Questions & Answers about Kucing saya ada ekor panjang.
What does ada mean here? I thought ada meant “there is/are”.
In Malay, ada is quite flexible. It can mean:
“there is / there are”
- Ada kucing di luar. = There is a cat outside.
“to have / to possess” (as in your sentence)
- Kucing saya ada ekor panjang. = My cat has a long tail.
“to be present / to exist / to be around”
- Dia ada di rumah. = He/She is at home.
In your sentence, ada is functioning like the English verb “has”.
So structurally, it’s:
- Kucing saya – my cat
- ada – has
- ekor panjang – a long tail
Why is it kucing saya and not saya kucing for “my cat”?