Learn Hardcore Malay: Warna dinding ruang tamu kelihatan kusam selepas banjir kecil pagi tadi. - The color of the living-room wall looks dull after the small flood this morning.

Warna dinding ruang tamu – subject
- warna = colour
- dinding = wall(s)
- ruang tamu = living room
  → together: the colour of the living-room walls
kelihatan – verb
- from lihat (to see); here means appeared / looked / seemed
kusam – complement (adjective describing the subject)
- dull / faded / lacklustre
selepas banjir kecil pagi tadi – time-related prepositional phrase
- selepas = after
- banjir kecil = small flood
- pagi tadi = earlier this morning

So the structure is:
[Subject] [Verb] [Adjective] [Time phrase]
= The colour of the living-room walls looked dull after the small flood this morning.

Why is there no word for of between warna and dinding (like “colour of the wall”)?

Malay normally expresses “of” relationships by simply putting the nouns next to each other:

warna dinding = colour (of) the wall(s)
pintu rumah = door (of) the house
nama sekolah = name (of) the school

The pattern is:

Head noun + modifier noun

Here:

warna is the head noun (the main thing being talked about)
dinding tells you whose colour it is

So warna dinding ruang tamu literally stacks like:

warna (colour)
of dinding (wall)
of ruang tamu (living room)

No extra word like of is needed.

Why is it warna dinding ruang tamu and not something like ruang tamu dinding warna?

Malay tends to put the most general noun first, then make it more specific step by step to the right:

warna – colour (very general)
warna dinding – the colour of the wall(s)
warna dinding ruang tamu – the colour of the living-room walls

So the order is:

[Main noun] [what it belongs to] [where that thing is]

Putting it as ruang tamu dinding warna would break this pattern and is ungrammatical. The listener would struggle to know which noun is modifying which.

What does ruang tamu literally mean, and how is it different from bilik?

Literally:

ruang = space / area
tamu = guest

So ruang tamu = guest space → idiomatically, living room.

About bilik:

bilik = room (usually enclosed, like bedroom, office, etc.)
bilik tidur = bedroom
bilik air = bathroom

You would not normally say bilik tamu for a living room. Ruang tamu is the standard term for the living room / sitting room where guests are received.

What exactly does kelihatan mean, and how does it differ from nampak?

Kelihatan comes from lihat (to see):

lihat = to see
kelihatan = to be seen / to appear / to look (in the sense of “seem”)

Functions:

It often behaves like “appear / look” in English:
- Warna itu kelihatan kusam. = The colour looks dull.
- Dia kelihatan letih. = He/she looks tired.

Difference from nampak:

nampak is more informal/colloquial and can mean:
- to see: Saya nampak dia tadi. = I saw him/her earlier.
- to look / seem: Dia nampak letih. = He/she looks tired.

Nuance:

kelihatan is a bit more neutral/formal and stative, good for descriptions.
nampak feels more casual and is used more in speech.

In this sentence, kelihatan kusam is like “appeared / looked dull”, focusing on how the walls seemed after the flood.

Why do we say kelihatan kusam instead of just kusam? Don’t adjectives already work as verbs in Malay?

Yes, adjectives in Malay can function like verbs:

Dinding itu kusam. = The wall is dull.
(No separate “to be” needed.)

So you could say something like:

Warna dinding ruang tamu kusam selepas banjir kecil pagi tadi.

That is understandable, but kelihatan kusam adds a nuance:

kusam alone: states a quality, almost like “is dull” (could be general/inherent).
kelihatan kusam: emphasises how it appears at that time, especially to the eye.

In this context, after a flood, kelihatan kusam implies:

It looked dull (perhaps because it got wet or dirty).
The dullness is framed as an observable result of the event, not just a permanent trait.

What does kusam mean exactly, and where is it usually used?

Kusam roughly means dull, faded, lacking brightness or lustre.

Common uses:

Colours and surfaces:
- Cat dinding itu kusam. = The wall paint is dull/faded.
- Cermin itu kusam. = That mirror is dull / not shiny.
Skin or complexion:
- Kulitnya kelihatan kusam. = Her/his skin looks dull.
Hair:
- Rambutnya kusam. = Her/his hair looks dull / not shiny.

Near synonyms (with slightly different nuances):

pudar – faded (colour washed out)
malap – dim (light, brightness)
lusuh – worn out (clothes, fabric)

Here, kusam fits well for wall colour that has lost its brightness because of the flood.

How is selepas working here? Is it a preposition, and can I replace it with lepas or sesudah?

