Learn Hardcore Malay: Kami menyapu air dari ruang tamu ke koridor supaya rumah cepat kering. - We sweep the water from the living room to the corridor so that the house dries quickly.

In Kami menyapu air..., the speaker is saying that some group that does not include the listener did the action.
If you want to include the listener (e.g. you and your friend are both doing the sweeping), you would say:

Kita menyapu air dari ruang tamu ke koridor supaya rumah cepat kering.

Why is the verb menyapu used with air? I thought menyapu meant “to sweep” (like sweeping dust).

You’re right: the base verb sapu usually means to sweep (with a broom), often for dust or rubbish.

menyapu lantai = to sweep the floor
menyapu sampah = to sweep rubbish

In menyapu air, it suggests pushing or sweeping the water along the floor, often with a broom, squeegee, or something similar. It’s natural when:

There has been a spill or minor flood.
You’re pushing water from one area to another to get it out or help it dry.

Other natural options, depending on context, are:

mengelap air = to wipe up water (usually with a cloth/towel)
mengemop lantai / mengepel lantai = to mop the floor

So menyapu air is fine if you imagine pushing water across the floor, not carefully mopping it up.

Why is dari used in dari ruang tamu, not daripada?

Malay distinguishes dari and daripada, though in casual speech many people blur the difference.

General rule:

dari = from a place or time
- dari rumah (from home)
- dari pagi (from morning)
daripada = from a person, source, or in comparisons
- daripada Ali (from Ali)
- lebih besar daripada itu (bigger than that)

In dari ruang tamu (“from the living room”), we’re talking about a physical location, so dari is the correct choice:

Kami menyapu air dari ruang tamu ke koridor...
= We sweep the water from the living room to the corridor.

What exactly does ruang tamu mean? Is it literally “guest room”?

Literally:

ruang = space/area
tamu = guest

But ruang tamu in Malay is the normal term for the living room or lounge – the main sitting area of the house where you receive guests.

It does not mean a separate guest bedroom. A guest bedroom would usually be bilik tetamu or bilik untuk tetamu, not ruang tamu.

What does koridor mean, and is it different from lorong?

koridor in this sentence is a corridor / hallway / passage inside a building.

koridor = an indoor corridor (often long and narrow, connecting rooms)
lorong can mean:
- a narrow alley between buildings
- a small lane/side street
- in some contexts, a passageway

In a typical house interior, koridor or laluan would be more precise for “corridor/hallway”.
So ke koridor = to the corridor / into the hallway.

Why is it ke koridor, not di koridor?

Malay uses different prepositions for direction vs location:

ke = to / towards (movement)
di = at / in / on (static location)

In this sentence, the action moves the water towards a place:

dari ruang tamu = from the living room (starting point)
ke koridor = to the corridor (destination)

If you said di koridor, it would mean “in the corridor” (location), not “to the corridor” (direction), so ke is correct here.

What is the function of supaya in supaya rumah cepat kering?

supaya introduces a purpose or intended result, similar to so that / in order that in English.

Kami menyapu air... supaya rumah cepat kering.
= We sweep the water... so that the house dries quickly.

Near-synonyms:

agar – very similar, a bit more formal/literary
untuk – usually “for / to (do something)”, and more often used with a verb or noun:
- untuk mengeringkan rumah (to dry the house)
- untuk keselamatan (for safety)

Here, supaya is natural because it’s followed by a full clause (rumah cepat kering).

In rumah cepat kering, why is there no word for “is” (like “is quick to dry”)?

Malay normally does not use a verb like “to be” between a noun and an adjective.

Patterns:

rumah besar = the house is big
air sejuk = the water is cold

In rumah cepat kering:

rumah = the house
cepat = fast/quick(ly)
kering = dry

It functions as “the house dries quickly” or “the house is quick to become dry.”

No “is” is needed. Malay often uses:

noun + adjective (for states: the house is big)
noun + adverb + adjective/verb (for manner: the house dries quickly)

So rumah cepat kering is a natural way to say “the house dries quickly.”

Is cepat an adjective (“quick”) or an adverb (“quickly”) here?

cepat can work as both, depending on context. In this sentence, it’s functioning adverbially:

rumah cepat kering
= the house dries quickly

You could think of cepat kering as “to become dry quickly.”

If you wanted to make the adverbial idea clearer (and a bit more formal), you could say:

rumah kering dengan cepat = the house dries quickly

But rumah cepat kering is very natural and common in everyday Malay.

Can I change the word order to rumah kering cepat or supaya cepat rumah kering?

The most natural and common order in this context is:

rumah cepat kering

Other possibilities:

rumah kering cepat – understandable, but less natural; it may sound slightly off or emphasize kering more than cepat.
supaya cepat rumah kering – understandable in speech, but sounds a bit awkward and marked; speakers don’t normally put cepat there.

General guideline: keep the core description together in the natural order:

rumah cepat kering
baju cepat kering (the clothes dry quickly)
luka cepat sembuh (the wound heals quickly)

Could we just say Kami menyapu dari ruang tamu ke koridor and drop air?

Yes, but the meaning changes slightly.

Kami menyapu air dari ruang tamu ke koridor
Emphasizes that you’re sweeping water specifically.
Kami menyapu dari ruang tamu ke koridor
Means “We swept from the living room to the corridor,” without stating what exactly you swept (dust? rubbish? water?). Context would have to make it clear.

If you want to highlight that you’re dealing with water (e.g. after a spill or flood), it’s better to keep air.

Does this sentence indicate past, present, or future? There’s no tense marking.

Malay does not mark tense the same way English does. The form menyapu itself doesn’t show past/present/future.

Kami menyapu air dari ruang tamu ke koridor supaya rumah cepat kering can mean:

We are sweeping the water... (present, if said while doing it)
We swept the water... (past, if said after it is done)
We will sweep the water... (future, if said about a plan)

Context or time words clarify it, for example:

Tadi kami menyapu air... = Earlier, we swept the water...
Sekarang kami menyapu air... = Now, we are sweeping the water...
Nanti kami akan menyapu air... = Later, we will sweep the water...

So the sentence is grammatically complete without explicit tense markers; the time frame comes from context.