Tukang rumah datang petang ini untuk membaiki bumbung yang bocor.

The handyman comes this afternoon to repair the leaking roof.

Breakdown of Tukang rumah datang petang ini untuk membaiki bumbung yang bocor.

• untuk: to
• yang: that/which
• datang: to come
• bumbung: the roof
• bocor: leaking
• tukang rumah: the handyman
• petang ini: this afternoon
• membaiki: to repair

Questions & Answers about Tukang rumah datang petang ini untuk membaiki bumbung yang bocor.

What does tukang rumah literally mean, and what kind of job is that?

Tukang means something like craftsman / tradesperson / handyman, and rumah means house.

So tukang rumah is literally house tradesperson and usually refers to:

• a builder,
• a carpenter,
• or a general handyman who works on houses (repairs, renovations, etc.).

It does not mean a cleaner or maid; for that you’d see pembantu rumah or orang gaji.

Where is the subject in this sentence? There is no he or she.

The subject is tukang rumah.

Malay normally doesn’t need pronouns like he / she / they if the subject is already clear. So:

• Tukang rumah datang petang ini...
  = The builder is coming this afternoon...

If you really wanted to add a pronoun later, you could refer back to the person with dia (he/she), but here it’s unnecessary and would sound odd if you repeated it right away.

What tense is datang? Is it comes, is coming, or will come?

Malay verbs like datang do not change form for tense. The time is shown by time words such as petang ini.

In this sentence, datang can be understood as:

• is coming this afternoon, or
• will come this afternoon.

All of these are possible translations:

• The builder is coming this afternoon...
• The builder will come this afternoon...

If you want to make the future more explicit, you can add akan:

• Tukang rumah akan datang petang ini...
  (still: The builder will come this afternoon...)

Can petang ini go in a different position in the sentence?

Yes. Common options include:

• Tukang rumah datang petang ini untuk membaiki bumbung yang bocor.
• Petang ini tukang rumah datang untuk membaiki bumbung yang bocor.

Both are natural. Malay is quite flexible with time expressions. You generally put them:

• at the beginning, or
• after the verb phrase.

You wouldn’t normally insert petang ini right in the middle of untuk membaiki bumbung..., though.

What exactly does untuk do here? Could we leave it out?

Untuk means for / in order to / to (do something) and introduces a purpose:

• ...datang petang ini untuk membaiki bumbung...
  = ...is coming this afternoon to repair the roof...

You can drop untuk in many everyday sentences:

• Tukang rumah datang petang ini membaiki bumbung yang bocor.

That still sounds natural in conversation. With untuk, it’s a bit clearer and slightly more careful/formal, but both are acceptable.

What is the difference between membaiki and memperbaiki?

Both are related to repairing / fixing / improving.

• membaiki

  • Very common in Malaysian Malay.
  • Everyday, neutral word for repair / fix something.

• memperbaiki

  • Feels a bit more formal or bookish in Malay.
  • Common in both Malay and Indonesian.
  • Often used for both physical repairs and more abstract things (e.g. memperbaiki sikap – improve one’s attitude).

In your sentence, membaiki bumbung is perfectly natural Malaysian usage.

Why is it bumbung and not atap for roof?

In standard Malaysian Malay:

• bumbung = the roof structure of a building.
• atap = literally roofing material (often associated with palm/thatch, tiles, sheets).

In everyday Malaysian usage, bumbung is the normal word for a roof of a house.
In Indonesian, atap is the usual everyday word for roof. So you see a Malay–Indonesian difference here.

What does yang do in bumbung yang bocor?

Yang is a relative marker, similar to that / which / who in English.

• bumbung yang bocor
  = the roof that is leaking / the leaking roof

Structure:

• bumbung = roof (head noun)
• yang bocor = clause describing the roof (that is leaking)

So the pattern [noun] yang [description] is like the [noun] that is [description].

Can we say bumbung bocor without yang?

Yes, in some contexts:

• Bumbung bocor can mean a leaking roof or the roof is leaking, depending on position.

But in your sentence:

• ...membaiki bumbung yang bocor. sounds more standard and smoother, because yang clearly marks bocor as a description of the noun bumbung.

Without yang, membaiki bumbung bocor is still understandable, but yang makes the structure more clearly “roof that is leaking” rather than risking any ambiguity.

Is bocor an adjective or a verb?

Malay doesn’t sharply separate adjectives and stative verbs the way English does.

• bocor can mean leaking as a state (adjective-like):
  
  • bumbung yang bocor – the roof that is leaking / leaking roof
• It can also function as a predicate (verb-like):
  
  • Bumbung itu bocor. – The roof is leaking.

So you can think of bocor as a stative word meaning to be leaking / leaking.

How do we know if it means the roof or a roof? There is no article.

Malay usually has no articles like a / an / the. The noun bumbung by itself can mean:

• a roof,
• the roof, depending on context.

If you wanted to be more specific, you might add:

• bumbung itu – that roof / the roof (already known / specific)
• sebuah bumbung – a roof (counted, but this sounds a bit unusual here)

In real usage, context does the job. In your sentence, with a known builder coming to your house, bumbung yang bocor will naturally be understood as the leaking roof (of your house).

Does tukang rumah have to be singular? How would I say The builders are coming…?

Tukang rumah by itself is number-neutral:

• it can mean the builder or the builders.

Malay often leaves number to context. If you really want to show it’s plural, you have options:

• tukang-tukang rumah – builders (reduplication to mark plural)
• para tukang rumah – the builders (more formal style)
• beberapa orang tukang rumah – several builders

Example:

• Para tukang rumah datang petang ini untuk membaiki bumbung yang bocor.
  = The builders are coming this afternoon to repair the leaking roof.