Tasik itu berhampiran universiti.

That lake is near the university.

Breakdown of Tasik itu berhampiran universiti.

• adalah: to be
• itu: that
• universiti: the university
• tasik: the lake
• berhampiran: near

Questions & Answers about Tasik itu berhampiran universiti.

In the sentence Tasik itu berhampiran universiti, what does itu mean? Is it “the” or “that”?

Itu is a demonstrative meaning roughly that, but in Malay it often functions like the or that (specific) in English.

• tasik itu = that lake / the lake (we both know which one)
• tasik ini = this lake (near me)

Position matters:

• tasik itu (noun + itu) = the/that lake (a specific lake already known or visible)
• itu tasik = that is a lake (here itu is the subject: “that”, and tasik is the complement: “a lake”)

In your sentence, Tasik itu is best translated as “The lake” or “That lake” depending on context, but the important point is that it’s a specific lake, not just any lake.

Why is there no word for “is” in this sentence? Why not say Tasik itu adalah berhampiran universiti?

Malay normally omits a verb like “to be” when linking a subject to:

• an adjective, or
• a location phrase.

So:

• Tasik itu berhampiran universiti.
  = The lake (is) near the university.

You usually do not put adalah before an adjective or a word like berhampiran.

• Tasik itu adalah berhampiran universiti sounds unnatural or overly bookish; most native speakers would avoid it.

More natural patterns are:

• Tasik itu berhampiran universiti.
• Tasik itu terletak berhampiran universiti. (The lake is located near the university.)

Adalah is more common before nouns or longer explanations:

• Universiti itu adalah institusi pengajian tinggi.
  (That university is an institution of higher learning.)

What is the literal meaning and structure of berhampiran?

Berhampiran is built from the root hampir, with affixes:

• hampir = near, almost
• hampiran = vicinity, surroundings, nearness
• ber‑hampir‑an → berhampiran = to be in a state of nearness, to be in the vicinity (of)

In practice, berhampiran works like “near / close to”:

• Tasik itu berhampiran universiti.
  The lake is near the university.

So you can think of berhampiran as “to be in the vicinity of”, functioning like an adjective or a prepositional phrase.

Can I use hampir instead of berhampiran here? For example, Tasik itu hampir universiti?

Not in that exact way.

• hampir by itself most often means “almost / nearly”:
  
  • Saya hampir jatuh. (I almost fell.)
  • Masa hampir tamat. (Time is nearly up.)

To mean “near to” a place, you can sometimes see hampir dengan:

• Rumah saya hampir dengan universiti. (My house is near the university.)

…but this is less common and can sound a bit ambiguous (it can also be heard as “almost at the university” depending on context).

For clear and natural “near” in location sentences, learners are usually taught:

• berhampiran (dengan)
• dekat (dengan)
• berdekatan (dengan)

So Tasik itu berhampiran universiti (or Tasik itu dekat dengan universiti) is safer and more standard than Tasik itu hampir universiti.

Do I need to add dengan after berhampiran? Is Tasik itu berhampiran dengan universiti better?

Both are correct:

• Tasik itu berhampiran universiti.
• Tasik itu berhampiran dengan universiti.

They mean the same thing. Adding dengan makes the structure slightly more explicit, but there’s no real change in meaning.

What you should not say is:

• ✗ Tasik itu berhampiran di universiti.

Because berhampiran already carries the idea of location, di is usually redundant or wrong there.

Summary:

• ✔ berhampiran universiti
• ✔ berhampiran dengan universiti
• ✗ berhampiran di universiti

What’s the difference between berhampiran, dekat, and berdekatan?

All three can mean “near / close (to)”, but they differ in tone and usage.

1. berhampiran

   • Slightly formal / written.
   • Often used in descriptions, signs, news, etc.
   • Example: Tasik itu berhampiran universiti.

2. dekat

   • Very common and colloquial in everyday speech.
   • Often used with dengan when followed by a noun:
     
     • Tasik itu dekat dengan universiti.
   • Can also stand alone:
     
     • Rumah saya dekat. (My house is nearby.)

3. berdekatan

   • Also sounds a bit formal, similar to berhampiran.
   • Pretty interchangeable with berhampiran:
     
     • Tasik itu berdekatan dengan universiti.

