Stesen televisyen tempatan menyiarkan program khas tentang kesihatan keluarga malam ini.

The local television station is broadcasting a special program about family health tonight.

Breakdown of Stesen televisyen tempatan menyiarkan program khas tentang kesihatan keluarga malam ini.

• malam ini: tonight
• tentang: about
• keluarga: the family
• khas: special
• kesihatan: the health
• tempatan: local
• program: the program
• stesen televisyen: the television station
• menyiarkan: to broadcast

Questions & Answers about Stesen televisyen tempatan menyiarkan program khas tentang kesihatan keluarga malam ini.

What is the word‑for‑word breakdown of this sentence?

Here is a rough, linear breakdown:

• Stesen – station
• televisyen – television
• tempatan – local
• menyiarkan – broadcasts / is broadcasting / will broadcast
• program – program(me) / show
• khas – special
• tentang – about / regarding
• kesihatan – health
• keluarga – family
• malam ini – tonight (literally: this night)

So structurally, it is:

[Stesen televisyen tempatan] [menyiarkan] [program khas tentang kesihatan keluarga] [malam ini].

Why does tempatan (local) come after stesen televisyen instead of before it?

In Malay, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe, unlike in English.

• English: local television station
• Malay: stesen televisyen tempatan
  
  • stesen televisyen = television station
  • tempatan = local

This order is normal and general:

• rumah besar – big house
• budak nakal – naughty child
• program khas – special program

So tempatan follows stesen televisyen simply because that is the standard noun–adjective order in Malay.

What exactly does menyiarkan mean, and how is it formed?

Menyiarkan means to broadcast, to air, or to transmit (a TV or radio program).

Morphologically:

• Base form: siar – to broadcast / publish / air
• Verb with meN- and -kan: menyiarkan

Malay often forms transitive verbs with meN- + root + -kan.

Here:

• meN-
  • siar
    • -kan → menyiarkan

Functionally in the sentence, menyiarkan is a transitive verb:

• Stesen televisyen tempatan (subject)
• menyiarkan (verb)
• program khas... (object = what is being broadcast)

Is there a difference between menyiarkan, siarkan, and siar?

Yes:

• siar – bare root; used in dictionaries and in some fixed phrases, but not usually as a finite verb in standard sentences.
• menyiarkan – standard active verb form in a sentence, meaning to broadcast / to air (something).
  • Example: Mereka menyiarkan berita setiap malam.
    (They broadcast the news every night.)
• siarkan – often an imperative or shortened command form, used informally:
  • Siarkan program ini sekarang.
    (Broadcast this program now.)

So in a normal declarative sentence with a subject, menyiarkan is the natural choice.

How do we know if menyiarkan means is broadcasting, broadcasts, or will broadcast?

Malay verbs usually do not mark tense (past/present/future) in the way English verbs do. The time reference is understood from:

• context
• time expressions, such as malam ini (tonight)

In this sentence:

• malam ini = tonight
  → So the most natural English rendering is “will broadcast” or “is going to broadcast”.

If you wanted to make the future sense even clearer in Malay, you could add akan:

• Stesen televisyen tempatan akan menyiarkan program khas... malam ini.

But even without akan, malam ini is enough to give it a future meaning.

Why is there no word like “is” in this sentence?

Malay does not use a separate verb like “to be” (is/are) before a main action verb.

In English:

• The station is broadcasting a program.
• auxiliary is
  • main verb broadcasting

In Malay:

• Stesen televisyen tempatan menyiarkan program khas...
• just the main verb menyiarkan, with no extra “is” word.

Malay only uses linking verbs like ialah/adalah in certain structures, mainly:

• linking a subject to a noun or noun phrase
  
  • Dia ialah doktor. – He is a doctor.
• more formal / written contexts

But you do not say:

• ✗ Stesen televisyen tempatan adalah menyiarkan... (unnatural)

What does program khas mean, and why is khas after program?

Program khas literally means special program(me).

