Learn Hardcore Malay: Markah ujian saya hampir sama tinggi dengan markah kawan saya. - My test score is almost as high as my friend’s score.

Markah means score / grade / marks in the context of tests or exams. Malay usually does not mark singular vs plural on the noun itself, so:

markah ujian saya can mean my test score or my test marks, depending on context.
If you really need to emphasize plural, you can say markah‑markah, but that’s less common in everyday speech for exam scores; markah alone is normally enough.

How is ujian different from peperiksaan? Do they both mean “exam”?

Both relate to tests, but there is a nuance:

ujian = test, quiz, or any kind of assessment (often smaller or more general).
peperiksaan = examination, often bigger or more formal (final exam, national exam).

In markah ujian saya, it’s naturally understood as my test score. You could also say:

markah peperiksaan saya – my exam score (sounds more formal / important).

Why is it markah ujian saya and not ujian markah saya? What is the word order for things like “my test score”?

Malay generally goes from main noun → describing/possessor words:

markah (score) + ujian (test) + saya (my)
→ markah ujian saya = the test score of mine / my test score

Compare:

buku bahasa Inggeris saya
= book (buku)
- English (bahasa Inggeris)
  - my (saya)
    = my English book

If you said ujian markah saya, it would sound like the test of my score, which is not how people talk about scores. The head noun you care about is markah, so it comes first.

How does saya work to show possession here? Why not use something like punya?

In Malay, a pronoun after a noun often shows possession:

markah ujian saya = my test score
(literally: score test I)

So:

saya after markah ujian means “belongs to me”.
Similarly, kawan saya = my friend (friend I).

You can use punya in some contexts:

markah ujian saya punya – sounds informal / conversational, like “the test score that’s mine”.

But for clear, natural standard Malay, markah ujian saya without punya is best.

What exactly does hampir mean here, and where can it go in the sentence?

Hampir means almost / nearly.

In this sentence:

hampir sama tinggi = almost as high

Placement:

Markah ujian saya hampir sama tinggi dengan markah kawan saya. ✅
(standard and natural)

You could also say:

Markah ujian saya hampir setinggi markah kawan saya. ✅
(setinggi = as high as / the same height/level as)

But you cannot move hampir anywhere you like. For example:

✗ Markah ujian saya sama tinggi hampir dengan markah kawan saya.
This is not natural; hampir should come before the adjective phrase it modifies (sama tinggi / setinggi), not in the middle or after dengan.

How does sama tinggi dengan work? Is it always “as high as”? Can I use it for people’s height too?

Yes, sama tinggi dengan is a common way to say as tall/high as:

sama = same
tinggi = tall / high
dengan = with / as (in comparisons)

So:

Markah ujian saya sama tinggi dengan markah kawan saya.
= My test score is as high as my friend’s score.

You can also use it for physical height:

Saya sama tinggi dengan abang saya.
= I am as tall as my older brother.

In your sentence, hampir sama tinggi dengan softens it to almost as high as.

Could we replace sama tinggi dengan with setinggi? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can:

Markah ujian saya hampir setinggi markah kawan saya. ✅
= My test score is almost as high as my friend’s score.

Differences:

sama tinggi dengan
- Literally “same tall/high as”
- Structure: sama + adjective + dengan + thing compared to
setinggi
- Built with se- + tinggi
- Often means “as tall/high as” in one word
- Structure: se-ADJ + noun compared to

Both are natural. Setinggi is slightly more compact and can feel a bit more formal or written, but both are common in everyday speech.

Why is the comparison word dengan and not daripada? When do we use each?

Malay uses dengan and daripada differently in comparisons:

sama … dengan
- For equality: as … as
- Example:
  - Markah saya sama tinggi dengan markah kawan saya.
    = My score is as high as my friend’s.
lebih … daripada
- For greater / less than comparisons: more/less … than
- Examples:
  - Markah saya lebih tinggi daripada markah kawan saya.
    = My score is higher than my friend’s score.
  - Markah saya lebih rendah daripada markah kawan saya.
    = My score is lower than my friend’s score.

So in hampir sama tinggi dengan, we use dengan because we’re talking about being (almost) equal, not more/less than.

Does markah kawan saya clearly mean “my friend’s score”? How does the possessive relationship work here?

Yes, markah kawan saya is understood as my friend’s score:

kawan saya = my friend
markah kawan saya = the score of my friend → my friend’s score

Structure:

markah (score) + kawan (friend) + saya (I)
= the score of the friend who is mine

This matches English my friend’s score, but Malay keeps the possessor as a phrase at the end instead of adding ’s:

English: my friend’s score
Malay: score friend my (markah kawan saya)

Can we drop the second markah and just say … dengan kawan saya?

You should not drop the second markah here if you want to keep the same meaning clearly.

Markah ujian saya hampir sama tinggi dengan markah kawan saya. ✅
= My test score is almost as high as my friend’s score.

If you say:

Markah ujian saya hampir sama tinggi dengan kawan saya. ❓

This sounds like you’re comparing your test score with your friend (a person), which is odd. In speech, some people might still understand you mean “my friend’s score”, but grammatically it’s not good and can be confusing.

So: keep markah before kawan saya to make the comparison clear.

Why is tinggi used for scores? Isn’t tinggi mainly “tall”?

Tinggi covers both tall (for physical height) and high (for levels, amounts, scores):

pokok tinggi = tall tree
bangunan tinggi = tall/high building
markah tinggi = high score
gaji tinggi = high salary

So:

markah ujian saya hampir sama tinggi
= my test score is almost equally high

This mirrors English: we say tall for people/things and high for scores, but Malay uses the same word, tinggi, for both. Context tells you which sense is meant.