Learn Hardcore Malay: Ayah mengasah pisau tumpul itu sehingga ia boleh memotong roti dengan mudah. - Father sharpens that blunt knife so that it can cut bread easily.

turns the root into an active verb, usually a transitive one (taking an object)
is very common in Malay verbs:
- tulis → menulis (to write)
- baca → membaca (to read)

So Ayah mengasah pisau… = Father is sharpening / sharpens the knife…

Is Ayah a name, a common noun, or something like “Dad / Father”? How is it used?

Ayah means father / dad. It can be used in two ways:

As a common noun
- ayah saya = my father
- ayahnya = his/her father
As a form of address (like “Dad”)
- A child might say: Ayah, mari sini. = Dad, come here.

In your sentence, Ayah most naturally means “(my/our) father” in a narrative context.
It’s capitalised here partly like a name, but grammatically it’s still a common noun meaning father.

Related words:

bapa – more formal / generic “father”
abah / papa / bapak – other regional or colloquial variants

Why is it pisau tumpul itu and not itu pisau tumpul? What is the normal word order with adjectives and itu?

Malay noun phrases usually follow this pattern:

Noun + Adjective(s) + Demonstrative (ini/itu)

So:

pisau tumpul itu
- pisau = knife (noun)
- tumpul = blunt / dull (adjective)
- itu = that (demonstrative)

Literally: knife blunt that → that blunt knife / the blunt knife.

Other examples:

buku lama itu = that old book
kereta merah ini = this red car

Putting itu at the front (itu pisau tumpul) is possible but sounds more like:

"that blunt knife (over there)" with extra emphasis or in a specific discourse context, and it’s less neutral than pisau tumpul itu.

What exactly does itu add to pisau tumpul? Is it like “that” or like “the”?

Itu is primarily “that”, but in real usage it often behaves like a definite article (“the”) as well.

In pisau tumpul itu, itu does two things:

Points to a specific knife (not just any dull knife)
Gives it a definite feel (like “that / the particular knife we both know about”)

So:

pisau tumpul = a dull knife / dull knives (in general)
pisau tumpul itu = that dull knife / the dull knife (already known in the context)

Could there be more adjectives, and where would itu go then?

Yes, multiple adjectives can be stacked after the noun, and itu still goes at the end:

pisau tumpul kecil itu
- pisau = knife
- tumpul = dull
- kecil = small
- itu = that

= that small dull knife / that dull little knife.

General order:
> Noun + Adjective 1 + Adjective 2 + … + ini/itu

Examples:

baju merah panjang itu = that long red shirt
kereta hitam baru ini = this new black car

What does sehingga mean here, and how is it different from supaya or hingga?

In this sentence, sehingga introduces a result:

Ayah mengasah pisau tumpul itu sehingga ia boleh memotong roti dengan mudah.
Father sharpens the dull knife so that / until it can cut bread easily.

Rough distinctions:

sehingga
- can mean “until / to the point that / so that (as a result)”
- focuses on the outcome
- e.g. Dia ketawa sehingga menangis. = He laughed until he cried.
hingga (without se-)
- often purely temporal “until (time/limit)”
- e.g. Kami bekerja hingga malam. = We worked until night.
supaya
- expresses purpose / intention: “so that / in order that”
- e.g. Dia belajar rajin supaya lulus. = She studies hard so that she will pass.

In your sentence, you could also use supaya:

…supaya ia boleh memotong roti dengan mudah.
This sounds a bit more like intended purpose, whereas sehingga leans a bit more to result, though both are often acceptable in speech.

Who or what does ia refer to here, and how is ia different from dia?

Ia is a third‑person pronoun meaning he / she / it, mostly used in formal or written Malay.

In your sentence, ia most naturally refers to the knife (the thing that can cut bread easily after sharpening):

…sehingga ia boleh memotong roti…
→ …so that it can cut bread…

However, this is slightly stylistic; many native speakers would more naturally repeat the noun:

…sehingga pisau itu boleh memotong roti dengan mudah.

Differences:

ia
- formal, often in writing (news, literature)
- used for people, animals, or sometimes things
dia
- neutral / informal spoken Malay
- used for people and animals, not normally for inanimate objects
- e.g. Dia tidur. = He/She is sleeping.

So in everyday speech, people might instead say:

…sampai pisau itu boleh potong roti dengan senang. (colloquial)

What does boleh mean here? Is it “can” (ability) or “may” (permission), and how does it compare to dapat?

