Nama saya tertulis di atas borang permohonan.

My name is written on the application form.

Breakdown of Nama saya tertulis di atas borang permohonan.

• saya: my
• di atas: on
• borang permohonan: the application form
• nama: the name
• tertulis: to be written

Questions & Answers about Nama saya tertulis di atas borang permohonan.

Why is there no word meaning “is” in this sentence? In English we say “My name is written…”.

Malay usually does not use a separate verb like “is / am / are” to link the subject to an adjective or a participle.

In this sentence:

• Nama saya = my name
• tertulis = written / is written

Malay simply puts them together:

• Nama saya tertulis …
  literally: “my name written …”, which functions as “my name is written …” in English.

You only use adalah (often translated as is/are/am) in specific situations, for example when linking to a noun phrase, and even then it’s often optional:

• Nama saya ialah Ali. = My name is Ali.
• Nama saya Ali. (no linking verb, also correct)

With participles or adjectives (like tertulis, besar, tinggi), Malay normally does not insert adalah.

What is the difference between “tertulis” and “ditulis”? Could I say “Nama saya ditulis di atas borang permohonan”?

Both are grammatically correct, but they have different nuances.

1. tertulis

   • Built with the prefix ter-.
   • Often suggests:
     • a state or condition (“is written”), or
     • something that happened without focusing on who did it (sometimes even “by itself” or accidentally).
   • In this sentence, Nama saya tertulis… focuses on the fact that your name is there in written form.

2. ditulis

   • Built with the passive prefix di-.
   • Focuses more on the action of writing done by someone (even if the doer is not stated).
   • Nama saya ditulis di atas borang permohonan sounds more like:
     • “My name was written on the application form (by someone).”

So:

• Nama saya tertulis di atas borang permohonan.
  → neutral, descriptive: my name is (already) written on the form.

• Nama saya ditulis di atas borang permohonan.
  → slightly more event-like: my name was written on the form.

In everyday speech, tertulis is very natural here because you’re describing the existing state of the form.

What exactly does “borang permohonan” mean? Why is “permohonan” after “borang”?

Borang permohonan is a compound noun that means “application form”.

• borang = form (paper or digital form you fill in)
• permohonan = application / request

In Malay, the head noun usually comes first, and the word(s) after it describe or specify that noun:

• borang permohonan = form (of) application
• borang cukai = tax form
• borang pendaftaran = registration form

So the pattern is:

[main thing] + [what kind/type/purpose]

This is the opposite of English word order:

• English: application form
• Malay: borang permohonan

What is the function of “di atas” here? Is it literally “on top of”, and can I just say “atas”?

di atas is a prepositional phrase that usually means “on” / “on top of” / “above”, depending on context.

In this sentence:

• di = at / in / on (a general locative preposition)
• atas = top / above
• Together: di atas = on / on top of

So di atas borang permohonan → on the application form.

About just atas:

• In formal/standard Malay, you usually keep di:
  
  • di atas meja = on the table
• In informal speech or writing, people sometimes drop di and say:
  
  • atas meja (still understood as “on the table”)

In careful writing (e.g. essays, exams, official documents), it’s better to keep di: di atas borang permohonan.

Also note: for “on (a surface)” you can often use di atas or simply di:

• Nama saya di borang permohonan.
  𐄂 Grammatically understandable, but di atas is more natural here and clearer as “on the form”, not just “at the form”.

Could this sentence also be said as “Nama saya ada tertulis di atas borang permohonan”? If yes, what’s the difference?

Yes, you can say:

• Nama saya ada tertulis di atas borang permohonan.

This adds ada, which here means something like “there is” / “exists” or emphasizes presence.

Nuance:

• Nama saya tertulis di atas borang permohonan.
  → simple statement of fact: my name is written on the form.

• Nama saya ada tertulis di atas borang permohonan.
  → slightly more emphatic: my name *is indeed written on the form / my name does appear on the form.*

You might use the ada version if you’re responding to someone who doubts or asks:

• Adakah nama awak ada di borang ini?
  → Is your name on this form?
• Ya, nama saya ada tertulis di atas borang permohonan.
  → Yes, my name is written on the application form.

Why is it “Nama saya” and not “Saya nama” at the beginning of the sentence?

In Malay, when you express possession (my name, his car, their house), the typical pattern is:

[noun] + [possessive pronoun]

So:

• nama saya = my name
• kereta saya = my car
• nama dia = his/her name
• rumah mereka = their house

Saya nama would sound wrong here; it would be interpreted more like “I (am) name” and is not a standard structure.

So:

• Nama saya tertulis … = My name is written …, perfectly natural.
• If you want to start with saya as the subject, you would normally rephrase the whole idea:
  • Saya ada menulis nama saya di atas borang permohonan.
    = I have written my name on the application form.

Is “permohonan” related to the verb “mohon”? What does the pe-…-an pattern mean?

Yes, permohonan comes from the verb mohon.

• mohon = to apply / to request (politely)
• permohonan = application / request

The pattern pe- + ROOT + -an (or variations like per-…-an) often turns a verb into a noun that means:

• the act of doing something, or
• the result of that action.

More examples:

• bayar (to pay) → pembayaran (payment)
• daftar (to register) → pendaftaran (registration)
• hantar (to send) → penghantaran (delivery)

So:

• mohon (to apply) → permohonan (an application / the act of applying)

That’s why borang permohonan naturally means “application form”.

Is “Nama saya tertulis di atas borang permohonan” in the active or passive voice?

This structure doesn’t neatly match English “active” vs “passive” labels, but its function is very similar to an English passive.

• The focus is on the state of the name (“is written”), not on who wrote it.
• The verb form tertulis behaves like a kind of stative passive: it describes a state or condition (something that ended up written).

Compare:

• Saya menulis nama saya di atas borang permohonan.
  → active: I wrote my name on the form.
• Nama saya ditulis di atas borang permohonan.
  → more event-focused passive: My name was written on the form.
• Nama saya tertulis di atas borang permohonan.
  → state-focused: My name is (there) written on the form.

So, it’s best thought of as describing a resulting state, similar in feel to English “is written”.

Can I replace “Nama saya tertulis…” with “Nama saya ditulis…” in everyday Malay, or would that sound strange?

You can say “Nama saya ditulis di atas borang permohonan”, and it is grammatically correct. It doesn’t sound strange, but:

• tertulis → sounds more natural when you are describing a current state (the name is there on the form).
• ditulis → subtly emphasizes the act of someone writing it.

So, in these contexts:

1. Looking at the form and describing what you see:

   • Nama saya tertulis di atas borang permohonan. ✅ best choice

2. Talking about the action someone took (e.g., an officer filled it in for you):

   • Nama saya ditulis oleh pegawai di atas borang permohonan.
     (My name was written by the officer on the application form.)

Which part of the sentence is the subject, and what is the basic word order here?

The basic word order in Malay is typically S–V–O (Subject–Verb–Object), similar to English.

In this sentence:

• Subject (S): Nama saya (my name)
• Predicate (V / complement): tertulis di atas borang permohonan
  
  • tertulis = acts like the main predicate (stative verb/adjective)
  • di atas borang permohonan = prepositional phrase giving location

So structurally:

[Nama saya] [tertulis] [di atas borang permohonan].
[Subject] [stative verb] [location phrase]

This is very typical for Malay: subject first, then some descriptive phrase (often an adjective or a ter-/di- form), then extra details like where/when/how.