Saya menjemur baju basah di halaman depan rumah.

I dry wet clothes in the front yard of the house.

Breakdown of Saya menjemur baju basah di halaman depan rumah.

• saya: I
• di: in
• rumah: the house
• basah: wet
• depan: front
• baju: the clothes
• halaman: the yard
• menjemur: to hang out to dry

Questions & Answers about Saya menjemur baju basah di halaman depan rumah.

What exactly does menjemur mean? Is it just “to dry”?

Menjemur comes from the root jemur, which means “to dry something in the sun / by hanging it out.”

So menjemur baju is more specifically:

• “to hang clothes out to dry (in the sun)”
• not just any kind of drying (like using a dryer or a heater).

If you wanted a more general “to dry (something)” you might see mengeringkan, but for clothes in the sun, menjemur is the natural verb.

Why is there no word like “am/was” for the verb? Where is the tense?

Malay usually doesn’t mark tense on the verb. Menjemur stays the same whether it’s past, present, or future.

The sentence Saya menjemur baju basah di halaman depan rumah can mean:

• “I am hanging wet clothes to dry in the front yard.”
• “I hung wet clothes to dry in the front yard.”
• “I will hang wet clothes to dry in the front yard.” (depending on context)

If you want to be explicit, you can add time words:

• tadi = earlier
• sekarang = now
• nanti = later

For example:

• Tadi saya menjemur baju basah… = I hung…
• Sekarang saya menjemur baju basah… = I am (right now) hanging…

Why is basah (wet) after baju (clothes)? Shouldn’t the adjective go before the noun like in English?

In Malay, adjectives normally come after the noun.

• baju basah = wet clothes
  (literally “clothes wet”)
• rumah besar = big house
• kereta baru = new car

So the pattern is: noun + adjective.

Putting basah before baju (e.g. basah baju) is wrong in standard Malay for this meaning.

Does baju basah mean “a wet shirt” or “wet clothes”? I’m confused about number.

Baju can mean:

• “shirt/top” in some contexts, or
• “clothes” more generally, especially in everyday speech.

Malay doesn’t usually mark plural with an “s” like English. So:

• baju basah can be “a wet shirt” or “wet clothes”, depending on context.

If you really want to emphasize plurality, you can say:

• baju-baju basah = (many) wet clothes/items of clothing

But in normal conversation, baju basah is enough, and listeners infer singular/plural from context.

What is the function of di in di halaman depan rumah?

Di is a preposition meaning “at / in / on” (location).

• di halaman = in/at the yard
• di halaman depan = in/at the front yard
• di halaman depan rumah = in/at the front yard of the house

So di introduces the place where the action happens. Here, it’s telling you where the clothes are being hung to dry.

How should I understand the phrase halaman depan rumah structurally?

Break it down like this:

• halaman = yard / compound
• depan = front
• rumah = house

The order is:

1. halaman (main noun)
2. depan (which part of the yard – the front part)
3. rumah (whose/which yard – the house’s yard)

So halaman depan rumah is “the front yard of the house” or “the yard in front of the house,” phrased as one noun phrase:

• literally: “yard front (of) house”

Could I also say di depan rumah instead of di halaman depan rumah? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can say di depan rumah, but the nuance changes slightly.

• di depan rumah = in front of the house (more general; could be on the street, on the porch, just anywhere in front)
• di halaman depan rumah = in the front yard of the house (more specific: it’s the yard area in front of the house)

So the original sentence is more specific about the location being the house’s yard/compound.

Is Saya the only way to say “I”? What about aku?

Both mean “I,” but they differ in formality and social distance:

• Saya

  • Polite, neutral, safe in almost all situations.
  • Used with strangers, elders, in formal settings, or whenever you’re unsure.

• Aku

  • Informal, intimate.
  • Used with close friends, siblings, people your age or younger (depending on local habits).

In your sentence:

• Saya menjemur baju basah… = neutral/polite.
• Aku jemur baju basah… = casual, used with close friends or peers (and notice you might also drop the men- in casual speech).

Can I drop Saya and just say Menjemur baju basah di halaman depan rumah?

Grammatically, you can drop Saya, and people will still understand from context in conversation:

• Menjemur baju basah di halaman depan rumah.
  = (I’m) hanging wet clothes to dry in the front yard.

However:

• In full, neutral sentences, especially in writing or when you want to be clear, it’s better to keep Saya.
• Dropping the subject is more common in casual speech, when it’s already obvious who is doing the action.

Why is it menjemur and not jemur? What does the meN- prefix do?

Jemur is the root (base) verb.
Menjemur is the meN--prefixed form.

The meN- prefix:

• turns a root into an active verb with an explicit subject (often “I/you/he/she/they”),
• often used in more standard/neutral style.

So:

• Saya menjemur baju = I am hanging clothes out to dry. (standard)
• Saya jemur baju = also understandable, more casual/colloquial.

The spelling menjemur (not mejemur) follows sound-change rules of the meN- prefix with certain consonants.

Is there a more casual or alternative way to say this sentence?

Yes, in everyday spoken Malay, you might hear something like:

• Saya jemur baju basah kat halaman depan rumah.
  • jemur instead of menjemur (more casual)
  • kat instead of di (very colloquial “at/in”)

Even more casual among friends:

• Aku jemur baju basah kat depan rumah.

The original sentence Saya menjemur baju basah di halaman depan rumah is neutral and suitable for textbooks, writing, or polite speech.

How would I emphasize that I’m currently in the middle of doing it (like English “am -ing”)?

You can add sedang before the verb to emphasize an ongoing action:

• Saya sedang menjemur baju basah di halaman depan rumah. = I am (right now) hanging wet clothes to dry in the front yard.

Sedang marks a continuous/ongoing action, similar to English “am/is/are -ing,” but it’s optional and only used when you want to stress that it’s happening at this moment.