Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya pergi ke farmasi itu untuk beli ubat batuk dan vitamin. - I go to that pharmacy to buy cough medicine and vitamins.

Saya
- Polite, neutral, and safe in almost any situation.
- Used with strangers, in most workplaces, in writing, and with people you want to show respect to.
- Very common in Malaysia and Singapore Malay.
Aku
- More intimate or casual.
- Used with close friends, siblings, or sometimes when talking to yourself.
- Can sound rude or too familiar if used with people you don’t know well or people of higher status.

The sentence uses saya because it’s a neutral, polite form and works in almost any context (telling someone what you did, writing a diary entry, talking to a teacher, etc.).

You could say Aku pergi ke farmasi itu… when talking to a close friend, but not in formal or polite situations.

Why do we say pergi ke farmasi itu instead of just pergi farmasi itu?

In standard Malay, verbs of movement such as pergi (go), datang (come), balik (go back) normally take a preposition like ke (to) before the destination:

pergi ke sekolah – go to school
balik ke rumah – go back home
datang ke pejabat – come to the office

So pergi ke farmasi itu literally means “go to that pharmacy”.

In informal spoken Malay, many people drop ke and say things like:

Pergi sekolah, balik rumah, pergi farmasi

That’s very common in casual speech, but in writing or more careful speech, you should keep ke: pergi ke farmasi itu.

Is pergi farmasi itu (without ke) grammatically wrong?

In formal/standard Malay, yes, it’s considered incomplete or wrong; the standard structure is pergi ke [place].

In colloquial speech, however, pergi farmasi itu is widely used and easily understood. It sounds:

Casual, everyday, conversational
Not suitable for exams, formal writing, or situations where standard Malay is expected

So:

For speaking with friends: Pergi farmasi itu is fine.
For standard Malay: use Pergi ke farmasi itu.

Why is it farmasi itu instead of itu farmasi, and what exactly does itu do here?

Itu means “that” or “the (one we’ve mentioned / you know about)”. In Malay, demonstratives like ini (this) and itu (that) usually come after the noun:

farmasi itu – that pharmacy / the pharmacy (that one)
farmasi ini – this pharmacy
rumah itu – that house
kereta ini – this car

So farmasi itu means “that pharmacy”, implying one that the speaker and listener both know or can identify.

Itu farmasi would sound like “that is a pharmacy”, i.e. a sentence with an implied “is”, not a noun phrase:

Itu farmasi. – That is a pharmacy.

So the order is important:

farmasi itu = that pharmacy (as an object)
itu farmasi = that is a pharmacy (a full sentence)

What is the difference between farmasi and kedai ubat?

Both relate to places where you get medicine, but there’s a nuance:

farmasi
- From English “pharmacy”.
- Usually refers to a modern pharmacy or chemist with a licensed pharmacist.
- Common in urban areas, malls, hospitals, etc.
kedai ubat
- Literally “medicine shop”.
- Can be a more general, traditional, or small shop selling medicines, sometimes also herbs, ointments, etc.
- May sound a bit more traditional or less technical.

In most Malaysian contexts, if you mean a typical modern pharmacy like Guardian, Watsons, or a hospital pharmacy, farmasi is the normal word.

You could say:

Saya pergi ke kedai ubat untuk beli ubat batuk.
That’s understandable, but may suggest a more general or traditional shop.

Why is it untuk beli, not untuk membeli? Is beli without meN- correct?

Both untuk beli and untuk membeli are possible; they differ mainly in formality and style:

untuk membeli
- Uses the meN- verb form membeli (“to buy”).
- More formal and standard.
- Common in writing, official documents, speeches:
  - Saya pergi ke farmasi itu untuk membeli ubat batuk dan vitamin.
untuk beli
- Uses the base form beli.
- Very common in spoken Malay and informal writing.
- Still widely accepted in modern usage, even in many semi-formal contexts.

So yes, untuk beli is correct in everyday Malay. If you are taking exams or writing very formal text, untuk membeli is safer.

Can we drop untuk and say Saya pergi ke farmasi itu beli ubat batuk dan vitamin?

In informal spoken Malay, yes, people often say:

Saya pergi ke farmasi itu beli ubat batuk dan vitamin.

It sounds natural in conversation and means the same thing: I went to that pharmacy to buy cough medicine and vitamins.

In standard or formal Malay, it’s better to include untuk:

Saya pergi ke farmasi itu untuk membeli ubat batuk dan vitamin.

So:

Casual speech: dropping untuk is common.
Formal/written: keep untuk.

