Saya mengasah pisau di dapur sebelum memasak ayam.

I sharpen the knife in the kitchen before cooking chicken.

Breakdown of Saya mengasah pisau di dapur sebelum memasak ayam.

• saya: I
• di: in
• sebelum: before
• memasak: to cook
• dapur: the kitchen
• pisau: the knife
• ayam: the chicken
• mengasah: to sharpen

Questions & Answers about Saya mengasah pisau di dapur sebelum memasak ayam.

Why is saya used here, and can it be left out?

Saya means “I / me” and is the standard, neutral, polite first‑person pronoun in Malay.

• It’s used when you want to be clear that you are the one doing the action.
• In casual conversation, if it’s already clear from context who the subject is, the pronoun can be dropped:
  • (Saya) mengasah pisau di dapur sebelum memasak ayam.

However:

• In a single, isolated sentence (like in a textbook), saya is usually kept.
• You might hear aku instead of saya in informal situations among close friends/family, but saya is safer and more polite in general.

What is the base word of mengasah, and why is it not just asah?

The base word is asah, which means “to sharpen”.

Mengasah = meN- + asah.
The prefix meN- is a very common active verb marker in Malay. It often does these things:

• Turns a root into a normal “doing” verb:
  • asah → mengasah (to sharpen)
  • masak → memasak (to cook)
  • baca → membaca (to read)
• Makes the sentence sound like a complete, natural statement.

You will see bare roots like asah, but usually:

• asah! by itself sounds like an imperative (“Sharpen it!”).
• mengasah fits better in a full sentence with a subject:
  • Saya mengasah pisau…

Is mengasah a transitive verb? Does it always need an object like pisau?

Yes, mengasah is naturally transitive: you usually sharpen something.

• Typical pattern: [subject] + mengasah + [object]
  • Saya mengasah pisau. – I sharpen the knife.

In everyday speech, you can sometimes omit the object if it’s very obvious from context:

• Saya sedang mengasah. (implied: the knife, tools, etc.)

But in clear, neutral sentences, you almost always follow mengasah with the object.

Does pisau mean “knife” or “knives”? How do you show plural in Malay?

Pisau can mean “knife” or “knives” depending on context. Malay nouns usually do not change form for plural.

Plural is shown by:

• Context:
  • Saya mengasah pisau di dapur.
    Could be “I am sharpening a knife” or “I am sharpening the knives.”
• Numbers / quantifiers:
  • sebilah pisau – one knife (using a classifier bilah)
  • tiga bilah pisau – three knives
• Reduplication (optional, more emphatic/variety):
  • pisau-pisau – knives (plural, but not required)

So in this sentence, pisau is grammatically neutral; English forces you to choose knife or knives.

Why is di used before dapur? Could I use ke dapur instead?

Di and ke are different prepositions:

• di = “at / in / on” (location)
  • di dapur – in the kitchen / at the kitchen
• ke = “to (a place)” (movement towards)
  • ke dapur – to the kitchen

In the sentence:

• Saya mengasah pisau di dapur…
  • The speaker is describing where the sharpening happens: in the kitchen.
• If you say Saya mengasah pisau ke dapur, it becomes ungrammatical, because mengasah is not a verb of movement; it doesn’t take ke.

You could have a different sentence:

• Saya pergi ke dapur untuk mengasah pisau. – I go to the kitchen to sharpen the knife.

Can di dapur be placed in a different position in the sentence?

Yes, Malay word order is fairly flexible for time and place phrases. All of these are natural, with slightly different emphasis:

1. Saya mengasah pisau di dapur sebelum memasak ayam.
   – Neutral, common order (place in the middle).

2. Di dapur, saya mengasah pisau sebelum memasak ayam.
   – Emphasis on “in the kitchen” (good in written style or storytelling).

3. Saya di dapur mengasah pisau sebelum memasak ayam.
   – Emphasis that I am in the kitchen while doing the action. Still natural.

The original sentence is the most typical for textbooks and everyday use.

What does sebelum do in this sentence, and why is there memasak, not just masak?

Sebelum means “before” and introduces a time clause.

Pattern:

• [main clause] + sebelum + [verb or clause showing the later action]

In this sentence:

• sebelum (saya) memasak ayam – before (I) cook chicken

About memasak vs masak:

• Root: masak (ripe / cooked / to cook)
• memasak = meN- + masak, the standard active verb form “to cook”.

After sebelum, you can have:

• sebelum memasak ayam – before cooking chicken
  (subject “saya” is understood from the main clause)
• sebelum saya memasak ayam – before I cook chicken
  (subject is stated again; more explicit, slightly more formal)

Using just masak here would sound incomplete or more colloquial; memasak is the normal form in a full sentence.

Who is the subject of memasak ayam? Why is saya not repeated?

The implied subject of memasak ayam is still saya.

Malay often drops the repeated subject in subordinate clauses when it’s the same as in the main clause.

• Full version:
  • Saya mengasah pisau di dapur sebelum saya memasak ayam.
• Natural, shortened version:
  • Saya mengasah pisau di dapur sebelum memasak ayam.

Because both actions (sharpening and cooking) are done by the same person, you don’t need to repeat saya; it’s understood from context.

Does ayam here mean a live chicken or chicken meat?

Ayam literally means “chicken” and can refer to:

• A live chicken, or
• Chicken meat

In this sentence, because it’s about cooking, ayam is understood as chicken meat / chicken (as food).

If you needed to be very explicit, you could say:

• daging ayam – chicken meat

But normally memasak ayam is clear enough: cooking chicken meat.

What is the difference between masak and memasak?

Masak is the root word, and it has a few uses:

• As an adjective: nasi itu sudah masak – the rice is already cooked.
• As a bare verb, especially in casual speech or imperatives:
  • Saya nak masak. – I want to cook.
  • Masak dulu, ya. – Cook first, okay.

Memasak is the standard active verb form:

• Used in neutral/formal sentences:
  • Saya memasak ayam. – I cook chicken.
• Feels more “complete” and more formal/neutral than bare masak in many contexts.

In textbooks and careful writing, you’ll see memasak more often in full sentences.

How is tense shown in this sentence? How do I know if it’s past, present, or future?

Malay verbs do not change form for tense. Mengasah and memasak themselves are tenseless.

Time is understood from:

• Context
• Time words like:
  • tadi – earlier
  • semalam – last night
  • nanti – later
  • esok – tomorrow

For example:

• Tadi saya mengasah pisau di dapur sebelum memasak ayam.
  – Earlier, I sharpened the knife in the kitchen before cooking chicken.
• Nanti saya mengasah pisau di dapur sebelum memasak ayam.
  – Later, I will sharpen the knife in the kitchen before cooking chicken.

The base sentence is neutral and can be translated as past, present, or future depending on surrounding context.

Could I replace saya with aku here? Would the rest of the sentence change?

You can replace saya with aku without changing the rest of the sentence:

• Aku mengasah pisau di dapur sebelum memasak ayam.

Differences:

• saya: polite, neutral; appropriate in most situations (formal and informal).
• aku: informal, used with close friends, family, or people of the same age/status.

The verb forms (mengasah, memasak) and everything else stay the same; only the level of politeness and familiarity changes.