Learn Hardcore Malay: Anjing jiran saya sangat jinak, tetapi bulunya hitam dan kelihatan garang. - My neighbor’s dog is very tame, but its fur is black and looks fierce.

You would not say anjing saya jiran; that order is ungrammatical in Malay. If you wanted to say my dog, you’d say anjing saya, not saya anjing or anything else.

Why is there no word for is in anjing jiran saya sangat jinak?

Malay usually does not use a verb like “to be” (is/are/am) before adjectives or nouns in simple present statements. The structure is:

[subject] + [adverb, if any] + [adjective]

So:

Anjing jiran saya sangat jinak
literally: Dog neighbour my very tame
meaning: My neighbour’s dog is very tame.

There is no need for a word equivalent to is. The adjective jinak itself functions as the predicate.

What does jinak mean exactly? Is it just “tame”?

Jinak most commonly means tame (opposite of wild or aggressive), especially for animals.

Nuances:

For animals:
anjing jinak = a tame, friendly dog
For people (less common, but possible in some contexts):
it can carry a sense of submissive / easily controlled / not rebellious, depending on context.

In this sentence, sangat jinak clearly means very tame / very gentle (a dog that doesn’t bite, is friendly, etc.).

What does bulunya mean, and why do we add -nya?

Bulu = fur, hair (of animals); also feathers (for birds).

-nya is a suffix that often shows possession: his/her/its/their (depending on context).

So:

bulu = fur
bulunya = its fur / his fur / her fur / their fur

In this sentence, bulunya = its fur, referring to the dog’s fur.

You could also say:

bulu anjing jiran saya = the fur of my neighbour’s dog

Using -nya is shorter and more natural once the owner (the dog) is already clear in the context.

Why is it bulunya hitam, and not something like bulunya adalah hitam?

Again, Malay doesn’t need adalah or a verb like is before adjectives in simple descriptions.

Correct and natural:

Bulunya hitam. = Its fur is black.

Adding adalah before an adjective is usually unnecessary and often sounds formal or odd in a simple descriptive sentence. Adalah is more common:

before nouns in formal writing:
Masalah utama adalah kekurangan masa.
(The main problem is lack of time.)

But not before simple adjectives in everyday speech:

✗ Bulunya adalah hitam. (grammatically possible in some very formal contexts, but unnatural here)
✓ Bulunya hitam.

What does kelihatan mean, and how is it formed?

Kelihatan in this sentence means seems / appears / looks (like).

Morphology:

Base verb: lihat = to see, to look at
Circumfix: ke-…-an can turn roots into forms meaning state / condition / something that can be seen as …
kelihatan roughly = to be seen / to appear / to look (like)

So:

kelihatan garang = looks fierce / appears fierce

Some near-synonyms used in everyday speech:

nampak garang
terlihat garang (less common in casual Malay; more Indonesian-influenced)

What exactly does garang mean? Is it “angry” or “fierce”?

Garang usually means fierce-looking, intimidating, stern, or aggressive in manner or appearance.

Differences:

marah = angry (an emotion)
garang = fierce / strict / intimidating (a trait or appearance)

So kelihatan garang is more like:

looks fierce / looks scary / looks stern

It does not mean the dog is currently angry; it’s about the impression given by its black fur and perhaps expression.

What is the function of tetapi here? Can I replace it with something else?

Tetapi means but / however and introduces contrast.

In the sentence:

Anjing jiran saya sangat jinak, tetapi bulunya hitam dan kelihatan garang.
= My neighbour’s dog is very tame, but its fur is black and it looks fierce.

You can replace it with:

tapi – more informal, very common in speech
… sangat jinak, tapi bulunya hitam …

Tetapi is neutral to slightly formal; tapi is casual.

Why is the order bulunya hitam dan kelihatan garang and not bulunya kelihatan garang dan hitam?

Both orders are grammatically possible, but they highlight slightly different things.

Original:

bulunya hitam dan kelihatan garang
= its fur is black and (because of that) it looks fierce

Here the black colour is stated first, then the resulting impression.

If you say:

bulunya kelihatan garang dan hitam
it sounds more like its fur looks fierce and black (putting “fierce” as the main visible quality, then adding “black”).

The original sentence feels more natural because hitam (black) is a concrete fact, and kelihatan garang is the resulting appearance.

Where should I put sangat? Could I say jinak sangat instead of sangat jinak?

Sangat is an intensifier meaning very. The most standard position is before the adjective:

sangat jinak = very tame
sangat hitam = very black
sangat garang = very fierce

In colloquial Malay, people sometimes put sangat after the adjective:

jinak sangat = very tame
This is understood and commonly heard in speech, but sangat jinak is more neutral/standard.

So:

Standard: anjing itu sangat jinak
Colloquial/spoken: anjing itu jinak sangat

Is Anjing jiran saya definite, like “the dog”, even though there is no word like “the”?

Yes. Malay does not have articles like the or a/an. Definiteness is understood from context.

Anjing jiran saya is definite because it has a clear possessor:

anjing jiran saya = my neighbour’s dog (a specific dog)

Context and additional details (like possession, adjectives, or previous mention) usually tell you whether something is definite or vague. There is no need to add a separate word for the.

Could the sentence be rearranged as Bulunya hitam dan kelihatan garang, tetapi anjing jiran saya sangat jinak? Does that change the meaning?

Yes, you can rearrange it:

Bulunya hitam dan kelihatan garang, tetapi anjing jiran saya sangat jinak.

Meaning-wise, it is essentially the same: Its fur is black and it looks fierce, but my neighbour’s dog is very tame.

The difference is in emphasis:

Original: starts with Anjing jiran saya sangat jinak → first emphasises the dog’s tame nature, then contrasts with its fierce appearance.
Rearranged: starts with Bulunya hitam dan kelihatan garang → first emphasises the scary look, then surprises the listener with actually it’s very tame.

Both are correct; choose based on which part you want to highlight first.