Pada hari Isnin, saya pergi ke universiti.

On Monday, I go to the university.

Breakdown of Pada hari Isnin, saya pergi ke universiti.

• saya: I
• pergi: to go
• ke: to
• pada: on
• universiti: the university
• hari Isnin: Monday

Questions & Answers about Pada hari Isnin, saya pergi ke universiti.

What does pada mean here, and can I leave it out?

Pada is a preposition that, in this context, corresponds roughly to on (as in on Monday).

In time expressions like days and dates, pada is often optional in everyday speech:

• Pada hari Isnin, saya pergi ke universiti.
• Hari Isnin, saya pergi ke universiti.
• Isnin, saya pergi ke universiti.

All are understandable. Using pada is a bit more formal/complete and is very natural in writing or careful speech.

Why do we say pada hari Isnin and not just pada Isnin or hari Isnin?

All three are possible; they differ slightly in style:

• Pada hari Isnin – very clear and slightly more formal; literally on the day Monday.
• Pada Isnin – also correct; used, but sounds a bit more concise.
• Hari Isnin – common in speech; pada is just omitted.

Malay often keeps hari (day) with days of the week, especially in full or careful sentences: hari Isnin, hari Selasa, etc., but in many contexts people also just say Isnin.

Is Isnin always capitalized? Does that apply to all days of the week?

Yes. In standard Malay:

• Names of days of the week are capitalized: Isnin, Selasa, Rabu, Khamis, Jumaat, Sabtu, Ahad.
• Names of months are also capitalized: Januari, Februari, etc.

So Isnin should be written with a capital I in formal writing, just like Monday in English.

Why is there no word like the or a before universiti?

Malay does not use articles like the and a/an.

The bare noun universiti can mean:

• a university
• the university
• university (in a general sense)

Context usually makes the meaning clear. If you need to be more specific, you add other words, not articles, for example:

• universiti saya – my university
• universiti itu – that / the university (already known in context)

What is the function of ke in pergi ke universiti? Can I just say pergi universiti?

Ke is a preposition meaning to / towards when talking about movement or direction.

• pergi ke universiti = go to the university

You normally should not drop ke when you name the destination:

• ✗ saya pergi universiti – sounds wrong / incomplete
• ✓ saya pergi ke universiti – correct and natural

The verb pergi already means go, but ke is needed to introduce the place you are going to.

What is the difference between ke and di?

Both are common prepositions:

• ke = to / towards (movement, destination)
  • Saya pergi ke universiti. – I go to the university.
• di = at / in / on (location, no movement)
  • Saya di universiti. – I am at the university.

So you go ke a place, but you are di a place.

There is no special past tense form like went here. How do we know this sentence is past tense?

Malay verbs do not change form for tense. Pergi can mean go, am going, went, or will go, depending on context.

Pada hari Isnin gives a time reference; it can be:

• last Monday,
• this Monday,
• next Monday,
• generally on Mondays (habitual).

If you want to make the past sense explicit, you can add a time word:

• Pada hari Isnin lepas, saya pergi ke universiti. – Last Monday, I went to the university.
• Semalam, saya pergi ke universiti. – Yesterday, I went to the university.

Without those, the tense is understood from the wider context.

Can I put the time phrase at the end, like Saya pergi ke universiti pada hari Isnin?

Yes. Both word orders are correct:

• Pada hari Isnin, saya pergi ke universiti.
• Saya pergi ke universiti pada hari Isnin.

Malay is flexible with time expressions. Placing the time at the beginning is a common way to emphasize when something happened, but putting it at the end is equally natural.

Is the comma after Isnin necessary?

In careful writing, yes, it is recommended when the time phrase comes first:

• Pada hari Isnin, saya pergi ke universiti.

The comma separates the introductory time phrase from the main clause. In informal writing or text messages, people often omit it, but in standard written Malay it is good style to include it.

What is the difference between saya and aku, and which one fits this sentence?

Both mean I / me, but they differ in politeness and context:

• saya – polite, neutral, used in most situations (speaking to strangers, elders, in formal or semi-formal contexts).
• aku – informal, intimate; used with close friends, siblings, or in some dialects and casual speech.

In a neutral example sentence like this, saya is the safest and most appropriate choice:

• Pada hari Isnin, saya pergi ke universiti. – polite/neutral.

Does Pada hari Isnin, saya pergi ke universiti mean On Mondays I go to the university (habitually) or On Monday I went / will go to the university (one time)?

By itself, it can mean any of these, depending on context:

• habitual: On Mondays I (normally) go to the university
• specific: On Monday I went / will go to the university

To make it clearly habitual, you can add a word like setiap (every):

• Setiap hari Isnin, saya pergi ke universiti. – Every Monday, I go to the university.

To make it clearly refer to a past Monday, you can specify:

• Pada hari Isnin lepas, saya pergi ke universiti. – Last Monday, I went to the university.

If I want to say my university, should I say universiti saya in this sentence?

You can, but it slightly changes the nuance.

• Saya pergi ke universiti. – I go to the / a university (context usually implies your usual university).
• Saya pergi ke universiti saya. – I go to my university (emphasizes that it is specifically yours, e.g., not someone else’s campus).

Most of the time, ke universiti is enough, because your listener will assume you mean your own university. You add saya only when you need to contrast or clarify.