Questions & Answers about Buku seni itu menarik.
The sentence splits up like this:
- buku – book
- seni – art
- itu – that / the (demonstrative placed after the noun)
- menarik – interesting (literally related to to attract / to pull)
So, very literally: book art that interesting → natural English: That art book is interesting or The art book is interesting.
Itu is a demonstrative that usually means “that” (as opposed to ini = “this”).
In noun phrases, Malay typically puts itu after the noun:
- buku itu – that book / the book
- buku seni itu – that art book / the art book
In English, we put this/that/the before the noun. In Malay, itu comes after:
- rumah itu – that house / the house
- kereta itu – that car / the car
Functionally, itu here can cover both:
- That art book is interesting.
- The art book is interesting.
Whether you translate it as that or the depends on context and how “far” or specific the book is in the situation.
In Malay, when you have two nouns together (a noun–noun compound), the main noun usually comes first and the describing noun comes after it.
- buku seni – literally book art → an art book
- buku (book) is the main thing
- seni (art) specifies what kind of book it is
If you said seni buku, it would mean something like the art of books or book-related art, which is a different idea.
Other examples:
- guru matematik – maths teacher (teacher of maths)
- bas sekolah – school bus (bus for school)
- kedai buku – bookshop (shop for books)
So the order is usually:
[main noun] + [describing noun]
buku seni → art book
Seni is a noun meaning art.
The phrase buku seni is a noun–noun compound:
- buku – book
- seni – art
Together: art book.
Malay doesn’t need to turn seni into an adjective; the second noun already narrows down what type of book it is. So seni keeps its identity as a noun, even though in English we use a noun (“art”) as a noun modifier too (“art book”).
Malay usually does not use a separate “to be” verb (like is/are/am) when linking a noun to an adjective.
Pattern in English:
- The art book is interesting.
Pattern in Malay:
- Buku seni itu menarik.
Literally: art book that interesting.
The linking “is” is just implied. So:
- Dia tinggi. – He/She is tall.
- Makanan ini sedap. – This food is delicious.
- Filem itu membosankan. – That movie is boring.
You only use adalah (a form of “to be”) in more formal situations, and usually to link a noun to another noun or phrase, not to a simple adjective:
- Dia adalah seorang doktor. – He/She is a doctor.
You would not normally say Buku seni itu adalah menarik in everyday speech; it can sound too formal or a bit unnatural in casual contexts.
Menarik can function as both:
Verb – to pull / to attract
- Dia menarik pintu. – He/She pulls the door.
- Lagu itu menarik perhatian saya. – That song attracts my attention.
Adjective – interesting / attractive
- Cerita itu menarik. – The story is interesting.
- Buku seni itu menarik. – That art book is interesting.
In Buku seni itu menarik, menarik is clearly an adjective: it describes the book’s quality.
Malay often uses the same form for a verb and the related adjective, and the function is determined by position and context:
- After a subject: often an adjective (or a stative verb functioning like one).
- Before an object: more likely a verb.
No, Menarik buku seni itu would not mean “The art book is interesting.”
Changing the word order changes the function:
Buku seni itu menarik.
- Subject: buku seni itu (that art book)
- Predicate: menarik (is interesting)
Menarik buku seni itu.
Grammatically this looks like:- menarik – a verb: to pull / to attract
- buku seni itu – its object: that art book
So it would normally be interpreted as something like:
- (Someone/something) pulls that art book.
- or (Someone/something) attracts that art book.
It’s also incomplete because there is no clear subject. To say The art book is interesting, you should keep:
[Subject] + [adjective]
Buku seni itu menarik.
You can say Buku seni menarik, but the nuance changes:
Buku seni itu menarik.
- Refers to a specific art book that both speakers can identify (or that is “that one over there”).
- Translated as: That art book is interesting / The art book is interesting.
Buku seni menarik.
- More general: Art books are interesting or An art book is interesting (depending on context).
- Could be talking about art books in general, not a particular one.
Malay often omits explicit markers for the / a / an / plural, so buku seni can be:
- an art book, the art book, or art books – your context and extra words (like itu, ini, banyak, beberapa) clarify the meaning.
On its own, buku seni is number-neutral. It can mean:
- an art book
- the art book
- art books
- the art books
To make it clearly plural, you can add a quantifier or a plural word:
- banyak buku seni – many art books
- beberapa buku seni – several art books
- dua buku seni – two art books
- semua buku seni itu – all those art books
You can also use buku-buku seni (reduplication) to show plurality, but in everyday modern Malay, this is less common than just using banyak, numbers, or other quantifiers.
So:
- Buku seni itu menarik. – That art book is interesting.
- Banyak buku seni menarik. – Many art books are interesting.
There’s a subtle but important difference:
- Buku seni itu menarik.
– The art book is interesting.
– Full sentence: subject + predicate.
To say “the interesting art book” as a noun phrase (not a full sentence), Malay commonly uses yang to link a noun with an adjective:
- buku seni yang menarik – the interesting art book / an art book that is interesting
Or if it’s specific:
- buku seni yang menarik itu – that interesting art book
Structure:
[noun phrase] + yang + [adjective / description]
buku seni + yang + menarik → art book that is interesting → the interesting art book
So:
- Saya suka buku seni yang menarik itu.
– I like that interesting art book.