Learn Hardcore Malay: Kedua-dua anak saya suka haiwan liar seperti harimau dan ular. - Both my children like wild animals such as tigers and snakes.

dua = two
- dua anak saya = two of my children (neutral, just the number)
kedua = the two / both, but usually used before a noun that’s already specific or in certain fixed patterns:
- kedua anak saya (understood, but sounds incomplete / less natural without -dua)
- mereka berdua = the two of them / both of them
kedua-dua = strongly marks “both (of them, not just one)”
- Kedua-dua anak saya suka haiwan liar.
  = Both my children like wild animals.

So “kedua-dua anak saya” is best translated as “both my children”, not just “two of my children”.

Why is it “kedua-dua anak saya” and not “anak saya kedua-dua”?

The usual, natural order is:

[quantifier] + [noun] + [possessor]
kedua-dua + anak + saya
= both + children + my → both my children

Other common, natural patterns:

kedua-dua orang anak saya
(orang is a classifier for people; more explicit)
= both of my children
anak-anak saya berdua suka haiwan liar.
Here berdua comes after the subject:
= My two children both like wild animals.

“anak saya kedua-dua” is not natural in Malay. If you want “both” after the noun phrase, you’d normally say:

Anak saya berdua suka haiwan liar.
(literally: my children, the two (of them), like wild animals)

Why is “anak” not written in the plural (like “anak-anak”) even though there are two children?

In Malay, plural is usually shown by context, not by changing the noun form.

Plural can be indicated by:

numbers / quantifiers:
- dua anak = two children
- kedua-dua anak = both children
words like “banyak” (many), “beberapa” (several), etc.

You can say anak-anak to emphasize plurality or “children in general”, but when there is already “kedua-dua”, the plural is clear and “anak-anak” is not necessary:

Kedua-dua anak saya suka haiwan liar. ✅ (most natural)
Kedua-dua anak-anak saya suka haiwan liar. ❌ sounds redundant/awkward

So: numbers/quantifiers + singular noun is the normal pattern.

Why is it “suka haiwan liar” without any preposition like “suka akan”?

In everyday Malay, “suka” is directly followed by the thing you like:

suka + noun
- Saya suka kopi. = I like coffee.
- Mereka suka muzik. = They like music.
- Kedua-dua anak saya suka haiwan liar. = Both my children like wild animals.

You might see “suka akan” in older, formal, or literary texts:

Dia suka akan kebebasan.

But in modern spoken and standard usage, you almost always just use “suka” + object with no preposition:

Dia suka haiwan liar. ✅
Dia suka akan haiwan liar. ✔️ grammatically correct, but sounds formal/literary in everyday conversation.

What’s the difference between “haiwan liar” and “binatang liar”?

Both mean roughly “wild animals”, but there’s a nuance:

haiwan liar
- More standard / neutral / formal.
- Common in school books, news, official writing.
binatang liar
- Often more colloquial / everyday speech.
- In some contexts binatang can have a slightly rude tone (e.g., as an insult), but “binatang liar” itself is fine.

In your sentence:

Kedua-dua anak saya suka haiwan liar seperti harimau dan ular.
sounds neutral and slightly more standard.

You could say “binatang liar” in casual speech and still be understood perfectly.

Why don’t we mark “harimau” and “ular” as plural even though it’s “tigers and snakes”?

Malay nouns normally don’t change form for singular vs plural. The plural meaning comes from context or extra words.

So:

harimau can mean a tiger or tigers
ular can mean a snake or snakes

In:

...haiwan liar seperti harimau dan ular.

the meaning is clearly “tigers and snakes” because we’re talking about kinds of wild animals in general. There is no need (and no way) to mark them grammatically as plural.

If you wanted to be very explicit, you could say:

…seperti seekor harimau dan seekor ular.
(literally: “like one tiger and one snake”) – but that sounds like you’re talking about specific individual animals, which is not what you want here.

Could I use “macam” instead of “seperti” here? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can, but the tone changes slightly.

seperti = like / such as, neutral and standard; used in both spoken and written Malay.
- …haiwan liar seperti harimau dan ular. ✅
macam = like / kind of, more colloquial / informal.
- …haiwan liar macam harimau dan ular. ✅ (good in casual speech)

In writing (essays, exams, formal texts), “seperti” or “sebagai contoh” is usually preferred. In conversation, “macam” is extremely common.

Why is there no word for “the” or “those” in this sentence?

Malay doesn’t have direct equivalents of English “a / an / the”. Definiteness (specific vs non-specific) is usually clear from context.

haiwan liar can mean:
- wild animals (in general)
- the wild animals (if context is specific)

In your sentence:

Kedua-dua anak saya suka haiwan liar seperti harimau dan ular.

we naturally understand it as:

Both my children like wild animals, such as tigers and snakes.

If you really need to be specific, you might add words like itu (that/those) or ini (this/these), but they are not needed here:

Kedua-dua anak saya suka haiwan liar itu.
= Both my children like those wild animals (specific ones already known in context).

Is “kedua-dua” always written with a hyphen, and can I say “kedua-duanya”?

Yes, in standard modern Malay, it’s normally written with a hyphen:

kedua-dua = both
kedua-duanya = both of them (with -nya = “its/their”)

Patterns:

Kedua-dua anak saya suka haiwan liar.
= Both my children like wild animals.
Kedua-duanya suka haiwan liar.
= Both of them like wild animals.
(here the children are understood from context; you don’t repeat anak saya)

Spoken alternatives you might hear:

berdua:
- Anak saya berdua suka haiwan liar. = My two children both like wild animals.
dua-dua (colloquial in many dialects):
- Dua-dua anak saya suka haiwan liar. (informal speech; meaning is the same as kedua-dua in many regions)

For careful, standard writing, “kedua-dua” (with a hyphen) is the safe choice.