Learn Hardcore Malay: Guru meminta kami membaca ayat pertama dengan kuat. - The teacher asks us to read the first sentence aloud.

This is also widely used and understood, but the version without untuk is shorter and very natural in both spoken and written Malay. For everyday purposes, you can treat:

meminta kami membaca
meminta kami untuk membaca

as meaning the same when the teacher is asking us to do something.

What’s the difference between meminta and menyuruh / suruh here?

All three can appear in sentences like this, but the nuance changes:

meminta – to ask, request
Sounds more polite or neutral, like a request:
- Guru meminta kami membaca ayat pertama…
  The teacher asked us to read…
menyuruh (formal) / suruh (colloquial) – to tell, order, instruct
Stronger, more like giving an instruction or order:
- Guru menyuruh kami membaca ayat pertama…
  The teacher told us to read…
- Cikgu suruh kami baca ayat pertama kuat-kuat. (very common spoken style)

So:

Use meminta if you want to sound neutral/polite (textbook/standard style).
Use menyuruh / suruh if you want to emphasise that the teacher is giving an instruction, not just politely asking.

Why is kami used instead of kita?

Malay distinguishes two kinds of “we”:

kami = we (not including the listener) → exclusive
kita = we (including the listener) → inclusive

In this sentence, kami is correct because the teacher is talking about the students, not including herself:

Guru meminta kami membaca…
The teacher asked us (the students) to read.

If the speaker wanted to include the listener (for example, teacher speaking to students saying “let’s read together”), kita would be used:

Mari kita membaca ayat pertama.
Let’s read the first sentence.

So: if the group does not include the person being spoken to, use kami; if it does include them, use kita.

Why isn’t there anything like “a” or “the” before guru?

Malay normally doesn’t use articles like English “a” or “the”.

Guru meminta kami…
could correspond to “A teacher asked us…” or “The teacher asked us…”.

Context tells you whether it’s a specific teacher or just any teacher.

If you really need to emphasise “a/one teacher”, you can say:

Seorang guru meminta kami… – A teacher / one teacher asked us…

But in many situations (especially in school context), Guru by itself is enough and natural, and is often understood as “the teacher (of this class)”.

How do we know if meminta means “asked” (past) or “is asking” (present)?

Malay verbs do not change form for tense. Meminta can mean:

asks / is asking (present)
asked (past)
even will ask (future)

The actual time is understood from context, or from extra time words:

Tadi guru meminta kami membaca…
Earlier, the teacher asked us… (past)
Setiap hari guru meminta kami membaca…
Every day the teacher asks us… (habitual)
Nanti guru akan meminta kami membaca…
Later the teacher will ask us… (future)

So in isolation, Guru meminta kami… can be translated as either “asked” or “is asking”, depending on context.

Does ayat mean “sentence” or “verse”? I often see it for Quranic verses.

Ayat can mean both, depending on context:

Sentence (in general language / grammar context)
- ayat pertama – the first sentence
- bina ayat – make sentences
Verse (especially religious texts, like the Quran)
- ayat al-Quran – a verse of the Quran

In a classroom reading or language exercise, ayat pertama is naturally understood as “the first sentence” of a text or paragraph. If it were about a religious text, context (or extra words) would normally make that clear.

Could I say ayat yang pertama instead of ayat pertama? Is there a difference?

Yes, both are grammatical:

ayat pertama – “first sentence”
ayat yang pertama – literally “sentence that is first”

Differences:

ayat pertama is shorter, more neutral, and very common.
ayat yang pertama can sound a bit more careful, contrastive, or formal, for example when you’re distinguishing clearly between several items:
- Baca ayat yang pertama, bukan ayat yang kedua.
  Read the first sentence, not the second.

In ordinary instructions like in your sentence, ayat pertama is the most natural choice.

How does dengan kuat work grammatically? Why not just kuat?

In Malay, one common way to make an adverb (like “loudly”) is:

dengan + adjective

So:

kuat = strong / loud (adjective)
dengan kuat = strongly / loudly (adverbial phrase)

In your sentence:

membaca … dengan kuat = read … loudly

You can sometimes see just kuat used adverbially, especially in speech:

Baca kuat sikit. – Read a bit louder.

Very common spoken alternative:

kuat-kuat (reduplication to intensify/“do it properly loud”)
- Cikgu suruh kami baca ayat pertama kuat-kuat.

So you have several natural options:

dengan kuat – standard, slightly more formal/neutral
kuat-kuat – very common in spoken Malay
dengan lantang / dengan nyaring – “loudly” / “in a clear, ringing voice” (more descriptive)

Can I move dengan kuat earlier, like membaca dengan kuat ayat pertama?

Normally, the most natural order in Malay is:

Verb + object + manner phrase
membaca ayat pertama dengan kuat

If you say membaca dengan kuat ayat pertama, it will usually sound awkward or at least very marked to native speakers.

Correct and natural:

Guru meminta kami membaca ayat pertama dengan kuat.
Guru meminta kami membaca dengan kuat. (if you omit ayat pertama)

So: keep dengan kuat after the object (ayat pertama) when both are present.

Can I drop kami and just say Guru meminta membaca ayat pertama dengan kuat?

You can grammatically say it, but it becomes vague and is not the usual way to express this idea.

Guru meminta membaca ayat pertama…
Literally: The teacher asks (someone) to read the first sentence… (but who?)

Without kami, the sentence doesn’t clearly say who is supposed to read. Native speakers would normally include the object pronoun:

Guru meminta kami membaca ayat pertama… – The teacher asked us to read…
Guru meminta murid-murid membaca ayat pertama… – The teacher asked the students to read…

Only omit kami if the subject of meminta and membaca is the same person:

Saya meminta membaca ayat pertama. – I ask to read the first sentence (myself).

Here, saya is both the one asking and the one reading.

How would this sentence look in the passive voice?

A common passive version would be:

Kami diminta (oleh guru) membaca ayat pertama dengan kuat.

Breakdown:

kami – we / us
diminta – are asked / were asked (passive of meminta)
(oleh guru) – by the teacher (often omitted if obvious)
membaca ayat pertama dengan kuat – to read the first sentence loudly

So:

Kami diminta membaca ayat pertama dengan kuat.
= We were asked to read the first sentence aloud.

Is there a more formal version of this sentence, like something I’d see in writing or exams?

Yes, a slightly more formal or “written” version often adds agar or supaya:

Guru meminta agar kami membaca ayat pertama dengan kuat.
Guru meminta supaya kami membaca ayat pertama dengan kuat.

Here:

agar / supaya roughly mean “so that / in order that”
The structure is:
- meminta agar/supaya + clause

In meaning, it’s still “The teacher asked us to read the first sentence loudly”, but the style is a bit more official or formal, suitable for written instructions, exam texts, or reports.

Is there any pronunciation tip for this sentence that might affect meaning?

Main points:

meminta – [mə-min-ta], not “meminTAH”. The a at the end is just a short /a/.
ayat – two syllables: a-yat, with y like “y” in yes.
pertama – per-TA-ma (stress is not phonemic in Malay, but learners often over-stress wrong places; keep it smooth and even).
dengan – often pronounced [də-ngan] or [də-ŋan] in natural speech.

None of these differences create new words in this sentence, but pronouncing them roughly as above will make you sound more natural and easier to understand.