Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya bau kari ayam di dapur. - I smell chicken curry in the kitchen.

Noun: bau = a smell, a scent
- Ada bau yang pelik. – “There is a strange smell.”
Verb: bau = to smell (perceive with the nose)
- Saya bau kari ayam. – “I smell chicken curry.”

In your sentence, because Saya is a subject and there is an object (kari ayam), bau is naturally interpreted as a verb.

Why isn’t there a word for “am” or “can” like in “I am smelling” or “I can smell”?

Malay does not use a verb like English “to be” (am/is/are) before action verbs:

English: I am eating.
Malay: Saya makan. (literally “I eat.”)

Similarly with bau:

English: I am smelling chicken curry. / I can smell chicken curry.
Malay: Saya bau kari ayam.

Malay also often omits “can” when English would use it; Saya bau… can be naturally understood as “I smell / I can smell…”, depending on context.

If you really want to stress the ability, you can say:

Saya boleh bau kari ayam. – “I can smell chicken curry.”

Is the sentence grammatically correct and natural as it is?

Yes, Saya bau kari ayam di dapur. is grammatically correct and understandable in everyday Malay. Many native speakers will say it this way in casual speech.

A few other very natural variants you might also hear:

Saya boleh bau kari ayam dari dapur.
“I can smell chicken curry from the kitchen.”
Saya terbau kari ayam di dapur.
“I happen to smell / catch the smell of chicken curry in the kitchen.”

But your original sentence is fine for normal, informal to neutral contexts.

What is the structure of kari ayam? Why isn’t it ayam kari?

In Malay, when you join two nouns, the main noun (the “type” of thing) usually comes first, and the describing noun comes after it. Here:

kari – curry (the main thing)
ayam – chicken (what kind of curry)

So kari ayam = chicken curry (literally “curry [of] chicken”).

Some examples of the same pattern:

susu lembu – cow’s milk (milk of cow)
mee goreng – fried noodles (noodles [that are] fried)
teh tarik – pulled tea (tea [that’s] pulled)

Ayam kari would be unusual; it would sound like “chicken (that is) curry”, which is not how the dish is normally referred to.

Does kari ayam mean “a chicken curry” or “the chicken curry”? How do you know?

Malay does not use articles (“a” / “the”) the way English does. Kari ayam on its own can mean:

“chicken curry”
“a chicken curry”
“the chicken curry”

Context tells you whether it’s specific or general.

If you want to make it clearly specific, you can add itu (“that”) or ini (“this”):

kari ayam itu – that chicken curry / the chicken curry
kari ayam ini – this chicken curry

But often just kari ayam is enough, and listeners will understand from the situation.

What exactly does di dapur mean? Is it “in the kitchen” or “at the kitchen”?

di marks a location and usually corresponds to English “in / at / on” depending on the noun:

di dapur – in the kitchen / at the kitchen
di sekolah – at school
di meja – on the table

In your sentence, di dapur is best translated as “in the kitchen”:

Saya bau kari ayam di dapur.
“I smell chicken curry in the kitchen.”

Does di dapur say where I am, or where the curry is?

Grammatically, di dapur could modify either:

where you are smelling it (You are in the kitchen), or
where the curry is (The curry is in the kitchen), or
where the smell is coming from (The smell comes from the kitchen).

Malay is often flexible here, and context clarifies the intended meaning.

If you want to be clearer, you can rephrase:

To emphasize your location:
Di dapur, saya bau kari ayam. – “In the kitchen, I smell chicken curry.”
To emphasize the source of the smell:
Saya bau kari ayam dari dapur. – “I smell chicken curry from the kitchen.”

Can I drop Saya and just say Bau kari ayam di dapur?

Yes, in informal spoken Malay, the subject pronoun is often dropped when it’s obvious from context:

(Saya) bau kari ayam di dapur.

People might understand this as “I smell chicken curry in the kitchen” if it’s clear you’re talking about yourself.

However:

In writing, or when you need to be clear, it’s safer to keep Saya.
Without a subject, Bau kari ayam di dapur could also be understood more generally as “There’s a smell of chicken curry in the kitchen.”

So for learners, it’s a good habit to keep Saya until you’re very comfortable with when it’s safe to omit it.

How do you show past or future? Could this mean “I smelled” or “I will smell”?

Malay verbs do not change form for tense. Saya bau… can mean:

“I smell…” (present)
“I smelled…” (past)
“I will smell…” (future – less common in this exact sentence, but possible in context)

Time is usually shown by time words:

Tadi – earlier / just now
Tadi saya bau kari ayam di dapur. – “Just now I smelled chicken curry in the kitchen.”
Semalam – yesterday
Semalam saya bau kari ayam di dapur.
Nanti – later
Nanti saya bau lagi. – “I’ll smell it again later.”
Esok – tomorrow

So the basic sentence is “tense-neutral”; context and time adverbs add the tense.

Why don’t we use adalah (the “to be” word) in this sentence?

Adalah is not used before action verbs. You generally see adalah only:

Before nouns in formal definitions:
- Dia adalah doktor. – “He/She is a doctor.”
Sometimes before adjectives in formal writing.

With a verb like bau, you never say Saya adalah bau kari ayam… – that would be wrong.

So:

Correct: Saya bau kari ayam di dapur.
Incorrect: Saya adalah bau kari ayam di dapur.

What’s the nuance of using Saya instead of Aku here?

Both saya and aku mean “I / me”, but they differ in formality and relationship:

Saya – neutral, polite, safe in almost all situations (with strangers, elders, formal contexts).
Aku – informal, used with close friends, family, or in casual speech; can sound rude if used to someone you should respect.

In your sentence:

Saya bau kari ayam di dapur. – polite/neutral.
Aku bau kari ayam kat dapur. – very casual, colloquial (also kat is the casual form of di in speech).

For learning Malay, saya is the safest default.

Is there a more “complete” or detailed way to say “I smell chicken curry in the kitchen”?

Yes, you can make the sentence more explicit in a few ways, depending on what you want to highlight:

Emphasize that it’s the smell:
- Saya cium bau kari ayam di dapur.
  Literally “I smell the smell of chicken curry in the kitchen.”
  (cium = to smell / to sniff / to kiss, depending on context.)
Emphasize that the smell is coming from the kitchen:
- Saya boleh bau kari ayam dari dapur.
  “I can smell chicken curry from the kitchen.”
Emphasize that you suddenly notice the smell:
- Saya terbau kari ayam di dapur.
  “I happen to smell / catch the smell of chicken curry in the kitchen.”

Your original sentence is already fine; these are just stylistic alternatives that native speakers might also use.