In this sentence, selepas is a preposition meaning after:

selepas banjir kecil pagi tadi = after the small flood this morning

You can think of the structure as:

selepas + [event / noun phrase]

Alternatives:

sesudah – near-synonym, slightly more formal:
- sesudah banjir kecil pagi tadi – perfectly fine.
lepas – more informal/colloquial; also widely used in speech:
- lepas banjir kecil pagi tadi – common in spoken Malay.

So all three are possible, with small differences in formality:

Most formal: sesudah
Neutral: selepas
More colloquial: lepas

Is the word order inside banjir kecil pagi tadi fixed? Can I say kecil banjir or move pagi tadi?

There are two things going on:

Noun + adjective order
In Malay, adjectives usually come after the noun:
- banjir kecil = small flood
  (not kecil banjir)
Other examples:
- rumah besar = big house
- kereta lama = old car
Position of the time phrase pagi tadi
Here we have: banjir kecil pagi tadi = the small flood (that happened) this morning.
- pagi tadi is a time expression modifying banjir kecil.
- You wouldn’t normally say pagi tadi banjir kecil inside this chunk.
- You could, however, move the whole time phrase in the sentence structure, e.g.:
  - Selepas banjir kecil pagi tadi, warna dinding ruang tamu kelihatan kusam.
    (After the small flood this morning, …)

So:

banjir kecil (noun + adjective) is fixed.
pagi tadi attaches to banjir kecil as a time marker and stays after it in this phrase.

Does pagi tadi mean “this morning” or “yesterday morning”?

Pagi tadi usually means this morning / earlier today in the morning.

Nuance:

pagi tadi – earlier today in the morning (the speaker is still on the same day when speaking).
pagi ini – this morning (with more focus on “today morning” as part of today, often closer in time or more neutral).
pagi semalam – yesterday morning.

In everyday speech, pagi tadi is very commonly used when you’re talking later in the same day about something that happened in the morning.

There’s no past tense marking on kelihatan. How do we know the sentence is in the past?

Malay verbs usually don’t change form for tense (past/present/future). Instead, time is shown by:

Time expressions: pagi tadi (this morning)
Temporal connectors: selepas (after)

From:

pagi tadi = earlier this morning
selepas banjir kecil pagi tadi = after the small flood this morning

we infer that the event happened earlier today, so we translate:

kelihatan kusam as “looked dull” (past) in natural English.

In other contexts, kelihatan could be translated as “looks” or “is looking”, depending on the time expressions and context.

Is dinding singular or plural here? How do I say “wall” vs “walls” in Malay?

Malay nouns generally don’t mark plural unless you need to be explicit.

dinding can mean wall or walls, depending on context.
In warna dinding ruang tamu, we naturally understand it as walls (all the walls in the living room), because that makes sense in context.

To make plural explicit, you can:

Use reduplication:
- dinding-dinding = walls
Or add a number or quantifier:
- beberapa dinding = several walls
- dua dinding = two walls

For a clearly singular wall, you might say:

satu dinding = one wall
dinding itu (that wall / the wall, context often implies singular)

But in many cases, dinding alone is enough, and listeners rely on context.

Could I move selepas banjir kecil pagi tadi to the beginning of the sentence?

Yes, that is perfectly grammatical and common:

Selepas banjir kecil pagi tadi, warna dinding ruang tamu kelihatan kusam.

Meaning is essentially the same. The difference is in emphasis / focus:

Original:
- Starts with warna dinding ruang tamu → focus on the walls’ colour.
Fronted time phrase:
- Starts with Selepas banjir kecil pagi tadi → foregrounds the time/event; sounds a bit more narrative or explanatory (“After the small flood this morning, …”).

Both are natural; it’s mostly a stylistic choice.

Which parts of the sentence are really essential, and which could be left out while still being grammatical?

Essential for a complete, grammatical core:

Warna dinding – the subject (colour of the wall/walls)
kelihatan kusam – verb + complement (looked dull)

Minimal sentence:

Warna dinding kelihatan kusam.
= The colour of the wall(s) looked dull.

Optional details that add information:

ruang tamu – specifies which walls:
- Warna dinding ruang tamu kelihatan kusam.
selepas banjir kecil – gives a cause-related time:
- Warna dinding ruang tamu kelihatan kusam selepas banjir kecil.
pagi tadi – pins the event to this morning:
- … selepas banjir kecil pagi tadi.

Removing any of these optional elements still leaves a grammatically correct sentence; you just lose some specificity.