In this sentence, boleh expresses ability / possibility:

ia boleh memotong roti = it can cut bread (it is able to)

Basic meanings:

boleh
- can / may (ability or permission), depending on context
- here: ability
dapat
- also can / be able to / manage to
- often emphasises success in doing something

You could say:

…sehingga ia dapat memotong roti dengan mudah.
This would still be fine; it slightly highlights achieving that ability as a result of the sharpening.

Why is it memotong and not just potong? What does the meN- prefix do here?

Potong is the root verb meaning “cut”.

Memotong is meN- + potong, which usually makes it a standard active transitive verb:

Saya potong roti. – OK in casual speech
Saya memotong roti. – more standard / formal; clear active pattern

So:

memotong roti = to cut bread

The meN- prefix:

marks an active verb
commonly used when the verb takes a direct object
is very frequent in more formal writing and careful speech

Colloquially, people often just say potong roti without the prefix.

How does dengan mudah work? Is it like turning mudah (“easy”) into an adverb “easily”?

Yes. Malay often forms adverb-like phrases using dengan + adjective:

mudah = easy
dengan mudah = easily

Other common patterns:

cepat = fast → dengan cepat = quickly
perlahan = slow → dengan perlahan = slowly
hati-hati = careful → dengan hati-hati = carefully

So memotong roti dengan mudah = to cut bread easily.

There’s no need to change the adjective form itself; dengan + adjective is the usual way to make this kind of adverbial expression.

There’s no past tense marker in the Malay sentence. How do we know if it’s past, present, or future?

Malay verbs do not change form for tense. Mengasah stays the same whether it’s past, present, or future.

Time is usually shown by:

Context
Time words like:
- tadi = earlier
- semalam = last night
- esok = tomorrow
- sedang = in the middle of (doing)

Your sentence could mean:

Father sharpened that dull knife so that it could cut bread easily.
Father is sharpening that dull knife so that it can cut bread easily.

If you want to be explicit:

Tadi ayah mengasah pisau tumpul itu… = Earlier, Father sharpened that dull knife…
Sekarang ayah sedang mengasah pisau tumpul itu… = Now Father is sharpening that dull knife…

Could we say menajamkan pisau instead of mengasah pisau? What’s the difference?

Yes, both are possible, but they have slightly different focuses:

mengasah pisau
- specifically: to sharpen a blade (by grinding/honing it)
- associated with the physical process (using a stone, sharpener, etc.)
menajamkan pisau
- menajamkan = “to make sharp” (tajam = sharp)
- more general: to make something sharp, not limited to grinding

In context:

Ayah mengasah pisau tumpul itu…
- suggests the typical act of sharpening with a tool
Ayah menajamkan pisau tumpul itu…
- understandable and correct, but slightly more abstract; less tied to the physical stone/sharpener image.

For everyday speech about knives, mengasah pisau is the most natural.

Why is there no word like “one” or a classifier before pisau? Should it be sebilah pisau tumpul itu?

Malay can use classifiers (called penjodoh bilangan), but they are optional, especially when the noun is already specific (itu / ini, or clear from context).

For knives, the usual classifier is bilah:

sebilah pisau = one (blade of) knife

In your sentence:

Ayah mengasah pisau tumpul itu…
- already clearly refers to a specific knife (itu), so a classifier is not necessary.

If you want to emphasise “one knife” in a more formal or careful style:

Ayah mengasah sebilah pisau tumpul sehingga…
- here the knife is newly introduced, not yet identified as “that one”.
Or: Ayah mengasah sebilah pisau tumpul itu…
- sounds like emphasising both quantity (one blade) and specificity (that one) – possible, but heavier.

In normal narrative, pisau tumpul itu is perfectly natural.

How would this sentence sound in more casual, everyday spoken Malay?

A common colloquial version (especially in Malaysia) might drop some prefixes and use informal words:

Ayah tengah asah pisau tumpul tu sampai boleh potong roti dengan senang.

Changes compared to the standard sentence:

mengasah → asah
itu → tu
sehingga → sampai (colloquial “until / so that”)
ia omitted (subject understood from context; the knife)
dengan mudah → dengan senang (more casual “easily / without trouble”)
added tengah = in the middle of (doing), like “is currently sharpening”

The standard sentence you were given is more textbook / written Malay; everyday speech is often simpler and more compressed.