Learn Hardcore Malay: Pelajar itu belajar di perpustakaan. - That student studies in the library.

belajar = to study (a verb)
- Example: Saya belajar. = I study.
pelajar = student (a noun)
- Example: Dia seorang pelajar. = He/She is a student.

So in the sentence Pelajar itu belajar di perpustakaan.:

pelajar (noun) = student
belajar (verb) = studies / is studying

The sentence is basically: The student studies in the library.

What does itu mean here? Is it “that” or “the”? Why is it after pelajar?

itu literally means that (a demonstrative), but in many contexts it works like a definite marker, similar to “the” in English.

Pelajar itu can mean:
- that student (when you are pointing to or talking about a specific student), or
- the student (when both speaker and listener already know which student is meant).

In Malay, itu usually comes after the noun:

pelajar itu = that/the student
buku itu = that/the book

So Pelajar itu belajar di perpustakaan. is most naturally “That student studies in the library” or “The student studies in the library.”

How do I know the tense? Does belajar mean “studied”, “is studying”, or “will study”?

Malay verbs generally do not change form for tense. Belajar on its own is “study” with no built-in tense. The tense is understood from context or from time words:

Pelajar itu belajar di perpustakaan.
→ could be The student studies in the library, is studying, or studied, depending on context.
Add time words to be clear:
- semalam = yesterday
  - Pelajar itu belajar di perpustakaan semalam.
    = The student studied in the library yesterday.
- sekarang = now
  - Pelajar itu sedang belajar di perpustakaan sekarang.
    = The student is studying in the library now.
- esok = tomorrow
  - Pelajar itu akan belajar di perpustakaan esok.
    = The student will study in the library tomorrow.

So belajar itself never changes; you show tense with other words.

What does di mean exactly? Is it “in”, “at”, or “on”?

di is a preposition of location and can correspond to English “in”, “at”, or sometimes “on”, depending on the noun and the context.

di perpustakaan
→ usually translated as “in the library” or “at the library”.
Examples:
- di rumah = at home / in the house
- di sekolah = at school
- di meja = on the table

So in Pelajar itu belajar di perpustakaan., di is best taken as “in/at”.

Why is it di perpustakaan and not ke perpustakaan?

di and ke are different:

di = at / in (location, where something is)
- Pelajar itu belajar di perpustakaan.
  = The student studies at/in the library.
ke = to (movement towards a place)
- Pelajar itu pergi ke perpustakaan.
  = The student goes to the library.

So use:

di when you talk about being in a place.
ke when you talk about going/moving to a place.

What does perpustakaan literally mean? It looks long; is it built from smaller parts?

Yes. Perpustakaan is a word built from a root plus affixes:

Root word: pustaka = book / writings (a somewhat formal/literary word)
Pattern: per- + pustaka + -an → perpustakaan

The per-…-an pattern often turns a root into a place noun or abstract noun.

So:

pustaka → perpustakaan = library (literally, the place of books/writings).

In everyday use, you just remember perpustakaan = library, but knowing the pattern helps with other words.

Is Pelajar itu belajar di perpustakaan a complete sentence? There is no word for “is” or “does”.

Yes, it is a complete and perfectly natural sentence in Malay.

Malay usually does not use a separate word like “is” or “does” with verbs:

English: The student is studying in the library.
Malay: Pelajar itu belajar di perpustakaan.

“Is” and “does” in English are helpers for tense/aspect or for emphasis. Malay expresses those functions with context or extra words, not with a separate verb:

To emphasize “in the middle of doing (is studying)”, Malay often adds sedang:
- Pelajar itu sedang belajar di perpustakaan.
  = The student is (currently) studying in the library.

Does pelajar mean only one student, or can it also mean “students” (plural)?

By default, Malay nouns do not mark singular vs. plural. The form pelajar can mean:

a student
the student
students
the students

To make it clearly plural, Malay often uses:

para pelajar = the students (formal/collective)
pelajar-pelajar = students (reduplication to mark plural)

In your sentence:

Pelajar itu belajar di perpustakaan.
is most naturally understood as one student (because itu is singular “that”), but grammatically the noun itself doesn’t change.

Where is the subject and where is the verb in this sentence?

The structure is very similar to English S–V–(Place):

Subject (S): Pelajar itu = The/that student
Verb (V): belajar = studies / is studying
Place phrase: di perpustakaan = at/in the library

So the word order:

[Pelajar itu] [belajar] [di perpustakaan].
= [The student] [studies] [in the library].

How do you pronounce pelajar, belajar, and perpustakaan?

Approximate English-based pronunciation (Malay is very phonetic):

pelajar → puh-LAH-jar
- pe like “per” without the r
- la like “lah”
- jar like “jar”
belajar → buh-LAH-jar
- Exactly the same second and third syllables as pelajar, just with be- instead of pe-.
perpustakaan → puhr-POOS-tah-kahn (4 clear beats: per-pus-ta-ka-an)
- per like “per”
- pus like “poos”
- ta like “tah”
- kaan like “kahn” with a bit of vowel at the end

Stress is usually on the second-to-last syllable:

peLAjar, beLAjar, perpustaKAan.

If I want to say “The student studies at school” instead, which word replaces perpustakaan?

You would replace perpustakaan with sekolah (school):

Pelajar itu belajar di sekolah.
= The/that student studies at school.

So:

perpustakaan = library
sekolah = school