Learn Hardcore Malay: Ramalan cuaca dalam program itu kata esok awan tebal tetapi tiada hujan. - The weather forecast in that program says that tomorrow the clouds will be thick but there will be no rain.

Ramalan cuaca dalam program itu kata esok awan tebal tetapi tiada hujan.

The weather forecast in that program says that tomorrow the clouds will be thick but there will be no rain.

Breakdown of Ramalan cuaca dalam program itu kata esok awan tebal tetapi tiada hujan.

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Questions & Answers about Ramalan cuaca dalam program itu kata esok awan tebal tetapi tiada hujan.

What does “dalam program itu” mean exactly, and why is it dalam and not di?

“Dalam program itu” literally means “in that program” (i.e. during/inside that TV or radio program).

dalam = in, inside, within (often a bit more “inside/within the scope of” than just location)
di = at, in, on (more neutral location marker)

Here, “dalam program itu” suggests “within the program / as part of the program”, not just physically “at the program”. That’s why dalam is more natural: it’s talking about something that appears within the content of the program.

You could say “di program itu”, and people would still understand you, but it sounds less standard or a bit off in careful Malay. “Dalam program itu” is the idiomatic choice for “in that show/programme” in this context.

How is “Ramalan cuaca … kata …” working grammatically? It feels like “The weather forecast said…” but where is the “that”?

The structure is:

Ramalan cuaca dalam program itu – The weather forecast in that program (subject)
kata – said/says (verb)
esok awan tebal tetapi tiada hujan – tomorrow [there will be] thick clouds but no rain (reported content)

So the pattern is:

[speaker] + kata + [reported statement]
= X said [that] Y

Malay often omits the word “bahawa” (which is like English “that”):

With bahawa (more formal):
Ramalan cuaca dalam program itu kata bahawa esok awan tebal tetapi tiada hujan.
Usually spoken/written:
Ramalan cuaca dalam program itu kata esok awan tebal tetapi tiada hujan.

Both are grammatical; dropping bahawa is very common and natural.

Why is it “kata” and not “berkata” or “mengatakan” here?

All three are related but used differently:

kata (here as a verb)
- Common in speech and writing.
- Often used in patterns like “X kata …” = X said …
- Short, neutral, and perfectly acceptable in news-style or casual contexts.
berkata
- Also means to say, but a bit more formal or “complete-sounding”.
- Typically followed by “bahawa …” or direct speech:
  - Ramalan cuaca dalam program itu berkata bahawa esok… (formal/written)
  - Dia berkata, “Saya penat.”
mengatakan
- Usually transitive: mengatakan sesuatu (to say/state something).
- More formal, often used with an object or with bahawa:
  - Ramalan itu mengatakan bahawa…

In this sentence, “Ramalan cuaca … kata …” is a very natural, compact way to say “The weather forecast said (that) …”. Using kata keeps it simple and colloquial-neutral.

In “esok awan tebal tetapi tiada hujan”, where is the verb “will be”? Why is there no “akan” or “adalah”?

Malay often drops the verb “to be” and sometimes even “will” when the meaning is clear from context.

esok awan tebal literally: “tomorrow clouds thick”
Understood as: “tomorrow (it will be) cloudy / there will be thick clouds.”

There is an implied “akan” (will) and an implied “(akan) ada” (there will be). You could say:

Esok akan ada awan tebal tetapi tiada hujan.
Esok awan akan tebal tetapi tiada hujan.

…but native speakers are very comfortable dropping “akan” when talking about the near future, especially with time words like esok (tomorrow), nanti, kemudian, etc.

So:

No “adalah” is needed between awan and tebal.
No explicit “will” is needed because esok already positions it in the future.

What exactly is the difference between “tiada”, “tidak”, and “tak ada / tidak ada” in “tiada hujan”?

In this sentence:

tiada hujan ≈ “there is no rain / there will be no rain”

Key distinctions:

tiada
- Formal / standard negative for existence: “there is no / there are no”
- Often used in writing, news, weather reports, etc.
- Pattern: tiada + noun
  - tiada hujan – no rain
  - tiada masalah – no problem
tidak
- General verbal/adjectival negator = “not”
- Used before verbs and adjectives:
  - tidak mahu – do not want
  - tidak besar – not big
- Not normally used as “there is no X” by itself.
tidak ada / tak ada / takde (colloquial)
- Literally not exist / not have → “there is no / there isn’t / don’t have”
- Common in speech:
  - esok tak ada hujan – tomorrow there’s no rain.

So, in a standard, slightly formal sentence like this, “tiada hujan” is the textbook/neutral choice. In casual speech you’d often hear:

Esok awan tebal tapi tak ada hujan.