• program – program / show
• khas – special

Again, this follows the Malay pattern noun + adjective:

• program khas = special program
• kelas tambahan = extra class
• makanan tradisional = traditional food

So khas comes after program, just like tempatan comes after stesen televisyen.

What is the role of tentang here? Could I use something else like mengenai?

Tentang means about / regarding / concerning. It introduces the topic of the program:

• program khas tentang kesihatan keluarga
  = a special program about family health

You can generally substitute:

• tentang → mengenai or berkenaan (dengan)

For instance:

• program khas mengenai kesihatan keluarga
• program khas berkenaan kesihatan keluarga

All would be understood, with only slight differences in style or formality. Tentang is common and neutral.

How should I understand kesihatan keluarga? Why is keluarga after kesihatan?

Kesihatan keluarga literally is health (of) family → family health.

Structure:

• kesihatan – health
• keluarga – family

In Malay, when one noun describes or belongs to another, the describing/possessor noun usually comes after:

• rumah saya – my house
• baju ibu – mother’s clothes
• kesihatan keluarga – the family’s health / family health

So keluarga is like a possessor: the health that belongs to the family.

Does malam ini mean “tonight” or literally “this night”? And do I need pada before it?

Malam ini is the standard way to say tonight.

Literally:

• malam – night
• ini – this
  → malam ini – this night → tonight

About pada:

• You can say pada malam ini, and it is grammatically correct.
• In everyday sentences, pada is often dropped with time expressions:
  • Dia akan datang malam ini. – He will come tonight.

In your sentence, malam ini (without pada) is perfectly normal and natural.

Does malam ini describe the program (a “tonight special”) or the time of broadcasting?

In this sentence, malam ini most naturally describes the time of broadcasting, not the type of program.

The logical grouping is:

• Stesen televisyen tempatan menyiarkan [program khas tentang kesihatan keluarga] [malam ini].

So:

• what is being broadcast? → a special program about family health
• when is it broadcast? → tonight

If you wanted to emphasise the time more clearly, you could move malam ini:

• Malam ini, stesen televisyen tempatan menyiarkan program khas tentang kesihatan keluarga.

It still refers to when the station is broadcasting.

How do we know it means “the local television station” rather than “a local television station”?

Malay does not have definite/indefinite articles like the and a/an. A bare noun phrase like stesen televisyen tempatan can be understood as:

• the local television station
• a local television station

The choice in English depends on:

• context (are we talking about one specific, known station?)
• what sounds natural in translation

In many real-world contexts, there is usually one main local TV station being referred to, so translators often pick “the local television station” in English. But the Malay itself does not explicitly mark that distinction.

Is this sentence formal or informal? How might it change in everyday speech?

The sentence is neutral to slightly formal, suitable for news, writing, or clear standard speech.

Everyday variations might include:

• Shortening televisyen to TV:
  • Stesen TV tempatan menyiarkan program khas... malam ini.
• Replacing menyiarkan program with menayangkan rancangan (also common for TV shows):
  • Stesen TV tempatan akan menayangkan rancangan khas tentang kesihatan keluarga malam ini.

But the original sentence is perfectly natural in standard Malay and not overly formal.

If there were several local stations, how would I say “Local television stations are broadcasting…”?

You can make it plural in a few ways (Malay often relies on context for plural, but you can mark it explicitly if you want):

1. Rely on context (most common, simplest):

   • Stesen televisyen tempatan menyiarkan program khas tentang kesihatan keluarga malam ini.
     This could already be understood as local television stations if the context mentions multiple stations.

2. Add a plural marker like beberapa (some, several):

   • Beberapa stesen televisyen tempatan menyiarkan program khas... malam ini.

3. Use repetition (more explicit, sometimes used in writing or emphasis):

   • Stesen-stesen televisyen tempatan menyiarkan program khas... malam ini.

All are grammatically correct; the first is most natural, with context indicating whether it is singular or plural.