Breakdown of Guru membincangkan persoalan penting tentang sejarah di perpustakaan.
Questions & Answers about Guru membincangkan persoalan penting tentang sejarah di perpustakaan.
The base word is bincang, which means “to discuss”.
When you add the prefix meN- and the suffix -kan, you get membincangkan, which also means “to discuss (something)”, but:
- bincang = base form, often used in informal speech, e.g. Mari bincang. (Let’s discuss.)
- membincangkan X = to discuss X (explicitly focuses on the object X).
So in the sentence, membincangkan persoalan penting = to discuss an important issue/question.
The suffix -kan often:
- Makes the verb clearly transitive (it takes a direct object).
- membincangkan persoalan = discuss an issue
- Emphasizes what is being acted on (the object).
Very roughly:
- bincang – discuss (neutral, informal)
- membincangkan persoalan – discuss the issue (formal, object-focused)
You could think of -kan here as “do X to [object]”, though its exact function varies with different verbs.
In casual spoken Malay, people might say something like:
- Guru bincang persoalan penting tentang sejarah di perpustakaan.
This would be understood, but:
- bincang alone is more informal.
- membincangkan sounds more standard and formal, and fits better in written Malay or formal contexts.
So the original sentence is stylistically more “correct” and natural in formal Malay.
Both are related to questions, but they differ in nuance:
soalan
- usual word for a question (especially a direct question, exam question, etc.)
- e.g. soalan peperiksaan = exam question
persoalan
- more like issue / matter / problem / question (in an abstract sense)
- often used for big issues, themes, or topics of discussion
- e.g. persoalan sosial = social issues
In this sentence, persoalan penting tentang sejarah suggests “an important (historical) issue / question”, not just a simple exam-style question.
In Malay, the typical pattern is:
- Noun + Adjective
So:
- persoalan penting = important issue/question
- guru muda = young teacher
- buku baru = new book
This is the reverse of English word order (“important question”, “young teacher”, “new book”). So persoalan penting is the normal, correct order.
Yes, tentang usually corresponds to English “about / regarding”.
- tentang sejarah = about history
You can generally replace tentang with mengenai:
- persoalan penting tentang sejarah
- persoalan penting mengenai sejarah
Both are grammatical and natural.
Nuance:
- tentang: very common, neutral.
- mengenai: also common, slightly more formal in some contexts, but both are widely used.
Structure:
- persoalan = issue / question / matter
- persoalan penting = important issue
- persoalan penting tentang sejarah = important issue about history
So:
- persoalan is the head noun (object of membincangkan),
- penting describes the persoalan (adjective),
- tentang sejarah is a prepositional phrase specifying what the issue is about.
Altogether: “an important issue about history.”
Sejarah generally means “history”, and it can refer to:
- The academic subject – e.g.
- Saya belajar sejarah. = I study history.
- Historical events / past events –
- sejarah Malaysia = the history of Malaysia
- Sometimes personal or background history in context –
- sejarah hidup = life history / life story
It doesn’t mean “story” in the everyday sense (that would normally be cerita).
Because the sentence describes where the discussion happens, not movement toward a place.
di = at / in (location)
- di perpustakaan = at the library
ke = to / toward (direction)
- ke perpustakaan = to the library
Since the teacher is already at the library when discussing the issue, di is correct.
Yes. Malay word order is flexible with adverbials like time and place. You could say:
- Di perpustakaan, guru membincangkan persoalan penting tentang sejarah.
This is still grammatical and natural. It slightly emphasizes the location (“At the library, the teacher discussed…”), but the meaning is the same.
Malay does not use articles like “a/an” or “the”. The noun guru by itself is neutral; it can be translated as either “a teacher” or “the teacher”, depending on context.
If you really need to be specific:
- guru itu = that / the teacher (specific)
- seorang guru = a teacher (one teacher, non-specific)
In normal sentences, context decides whether English uses “the” or “a”.
Both refer to teachers, but:
- guru
- general, slightly more formal
- used in writing, official contexts, and also in speech
- cikgu
- very commonly used informally to address a school teacher
- like saying “Sir/Miss/Teacher” directly to them:
- Cikgu, saya tak faham. = Teacher, I don’t understand.
In your sentence, guru is appropriate because it’s a neutral, slightly formal narrative sentence.
Malay verbs do not change form for tense. Membincangkan stays the same for past, present, or future.
The tense is understood from context or added time words:
- Guru membincangkan persoalan penting…
- could be: The teacher discusses / is discussing / discussed…
To be explicit, you add time expressions:
- Semalam guru membincangkan persoalan penting…
= Yesterday the teacher discussed an important issue… - Esok guru akan membincangkan persoalan penting…
= Tomorrow the teacher will discuss an important issue…
So the verb form itself doesn’t change.
Yes, a passive form is possible, for example:
- Persoalan penting tentang sejarah dibincangkan oleh guru di perpustakaan.
= An important issue about history was discussed by the teacher at the library.
Notes:
- dibincangkan is the passive form (with di- and -kan).
- oleh guru = by the teacher (often oleh is optional in context).
This structure is grammatical and quite natural in formal or written Malay, especially if you want to emphasize the issue rather than the teacher.