Adik saya menjerit kerana dia takut lipas.

My younger sibling screams because he/she is afraid of a cockroach.

Breakdown of Adik saya menjerit kerana dia takut lipas.

• dia: he/she
• adalah: to be
• saya: my
• kerana: because
• adik: the younger sibling
• takut: afraid
• lipas: the cockroach
• menjerit: to scream

Questions & Answers about Adik saya menjerit kerana dia takut lipas.

What exactly does adik mean here? Does it mean “younger brother” or “younger sister”?

Adik literally means “younger sibling” and does not specify gender by itself.

• If you want to be clear it’s a brother, you can say adik lelaki.
• For a sister, adik perempuan.

So:

• adik saya = my younger sibling (gender-neutral)
• adik lelaki saya = my younger brother
• adik perempuan saya = my younger sister

Why is it adik saya and not saya adik for “my younger sibling”?

In Malay, the possessed noun usually comes first, followed by the possessor:

• adik saya = my younger sibling
  (literally: younger sibling + I)
• buku saya = my book
• kereta dia = his/her car

So saya adik would be understood as “I (am) the younger sibling” in some contexts, not “my younger sibling”.

What is the grammatical role of adik saya in this sentence?

Adik saya is the subject of the sentence.

• Adik saya = subject (“my younger sibling”)
• menjerit = verb (“screamed / is screaming”)
• kerana dia takut lipas = reason clause (“because he/she is afraid of cockroaches”)

So the basic pattern is Subject–Verb–(Reason/Cause clause).

What does menjerit mean, and what is its base form?

The root (base form) is jerit. With the prefix meN-, it becomes menjerit, which means “to scream / to shout (in a high-pitched way)”.

• jerit = scream (root)
• menjerit = to scream / is screaming / screamed

The meN- prefix commonly turns a root into an active verb. There isn’t a change for tense inside the verb; tense comes from context.

How do I know the tense of menjerit? Could it mean “screamed”, “is screaming”, or “will scream”?

Malay verbs don’t change form for past, present, or future. Menjerit can mean:

• “screamed”
• “is screaming”
• “will scream”

The tense is understood from context or time words, for example:

• tadi adik saya menjerit = earlier my younger sibling screamed
• sekarang adik saya menjerit = now my younger sibling is screaming
• nanti adik saya akan menjerit = later my younger sibling will scream

In your sentence, if the English translation given was past, that comes from context, not from the word menjerit itself.

Does dia mean “he” or “she”? Why is it used here?

Dia means he, she, or it; it’s gender-neutral.

In the sentence, dia refers back to adik saya:

• Adik saya menjerit = my younger sibling screamed
• kerana dia takut lipas = because he/she is afraid of cockroaches

Malay doesn’t mark gender in pronouns, so you need context (or extra words like lelaki/perempuan) to know if it’s male or female.

Why is there no word for “is” in dia takut lipas? Where is the verb “to be”?

Malay normally does not use a separate word for “to be” in simple adjective sentences.

• dia takut = he/she is afraid
• dia lapar = he/she is hungry
• adik saya penat = my younger sibling is tired

The structure is just subject + adjective (or noun). You don’t add a word like “is/are/am” in these basic cases. So dia takut lipas literally looks like “he/she afraid cockroaches”.

In English we say “afraid of cockroaches”. Why is there no word like “of” in dia takut lipas?

With takut, Malay can simply put the thing you’re afraid of directly after it:

• takut lipas = afraid of cockroaches
• takut anjing = afraid of dogs
• takut gelap = afraid of the dark

You can also use prepositions such as pada or dengan:

• takut pada lipas
• takut dengan lipas

These are also correct and common, but takut + noun without a preposition is very natural and often used in casual speech.

Should there be a word like “a” or “the” or a classifier before lipas? How do I say “a cockroach” or “the cockroach”?

Malay doesn’t have articles like “a” or “the”. For countable animals, you can add a classifier if you want to be specific:

• seekor lipas = one cockroach / a cockroach
  (ekor is the classifier for animals)
• beberapa ekor lipas = several cockroaches

So:

• dia takut lipas can mean “he/she is afraid of cockroaches (in general)”.
• dia takut seekor lipas itu could mean “he/she is afraid of that one cockroach”.

In your sentence, lipas alone is fine and sounds natural for a general fear of cockroaches.

What is kerana doing here? Can I use sebab instead?

Kerana is a conjunction meaning because. It introduces the reason:

• … menjerit kerana dia takut lipas = … screamed because he/she is afraid of cockroaches.

You can usually replace kerana with sebab:

• Adik saya menjerit sebab dia takut lipas.

Differences:

• kerana: a bit more formal or neutral; common in writing and speech.
• sebab: very common in everyday speech; slightly more informal.

Both are widely understood and used.

Could I drop dia and just say Adik saya menjerit kerana takut lipas?

Yes, you can say:

• Adik saya menjerit kerana takut lipas.

Malay often drops pronouns when they’re clear from context. Both sentences are acceptable:

• Adik saya menjerit kerana dia takut lipas.
• Adik saya menjerit kerana takut lipas.

The version with dia explicitly repeats the subject; the version without dia is a bit more compact, but still clearly refers to adik saya.

What’s the difference between takut, takutkan, and menakutkan?

They are related but used differently:

1. takut – “afraid” (describes the person’s feeling)

   • dia takut lipas = he/she is afraid of cockroaches

2. takutkan – can mean “to be afraid of (something)” in some dialects/contexts, but is less common in standard sentences like this. Learners are usually safer just using takut

   • noun or takut pada/dengan
     • noun.

3. menakutkan – “frightening / scary”

   • lipas itu menakutkan = that cockroach is frightening
   • literally “to cause fear”, so it describes the thing that makes others afraid.

In your sentence, you need the feeling of fear, so takut is the correct word: dia takut lipas.