Literally, “awan tebal” is “thick cloud(s)”. Does it really just mean “cloudy”? Is plural understood?

Yes:

awan = cloud / clouds (Malay usually doesn’t mark plural unless needed)
tebal = thick

So “awan tebal” literally = “thick cloud(s)”, but pragmatically it means:

“dense clouds / heavy cloud cover / very cloudy”

Plurality is usually understood from context. When forecasting weather, “awan tebal” is interpreted as “thick cloud cover” rather than a single cloud.

The structure is also a good example of Malay noun + adjective word order:

awan tebal – thick clouds
hujan lebat – heavy rain
angin kuat – strong wind

Why is it “esok awan tebal” and not “awan tebal esok”? Can the order change?

Both orders are possible, but the focus changes slightly.

Esok awan tebal tetapi tiada hujan.
= Tomorrow, (it will be) cloudy but no rain.
→ Fronting esok emphasizes “tomorrow” as the setting/time frame.
Awan tebal esok tetapi tiada hujan.
= Thick clouds tomorrow, but no rain.
→ Emphasizes “thick clouds” first, then adds “tomorrow”.

In natural speech about forecasts, it’s very common to start with the time expression:

Esok…
Lusa…
Petang nanti…

So “Esok awan tebal…” sounds very normal and slightly smoother than “Awan tebal esok…”, though the latter is still understandable.

Could I use “besok” or “hari esok” instead of “esok”? Are there differences?

Yes, but with some nuance:

esok
- Standard Malay for tomorrow.
- Common in both speech and writing in Malaysia and formal contexts.
besok
- More common in Indonesian and in some Malay informal speech.
- In Malaysia, “esok” is preferred in standard usage; “besok” may sound colloquial or Indonesian-influenced.
hari esok
- Literally “the day of tomorrow / the morrow”.
- More formal or literary; can sound a bit elevated or poetic in everyday speech.

In this sentence, “esok” is the most natural standard Malaysian Malay choice:

Ramalan cuaca … kata esok awan tebal… ✅
Ramalan cuaca … kata besok awan tebal… – understood, may sound more Indonesian.
Ramalan cuaca … kata hari esok awan tebal… – possible but more formal/flowery.

What exactly does “ramalan cuaca” mean? Is it “weather report” or “weather forecast”?

ramalan comes from ramal = to predict → ramalan = prediction, forecast
cuaca = weather

So “ramalan cuaca” = “weather forecast” (prediction of upcoming weather).

If you wanted “weather report” in the sense of reporting what’s happening now, you might hear “laporan cuaca”:

laporan = report
laporan cuaca = weather report (current conditions or a formal report)

In practice, TV and radio segments that talk about future conditions are commonly labeled “ramalan cuaca”.

Why is there no word like “that” after “kata”, as in “said that…”? Isn’t “bahawa” needed?

Malay has a word “bahawa” that functions like English “that” in reported speech:

Dia kata bahawa esok hujan.
= He said that it will rain tomorrow.

However, in everyday Malay:

bahawa is very often omitted, especially in speech and semi-formal writing.
The sentence remains grammatical and natural:
Dia kata esok hujan.

So in this sentence:

Ramalan cuaca dalam program itu kata esok awan tebal tetapi tiada hujan.
is equivalent in meaning to
Ramalan cuaca dalam program itu kata bahawa esok awan tebal tetapi tiada hujan.

The version without bahawa is more common and sounds less stiff.

Is the style of this sentence formal, informal, or neutral? How might it sound in casual spoken Malay?

The sentence as given is fairly neutral, leaning slightly formal/standard because of:

tiada hujan (more formal than tak ada hujan)
Clear, complete structure without slang.

A more casual spoken version might look like:

Dalam program tu, ramalan cuaca cakap esok mendung, tapi tak ada hujan.

Common changes in casual speech:

itu → tu
kata → cakap
tiada → tak ada / takde
Possibly use mendung (overcast) instead of awan tebal, depending on nuance.

But your original sentence is perfectly natural in standard Malay, like something you might read in a write-up or hear in a neutral broadcast.

There’s no subject pronoun like “it” in “esok awan tebal tetapi tiada hujan”. Is that normal in Malay?

Yes, that’s normal.

Malay does not use dummy subjects like English “it” in:

It is cloudy.
It will rain tomorrow.

In Malay, you usually just say:

Awan tebal. – (It is) cloudy / There are thick clouds.
Esok hujan. – (It will) rain tomorrow.

So in:

esok awan tebal tetapi tiada hujan

there is no need for a word equivalent to English “it”. The time word esok and the noun phrases awan tebal / tiada hujan are enough to convey the full meaning.