Learn Hardcore Malay: Doktor menunjukkan gambar paru-paru yang sihat dan paru-paru perokok dalam program tersebut. - The doctor shows pictures of healthy lungs and smoker’s lungs in that program.

Root: tunjuk = to point, to indicate
Prefix: meN- (here realized as men-) = forms an active verb
Suffix: -kan = makes it clearly transitive (takes a direct object) and often gives the meaning to cause something to be in a certain state / to direct something to someone

So:

tunjuk = point / indicate (more basic)
menunjuk = to point (at something)
menunjukkan = to show (present something to someone)

In this sentence:

Doktor menunjukkan gambar… = The doctor showed pictures…

Why is gambar used before paru-paru? Why not just Doktor menunjukkan paru-paru…?

Gambar paru-paru literally means pictures of lungs.

gambar = picture / image / photo
paru-paru = lungs

In Malay, to express “pictures of X”, you typically use gambar + noun, without a preposition:

gambar kucing = a picture of a cat
gambar rumah = a picture of a house
gambar paru-paru = a picture of lungs

If you said doktor menunjukkan paru-paru, it would sound like the doctor is showing actual lungs (the physical organs), which isn’t what is meant here. Gambar makes it clear that we’re talking about images, not real organs.

Why is paru-paru repeated: paru-paru yang sihat dan paru-paru perokok? Could we just say paru-paru yang sihat dan perokok?

You cannot say paru-paru yang sihat dan perokok here, because you would then be joining lungs and smoker in one pair, which doesn’t make sense grammatically.

The structure is:

paru-paru yang sihat = healthy lungs
paru-paru perokok = smoker’s lungs

Malay likes parallel structure, so both parts keep the head noun paru-paru:

(gambar) paru-paru yang sihat
dan
(gambar) paru-paru perokok

If you want to avoid repetition, you could say:

gambar paru-paru yang sihat dan yang berpenyakit
(pictures of healthy lungs and diseased lungs)

But with perokok, you really need paru-paru again for clarity and balance:

paru-paru yang sihat dan paru-paru perokok ✔️
paru-paru yang sihat dan perokok ✖️ (ungrammatical / illogical)

What is the function of yang in paru-paru yang sihat?

Yang introduces a relative clause or a descriptive phrase that modifies a noun.

paru-paru = lungs
yang sihat = that are healthy / which are healthy

So paru-paru yang sihat literally means lungs that are healthy.

In practice, yang + adjective often just corresponds to adjective + noun in English:

orang yang kaya = rich person (literally: person who is rich)
makanan yang pedas = spicy food (food that is spicy)
paru-paru yang sihat = healthy lungs

You could also say paru-paru sihat in many contexts, and it would still be understood, but:

paru-paru yang sihat sounds a bit more specific or contrasty, especially when you’re contrasting with another type (here: smoker’s lungs).

Is paru-paru the plural form of paru? Does Malay mark singular/plural here?

In modern Malay, paru-paru is treated as a single lexical item meaning lungs (the organ, as a pair), not just “many paru”.

Key points:

You don’t normally say just paru to mean “lung”.
paru-paru refers to the lungs as an organ (both sides together).
Malay generally does not mark plural with -s like English; plural is usually understood from context or through reduplication, but some words like paru-paru are just fixed that way.

So:

paru-paru = lungs (the organ)
It can be translated as lung or lungs depending on context, since Malay does not distinguish number here as strictly as English.

What does paru-paru perokok literally mean?

Paru-paru perokok literally means smoker’s lungs or the lungs of a smoker.

Structure:

paru-paru = lungs
perokok = smoker (a person who smokes)

In Malay, noun + noun often expresses a relationship similar to “X of Y”:

rumah guru = the teacher’s house / teacher’s house
kereta abang = my older brother’s car
paru-paru perokok = a smoker’s lungs

If you want to make the possession extra explicit, you can say:

paru-paru seorang perokok = the lungs of a smoker (more explicit and a bit more formal)

What is the difference between perokok and merokok?

perokok = a smoker (noun: a person who smokes)
merokok = to smoke (verb)

Morphology:

Root: rokok = cigarette
meN- prefix → merokok = to smoke (to smoke cigarettes)
peN- prefix → perokok = smoker (one who smokes)

In the sentence we have:

paru-paru perokok = smoker’s lungs

You cannot say:

paru-paru yang merokok ✖️ because lungs don’t smoke; people smoke.
That is why Malay uses the noun perokok (smoker), not the verb merokok.

