So tidak dibenarkan is formal / neutral “not allowed”, less emotional but quite clear.

What does berkeliaran mean exactly? Is it just “to walk”?

Berkeliaran does not just mean “to walk”. It has the idea of wandering around aimlessly or roaming/loitering and often carries a slightly negative tone.

Morphology:

ber- – intransitive verb prefix (“to do / to be in a state of”)
keliaran / keliar – related to roaming about (not commonly used alone in modern speech)
berkeliaran – to wander, roam around, hang about without clear purpose

Nuance examples:

Dia berjalan di taman. – He/She walked in the park. (neutral, just walking)
Dia berkeliaran di taman. – He/She was wandering/loitering in the park. (aimless, hanging around)

Other near-synonyms:

merayau-rayau, merayau, berlegar-legar – all can mean “to wander/loiter around”.

So in your sentence, berkeliaran suggests roaming around in a way that the adult doesn’t approve of.

Why is there no untuk before berkeliaran? Could I say tidak dibenarkan untuk berkeliaran?

Both are possible, but the natural and more concise form is the one you have:

tidak dibenarkan berkeliaran – not allowed to wander

Adding untuk:

tidak dibenarkan untuk berkeliaran – literally, “not allowed in order to wander”

This is grammatically acceptable, especially in more formal or bureaucratic writing, but in everyday Malay it can sound a bit wordy or stiff where it’s not needed.

Pattern to remember:

dibenarkan + verb → perfectly normal:
- Mereka dibenarkan masuk. – They are allowed to enter.
- Kanak-kanak tidak dibenarkan bermain di sini. – Children are not allowed to play here.

How does Malay show tense here? How do I know it’s “are not allowed”, not “were not allowed”?

Malay does not mark tense on the verb the way English does. Dibenarkan stays the same regardless of time; tense is understood from context or from time words.

Your sentence by itself can mean:

The child is not allowed to wander… (present / general rule)
The child was not allowed to wander… (past, if the story is in past)

To be explicit, Malay uses time adverbs:

Kanak-kanak itu tidak dibenarkan berkeliaran di jalan gelap semalam.
The child was not allowed to wander in the dark street last night.
Kanak-kanak itu tidak akan dibenarkan berkeliaran di jalan gelap.
The child will not be allowed to wander in the dark street.

So the form dibenarkan is tense-neutral; context decides.

What is the function of di in di jalan gelap?

Di is a preposition meaning roughly “in / on / at”, depending on context. Here it’s best translated as “on / in”:

di jalan gelap – on the dark street / in a dark street

Some basic examples:

di rumah – at home
di sekolah – at school
di bandar – in the city
di jalan – on the road / on the street

So di jalan gelap gives the location of the wandering.

Why is it jalan gelap and not gelap jalan? What’s the word order?

In Malay, the usual order is:

Noun + Adjective

So:

jalan gelap – dark road/street
baju merah – red shirt
rumah besar – big house

Gelap is an adjective (“dark”), modifying jalan (“road/street”), so it must follow the noun:

jalan gelap ✅
gelap jalan ❌ (ungrammatical in standard Malay)

You could say jalan yang gelap, adding yang to emphasize the description, but the adjective still follows the noun:

jalan yang gelap – the road that is dark / the dark road (more explicit/contrastive)

Does jalan here mean “road” or “street”? Is there any difference?

Jalan basically means road / street / way. Normally:

In general usage, jalan can be translated as either “road” or “street” depending on what sounds more natural in English.
On signboards and addresses in Malaysia/Indonesia, Jalan = “Street / Road / Avenue” (a named road, like Jalan Bukit Bintang).

In your sentence, di jalan gelap can be translated as:

“on a dark road”
“on a dark street”

Both are acceptable; English choice is just about what reads more naturally.

Why is there no word like “is/are” in kanak-kanak itu tidak dibenarkan …?

Malay often drops the copula (“to be” verb) where English requires it. You don’t need a word for “is/are” before verbs like dibenarkan.

Structure:

Subject
- (negation)
  - verb phrase
Kanak-kanak itu (subject)
tidak dibenarkan berkeliaran (verb phrase / predicate)

You only use adalah/ialah in specific, mostly formal contexts, usually linking to a noun or adjective, not before a normal verb phrase like dibenarkan berkeliaran.

So:

Kanak-kanak itu tidak dibenarkan berkeliaran… ✅
Kanak-kanak itu adalah tidak dibenarkan berkeliaran… ❌ (unnatural)

Is this sentence formal, neutral, or informal? How would people say this to a child in everyday speech?

The given sentence sounds neutral to formal, something you might see in written language, in rules, or from an adult speaking a bit formally.

Everyday speech to a child would more likely use boleh / tak boleh:

Kamu tak boleh berkeliaran di jalan gelap.
You can’t (mustn’t) wander around on dark streets.

or more strongly:

Jangan berkeliaran di jalan gelap.
Don’t wander around on dark streets.

So:

tidak dibenarkan – more formal / official “not allowed”
tak boleh / tidak boleh – everyday “can’t / not allowed”
jangan… – direct prohibition: “don’t …”