Questions & Answers about Kanak-kanak bermain di kolam.
Kanak-kanak literally comes from kanak (child) repeated, and the repetition with a hyphen is a common Malay way to show plurality.
- kanak-kanak = child/children (collective; usually understood as children)
- It is grammatically treated as plural, but Malay doesn’t mark plural as strictly as English.
- You usually don’t say kanak-kanak-kanak; the reduplication is done only once.
So kanak-kanak is normally understood as children. For a child, you would usually use seorang kanak-kanak (“one child”).
Yes, there are several common words for children, with slightly different nuances:
- kanak-kanak – neutral, a bit more formal/standard (often used in writing, official contexts, signage).
- anak-anak – literally “children” (from anak = child); can mean one’s own children or children in general, depending on context.
- budak-budak – more colloquial; often used in everyday speech for kids.
For a casual spoken version of the sentence, someone might say:
- Budak-budak main di kolam. or
- Anak-anak bermain di kolam.
Malay has no direct equivalent of English the or a/an. Definiteness (whether it’s the children or just children) is understood from context.
- Kanak-kanak bermain di kolam.
Can mean:- Children are playing at the pool/pond.
- The children are playing at the pool/pond.
To make it clearly the children, you can use itu (that/the) or tersebut (the aforementioned):
- Kanak-kanak itu bermain di kolam. = The children are playing at the pool.
- Kanak-kanak tersebut bermain di kolam. = Those/the mentioned children are playing at the pool.
Without such words, you rely on context.
The verb bermain itself has no tense. Malay verbs don’t change form for past, present or future. The basic sentence:
- Kanak-kanak bermain di kolam.
Can mean, depending on context:
- Children are playing at the pool.
- Children played at the pool.
- Children will play at the pool.
To make the time clearer, you add time words or particles:
- sedang bermain = are playing (right now, in progress)
Kanak-kanak sedang bermain di kolam. - telah / sudah bermain = have played / already played
Kanak-kanak telah/sudah bermain di kolam. - akan bermain = will play
Kanak-kanak akan bermain di kolam. - Or add time words: semalam (yesterday), sekarang (now), esok (tomorrow), etc.
ber- is a common Malay verb prefix. In bermain:
- main = play (root)
- bermain = to play / playing (standard form with ber-)
In standard/formal Malay, bermain is preferred as the correct verb.
In colloquial spoken Malay, people often drop ber- and just say:
- Kanak-kanak main di kolam.
(Casual speech; still very common and natural in conversation.)
So:
- bermain – more formal/standard, suitable for writing, exams, formal speech.
- main – everyday spoken Malay, informal.
di is a general location preposition that can be translated as in, at, or sometimes on, depending on the noun and context.
In this sentence:
- di kolam can be understood as at the pool/pond or in the pool/pond, depending on what kind of kolam is meant.
Some contrasts:
- di kolam – at/in the pool/pond (location).
- di dalam kolam – inside the pool/pond (more explicitly “in”).
- di atas meja – on the table.
- di rumah – at home / in the house.
So di itself is neutral; English preposition choice comes from context.
Kolam is a general word meaning a pool of water, which can be:
- a pond
- a man-made pool (garden pool, fish pond)
- or a swimming pool, depending on context
For clarity:
- kolam renang = swimming pool (literally “swimming pool”)
- kolam ikan = fish pond
So if you specifically mean a swimming pool, you would usually say:
- Kanak-kanak bermain di kolam renang. = The children are playing at the swimming pool.
Without an extra word like renang or ikan, kolam is somewhat general.
The basic order is Subject – Verb – (Place), similar to English:
- Kanak-kanak (S) bermain (V) di kolam (Place).
You can move the place phrase for emphasis or style:
- Di kolam, kanak-kanak bermain.
“At the pool, the children are playing.”
This is still correct, but more marked/stylistic. The most neutral, everyday order is the original S–V–Place.
No. Malay distinguishes location and direction with different prepositions:
- di = at / in (location)
- ke = to (movement towards)
So:
Kanak-kanak bermain di kolam.
The children are playing at / in the pool. (They are already there.)Kanak-kanak pergi ke kolam.
The children go to the pool. (Movement to that place.)
You can also combine them:
- Kanak-kanak pergi ke kolam untuk bermain.
The children go to the pool to play.
Add sedang, which marks an action as in progress:
- Kanak-kanak sedang bermain di kolam.
= The children are (currently) playing at the pool.
You can also add sekarang (“now”):
- Sekarang, kanak-kanak sedang bermain di kolam.
= Now, the children are playing at the pool.
Without sedang, bermain is still fine and can often be translated as are playing, but it’s less explicitly progressive.
A rough English-based guide (Malay pronunciation is very regular):
- kanak-kanak: kah-nak kah-nak
- ka like “car” but shorter
- nak like “nuck” but with ah vowel: “nahk”
- bermain: bər-ma-in
- ber like “ber-” in “Bert,” but the e is a weak schwa (like a in about)
- ma as in “ma”
- in like “een” (close to “een” in “seen”)
- di: dee
- kolam: koh-lahm
- ko as in “cold” (without the final ld)
- lam like “lahm”
Stress in Malay is usually fairly even or slightly on the second-last syllable, but not as strong as in English.
A natural colloquial version (especially in Malaysia) might be:
- Budak-budak tengah main kat kolam.
Changes from the standard form:
- kanak-kanak → budak-budak (colloquial “kids”)
- sedang → tengah (informal progressive marker = in the middle of doing)
- bermain → main (drop ber- in casual speech)
- di → kat (spoken variant of di in many dialects)
Meaning is still the same, but the style is much more informal.