So in normal spoken Malay, you’ll hear dekat (dengan) a lot; in more formal or written contexts, berhampiran and berdekatan are very natural.

Why is it berhampiran universiti, not berhampiran di universiti?

Because berhampiran already includes the idea of being at/near a location. Adding di is usually unnecessary and sounds wrong in this structure.

• ✔ berhampiran universiti
• ✔ berhampiran dengan universiti
• ✗ berhampiran di universiti

You use di with plain nouns to mean “at/in”:

• di universiti = at the university
• di tasik = at the lake

But with berhampiran, you go straight to the noun (optionally with dengan), not di.

Why doesn’t universiti have something like “the” or “a”? How do I say “the university” or “a university” in Malay?

Malay does not have obligatory articles like “a/an” or “the”. A bare noun can often be translated as either “a(n)” or “the”, depending on context.

• Tasik itu berhampiran universiti.
  = The lake is near a university / near the university (context decides).

To be more specific:

• universiti itu = that university / the university (we both know which one)
  
  • Tasik itu berhampiran universiti itu.

To emphasise “a university” (one university, not specific):

• sebuah universiti = a university (classifier sebuah is used for buildings/objects)
  
  • Tasik itu berhampiran sebuah universiti. (The lake is near a university.)

So you choose between:

• universiti (generic/unspecified)
• universiti itu (definite/that particular university)
• sebuah universiti (explicitly “a single university”).

Can I change the word order to start with universiti? For example, is Universiti itu berhampiran tasik correct?

Yes, you can change the subject, but it slightly changes what you’re focusing on.

Your original sentence:

• Tasik itu berhampiran universiti.
  Focus: the lake (you’re describing where the lake is).

If you say:

• Universiti itu berhampiran tasik.
  Focus: the university (you’re describing where the university is).
  Translation: The university is near a lake.

If you want both to be clearly definite:

• Tasik itu berhampiran tasik itu – this is wrong (you’d be saying “The lake is near the lake”).
• Universiti itu berhampiran tasik itu.
  = That university is near that lake.

Be careful with this pattern:

• universiti berhampiran tasik itu

This on its own usually reads as a noun phrase, not a full sentence:

• universiti berhampiran tasik itu
  = a university near that lake

To make it a full sentence, you’d say:

• Ada universiti berhampiran tasik itu.
  = There is a university near that lake.

Is Tasik always written with a capital T?

No. It’s capitalised here only because it is the first word of the sentence.

• Tasik itu berhampiran universiti. (start of sentence → Tasik)
• In the middle of a sentence, it would be tasik:
  
  • Mereka berjalan ke tasik itu. (They walked to the lake.)

It is also capitalised when part of a proper name:

• Tasik Kenyir
• Tasik Chini

Are there other natural ways to say the same thing in Malay?

Yes, very much so. Some common alternatives:

• Tasik itu dekat dengan universiti.
• Tasik itu berdekatan dengan universiti.
• Tasik itu terletak berhampiran universiti.
• Tasik itu terletak dekat dengan universiti.

All of these can be translated as “The lake is near the university”, with slight differences in formality:

• dekat dengan sounds more colloquial.
• berhampiran / berdekatan and terletak sound a bit more formal or descriptive, common in writing, signs, or official descriptions.

What exactly does tasik mean? Is it the same as danau or kolam?

• tasik = lake (general term in standard Malay)
• danau = also lake, but more common in Indonesian or in some regional varieties; in standard Malaysian Malay, tasik is more usual.
• kolam = pond / pool (usually smaller and more artificial, like a fish pond or swimming pool)
• telaga = well (a water well)

So in your sentence, tasik clearly means a lake, not a pond or a pool.

Do I ever need a classifier like sebuah with tasik in this kind of sentence?

Not in the sentence Tasik itu berhampiran universiti, because tasik itu is already a specific lake (indicated by itu).

You normally use sebuah when you:

• introduce a new, indefinite object, or
• want to emphasise the number one:

Examples:

• Ada sebuah tasik berhampiran universiti.
  There is a lake near the university.

• Dia membeli sebuah rumah berhampiran tasik.
  He/She bought a house near a lake.

But when the noun is already definite with itu, you don’t add sebuah:

• ✔ Tasik itu berhampiran universiti.
• ✗ Sebuah tasik itu berhampiran universiti. (ungrammatical)