Does ubat batuk literally mean “cough medicine”? Can I also say ubat untuk batuk?

Yes, ubat batuk literally means “cough medicine”:

ubat – medicine
batuk – cough

The pattern “noun + noun” (like ubat batuk) is very common in Malay and often corresponds to “noun for noun” in English:

ubat sakit kepala – medicine for headache
krim muka – face cream

You can also say ubat untuk batuk (medicine for cough), and it is grammatically correct. The difference is:

ubat batuk
- Shorter, more natural in everyday speech.
- Standard way to say cough medicine.
ubat untuk batuk
- Slightly more explicit: medicine for cough.
- Acceptable, but less common in this context.

If you’re talking to a pharmacist, ubat batuk is exactly what people say.

Is ubat countable? How do I say “some medicine” or “three types of medicine”?

Ubat can be used in both a mass sense (like “medicine” in general) and a countable sense (with classifiers):

Mass / uncountable sense
- Saya perlu ubat. – I need medicine.
- Dia sudah makan ubat. – He/She has taken medicine.
Countable, using classifiers (kata bilangan / penjodoh bilangan)
Some common ones:
- sejenis ubat – one type of medicine
- tiga jenis ubat – three types of medicine
- dua biji pil – two pills/tablets
- sebotol ubat batuk – one bottle of cough medicine

Examples:

Doktor beri saya tiga jenis ubat. – The doctor gave me three types of medicine.
Saya beli sebotol ubat batuk. – I bought a bottle of cough medicine.

So ubat itself doesn’t take plural endings; you show number via numerals + classifiers.

Does batuk mean only “cough” (noun), or also “to cough” (verb)?

Batuk can be both:

Noun: cough
- Saya ada batuk. – I have a cough.
- Ubat batuk – cough medicine.
Verb: to cough
- Dia batuk sepanjang malam. – He/She coughed all night.
- Jangan batuk kuat-kuat. – Don’t cough too loudly.

Malay often uses the same word as both noun and verb, so context tells you which is meant. In ubat batuk, it’s clearly “cough (noun)”.

Is the word order ubat batuk dan vitamin fixed? Could I say vitamin dan ubat batuk instead?

You can freely change the order of the items joined by dan (and), as in English:

ubat batuk dan vitamin – cough medicine and vitamins
vitamin dan ubat batuk – vitamins and cough medicine

Both are correct and mean the same thing; the difference is only emphasis / what you mention first. The original sentence simply chooses to mention ubat batuk first.

What level of formality is this sentence, and how would it sound in more casual speech?

The original sentence:

Saya pergi ke farmasi itu untuk beli ubat batuk dan vitamin.

is polite and neutral. It’s okay in many contexts: talking to a teacher, colleague, or writing an informal note.

A more formal version might be:

Saya pergi ke farmasi itu untuk membeli ubat batuk dan vitamin.

A more casual/colloquial version (with a friend) could be:

Aku pergi farmasi tu beli ubat batuk dengan vitamin.
- aku instead of saya
- farmasi tu instead of farmasi itu
- dropping ke and untuk in speech
- dengan instead of dan (common in spoken Malay)

Context determines which is appropriate. For a learner, the original sentence with saya and ke and untuk is a safe, neutral model.

There is no tense marker like “went” vs “go”. How do we know if Saya pergi ke farmasi itu is past, present, or future?

Malay verbs do not change form for tense. Pergi can mean:

Past: I went
Present: I go / am going
Future: I will go

The tense is determined by context and sometimes by time words:

Tadi saya pergi ke farmasi itu. – I went to that pharmacy earlier.
Sekarang saya pergi ke farmasi itu. – Now I’m going to that pharmacy.
Nanti saya akan pergi ke farmasi itu. – Later I will go to that pharmacy.

So Saya pergi ke farmasi itu untuk beli ubat batuk dan vitamin could mean:

I went to that pharmacy to buy… (if you’re describing something that already happened), or
I’m going / will go to that pharmacy to buy… (if you’re talking about current/future plans),

depending on context. In isolation, it’s ambiguous, and that’s normal in Malay.

How is farmasi pronounced in Malay, and is it the same as English “pharmacy”?

Farmasi in Malay is pronounced roughly:

far-ma-see
- far as in far
- ma as in ma
- si like see

Stress is usually on the second syllable: far-MA-si.

Differences from English “pharmacy”:

No r-colored vowel; just clear a sounds.
No “ph” spelling; Malay uses f.
Final -si is pronounced like “see”, not “see” with a reduced vowel – it’s very clear.

Also, ubat ends with a clear t sound (oo-baht), not silent.