What does dalam program tersebut mean, and why dalam and not di?

Dalam program tersebut means in that programme / during that show.

dalam = in, inside, within
program = programme, show (often a TV or radio program)
tersebut = that / the aforementioned (more formal)

Why dalam?

di usually marks a physical location:
- di rumah = at home
- di hospital = at the hospital
dalam can mean inside or within something more abstract (a period, an event, a program, a book, etc.):
- dalam buku ini = in this book
- dalam mesyuarat itu = in that meeting
- dalam program tersebut = in that program

You could sometimes hear dalam rancangan itu / dalam program itu or semasa program itu, but dalam here is completely natural and common.

What does tersebut add to the meaning? Could we just say dalam program itu?

Tersebut means something like that mentioned / that already referred to. It often appears in more formal Malay (news reports, writing, official speech).

program itu = that program
program tersebut = that (aforementioned) program (slightly more formal / specific)

Both are grammatically correct:

dalam program itu ✔️
dalam program tersebut ✔️ (more formal, “the said program”)

In many contexts, tersebut implies that the program has already been mentioned earlier in the conversation or text.

How is tense expressed? The English translation uses “showed” (past), but menunjukkan looks present. Is that correct?

Malay verbs usually do not change form for tense. Menunjukkan itself has no tense; it just means to show.

The time is understood from:

context
time words (like semalam = yesterday, tadi = earlier, akan = will)

So:

Doktor menunjukkan gambar…
can mean:
- The doctor shows pictures… (present, habitual)
- The doctor showed pictures… (past)
  depending on the context.

If you really want to emphasise the past, you can add adverbs:

Tadi doktor menunjukkan gambar… = Earlier the doctor showed pictures…
Semalam doktor telah menunjukkan gambar… = Yesterday the doctor showed pictures… (more formal, with telah)

What is the basic word order of this sentence? Is it the same as English?

Yes, the basic word order is S–V–O (Subject–Verb–Object), like English.

Breakdown:

Doktor = Subject (The doctor)
menunjukkan = Verb (showed)
gambar paru-paru yang sihat dan paru-paru perokok = Object (pictures of healthy lungs and smoker’s lungs)
dalam program tersebut = Adverbial phrase (in that program)

So the structure is:

[S] Doktor
[V] menunjukkan
[O] gambar paru-paru yang sihat dan paru-paru perokok
[Adv] dalam program tersebut

How would this sentence look in a passive form in Malay?

A common passive version would be:

Gambar paru-paru yang sihat dan paru-paru perokok ditunjukkan oleh doktor dalam program tersebut.

Breakdown:

Gambar paru-paru yang sihat dan paru-paru perokok = Subject (pictures of healthy lungs and smoker’s lungs)
ditunjukkan = passive verb form of menunjukkan
oleh doktor = by the doctor
dalam program tersebut = in that program

This corresponds to:

Pictures of healthy lungs and smoker’s lungs were shown by the doctor in that program.

In everyday spoken Malay, people very often just stick to the active:

Doktor menunjukkan gambar…

How do you pronounce menunjukkan, especially the ng and kk sounds?

Syllable breakdown: me-nun-juk-kan

Pronunciation tips:

ng sound: actually written as ng in other words, but here we have nun-juk; the n before j is just [n]. The word menunjuk (without -kan) would be me-nun-juk with normal n.
kk: In menunjukkan, the -kan is attached to tunjuk. Spelling changes create menunjukkan, but you do not hold the k for long in careful speech; it sounds roughly like me-nun-juk-kan.
Stress in Malay is relatively flat, but you can lightly stress the second syllable: me-NUN-juk-kan.

Sample rough pronunciation (in English-like spelling):
muh-NOON-jook-kahn (with short, clean vowels and no strong final release on k).