Learn Hardcore Malay: Pisau kegemaran ibu sudah tumpul kerana dia selalu memotong sayur di atas pinggan kaca. - Mother’s favorite knife is already blunt because she always cuts vegetables on a glass plate.

Pisau kegemaran ibu sudah tumpul kerana dia selalu memotong sayur di atas pinggan kaca.

Mother’s favorite knife is already blunt because she always cuts vegetables on a glass plate.

Breakdown of Pisau kegemaran ibu sudah tumpul kerana dia selalu memotong sayur di atas pinggan kaca.

Elon.io is an online learning platform

We have an entire course teaching Malay grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Malay now

Questions & Answers about Pisau kegemaran ibu sudah tumpul kerana dia selalu memotong sayur di atas pinggan kaca.

Why is it pisau kegemaran ibu and not something like ibu kegemaran pisau? How does the word order for possession and description work here?

In Malay, the main noun usually comes first, and anything that describes or possesses it comes after.

pisau = knife (main noun)
kegemaran = favorite (adjective / describing noun)
ibu = mother

So pisau kegemaran ibu is literally “knife favorite mother” = my / the mother’s favorite knife.

General pattern:

buku saya = my book
kereta baru Ali = Ali’s new car
rumah besar itu = that big house

So you put:

Head noun (what it is) → pisau
Quality/description → kegemaran
Owner → ibu

You wouldn’t say ibu kegemaran pisau here; that would sound like “knife’s favorite mother”, which is nonsense.

Why does ibu here mean my mother and not just a mother or the mother?

In everyday Malay, close family terms are often used without a possessive pronoun, but are still understood as “my …” if you’re talking about your own family.

Common examples:

Ibu / emak / mak = my mother
Ayah / bapa / abah = my father
Kakak = my older sister
Adik = my younger sibling

So in many contexts:

Ibu saya = my mother
Ibu alone (when I’m talking about my family) also naturally means my mother.

In a neutral translation we often say “Mother’s favorite knife” or “my mother’s favorite knife” for pisau kegemaran ibu, depending on context.

What does sudah add here in sudah tumpul? Could we leave it out?

Sudah means already / has (now) and indicates a change of state or that something is now in a certain condition.

Pisau kegemaran ibu tumpul.
= Mother’s favorite knife is blunt. (just a fact)
Pisau kegemaran ibu sudah tumpul.
= Mother’s favorite knife has (now) become blunt / is already blunt.

So:

With sudah → emphasizes that it wasn’t blunt before, but now it is.
Without sudah → just states the current condition.

You can leave sudah out, but you’ll lose that sense of “already / by now”.

Does tumpul only mean blunt (not sharp), or can it also mean dull / stupid like in English?

Tumpul mainly means blunt / not sharp when talking about physical objects like knives, scissors, pencils:

Pisau itu tumpul. = That knife is blunt.
Pensel saya sudah tumpul. = My pencil is already blunt.

It can also be used metaphorically, but not usually for intelligence the way “dull” is in English. Instead it’s more like “blunted, not sharp” in ability:

Deria rasa saya tumpul. = My sense of taste is dull/blunted.
Kepekaan sosialnya agak tumpul. = His social sensitivity is rather dull.

For stupid / not smart, Malay more often uses words like:

bodoh = stupid
lembap / lembab (colloquial) = slow (mentally)

So here tumpul is clearly about the knife blade being blunt.

Why does the sentence use kerana? Could we also say sebab? What’s the difference?

Both kerana and sebab mean because.

In this sentence:

… sudah tumpul kerana dia selalu memotong sayur …
… sudah tumpul sebab dia selalu memotong sayur …

Both are grammatically correct and natural.

Typical nuance:

kerana → slightly more formal / standard; common in writing, narration, formal speech.
sebab → more informal / conversational; very common in everyday spoken Malay.

So you can treat them as near-synonyms, choosing based on formality and style.

Why is it dia and not beliau for “she”? Isn’t beliau more respectful?

Both dia and beliau can refer to he / she (no gender distinction in Malay).

dia = he / she (neutral, everyday pronoun)
beliau = he / she (more respectful / honorific, used for older, important, or respected people, especially in more formal contexts)

In this sentence:

… kerana dia selalu memotong sayur …

Using dia for ibu is normal and natural, especially in informal or neutral writing/speech.

You could say:

… kerana beliau selalu memotong sayur …

That sounds more respectful/formal about the mother, but in casual narrative, dia is by far more common. Overusing beliau can sound stiff or overly formal in everyday conversation.

Why use memotong instead of just potong? What’s the difference between memotong and potong?

The root word is potong = to cut.

When you add the meN- prefix, you get memotong, which is the active verb form typically used for full sentences with a subject:

Dia memotong sayur. = She cuts vegetables.
Saya memotong roti. = I cut the bread.

Potong without prefix is used:

as a bare verb in commands:
- Potong sayur itu! = Cut the vegetables!
as a root word in dictionaries or word lists
in some fixed expressions and informal speech (people do sometimes say dia potong sayur in very casual contexts, but memotong is more standard/grammatical).

So in a proper sentence like this, with dia as the subject, memotong is the standard form.

Why is selalu placed before memotong in dia selalu memotong sayur? Can it go somewhere else?

Selalu means always / often (depending on context) and it usually goes before the verb it modifies.

Standard position:

dia selalu memotong sayur = she always cuts vegetables

Typical, natural options:

Dia selalu memotong sayur di atas pinggan kaca.
Dia memotong sayur di atas pinggan kaca selalu. (possible, but less natural; feels a bit marked/emphatic)

Most natural is:

[subject] + selalu + [verb] + [object]
→ Dia selalu memotong sayur.

So here selalu is correctly placed. Putting it at the very end sometimes sounds a bit off or overly colloquial, depending on the sentence.

Why say di atas pinggan kaca and not just atas pinggan kaca? Is di always needed?

Di is the preposition meaning at / in / on, and atas means top / above / on top.

di atas together = on / on top of.

In standard Malay, you normally keep di:

di atas meja = on (top of) the table
di atas lantai = on the floor
di atas pinggan kaca = on the glass plate

In colloquial speech, people sometimes drop di and just say atas:

Letak atas meja. = Put it on the table.

But for clear, correct, neutral writing, di atas is the better, more standard form. That’s why this sentence uses di atas pinggan kaca.

Could we say di pinggan kaca instead of di atas pinggan kaca? Do they mean the same thing?

di atas pinggan kaca = on (top of) the glass plate
di pinggan kaca = on / in the glass plate (more general “at the plate”)

In practice:

For something physically resting on the surface, di atas pinggan kaca is clearer and more precise.
di pinggan kaca can still be understood as on the plate, but it’s slightly less explicit and depends more on context.

Here, since a knife is clearly on top of the plate while cutting vegetables, di atas pinggan kaca is the most natural and explicit choice.

Why is it pinggan kaca and not something like pinggan daripada kaca?

Both are possible, but they differ in style and typical usage.

pinggan kaca
- Literally: glass plate
- kaca acts like a descriptive noun (material/type)
- Very natural and common in everyday language.
pinggan daripada kaca
- Literally: a plate from glass / made of glass
- More explicit about material, a bit more formal or explanatory.

In everyday speech or normal writing, people usually say:

pinggan kaca (glass plate)
cawan plastik (plastic cup)
meja kayu (wooden table)

So pinggan kaca is the most natural choice here.

Why is sayur used and not sayuran? What’s the difference between sayur and sayuran?

sayur generally = vegetable / vegetables (uncountable, generic)
sayuran = vegetables / vegetable dishes (often more collective or generic)

In this sentence:

… dia selalu memotong sayur …

sayur works like “vegetables” in English in a general sense:

She always cuts vegetables on a glass plate.

You might see:

jual sayur = sell vegetables
makan sayur = eat vegetables

Sayuran can be:

more collective: buah-buahan, sayur-sayuran = fruits and vegetables
or refer to vegetable dishes in some contexts.

Here, sayur is natural and idiomatic; sayuran would sound a bit heavier or more formal/collective than needed.

Could we say Pisau kegemaran ibu sudah tumpul sebab dia selalu potong sayur atas pinggan kaca in casual speech? How different is that from the original?

Your version is a more colloquial version of the same idea. Let’s compare:

Original (more standard):
> Pisau kegemaran ibu sudah tumpul kerana dia selalu memotong sayur di atas pinggan kaca.

Colloquial version:
> Pisau kegemaran ibu sudah tumpul sebab dia selalu potong sayur atas pinggan kaca.

Differences:

kerana → sebab (more informal)
memotong → potong (casual dropping of meN- prefix)
di atas → atas (preposition di dropped in speech)

Meaning stays the same. The colloquial sentence is very natural in everyday spoken Malay, while the original is more standard / textbook-correct, suitable for writing and formal contexts.