Learn Hardcore Malay: Gambar pelangi ditampal di papan putih. - The rainbow picture is stuck on the whiteboard.

gambar – picture / photo / image
pelangi – rainbow
gambar pelangi – a picture of a rainbow (literally: picture + rainbow)
ditampal – is stuck / was stuck / is pasted (passive verb)
- tampal – to stick, to paste
- di- – passive prefix
di – at / on / in (preposition, shows location)
papan putih – whiteboard (literally: white board)

So the structure is roughly:
[picture of rainbow] [is stuck] [on] [white board].

Why is it gambar pelangi and not pelangi gambar?

In Malay, when one noun describes another (like “picture of a rainbow”), the main noun usually comes first and the explaining noun comes after it:

gambar pelangi – picture (of a) rainbow
rumah kayu – wooden house (literally: house wood)
baju sekolah – school uniform (literally: shirt school)

So gambar is the main thing, and pelangi tells you what kind of picture it is.
Pelangi gambar would sound wrong and unnatural.

Is pelangi an adjective here, like “rainbow-colored picture”, or a noun?

Pelangi is still a noun: rainbow.

The pattern noun + noun is very common in Malay and often corresponds to English “X of Y” or “Y X”:

gambar pelangi – picture of a rainbow / rainbow picture
gambar keluarga – family photo
baju tidur – sleep clothes → pyjamas

So it is better to think of pelangi as “rainbow (noun)” rather than an adjective.

What kind of verb is ditampal, and how is it formed?

Ditampal is a passive verb in Malay.

Root: tampal – to stick, to paste, to glue
Passive prefix: di-
di- + tampal → ditampal – “is stuck / is pasted / was pasted”

The sentence is therefore in passive voice:
Gambar pelangi ditampal di papan putih.
→ “The rainbow picture is stuck / was stuck on the whiteboard.”

What would the active voice version of this sentence look like?

Active voice uses the meN- prefix on the verb and usually has a clear subject/agent.

Passive:

Gambar pelangi ditampal di papan putih.
– (The) rainbow picture is stuck / was stuck on the whiteboard.

Active, with someone doing the action:

Guru menampal gambar pelangi di papan putih.
– The teacher stuck a rainbow picture on the whiteboard.

Here:

menampal – active verb (meN- + tampal)
guru – subject / doer (agent)
gambar pelangi – object
di papan putih – location

How can I show who did the action in the passive sentence with ditampal?

You can add oleh + agent:

Gambar pelangi ditampal oleh guru di papan putih.
– The rainbow picture was stuck on the whiteboard by the teacher.

Notes:

oleh corresponds to English “by (someone)” in passive sentences.
In everyday speech, oleh is often omitted if it is obvious who did it, or not important.

What is the difference between di as a preposition (di papan putih) and di- as a prefix (ditampal)?

They look similar but are different:

di- (with a hyphen in learning materials)
- A prefix attached to a verb root
- Forms the passive voice
- Example: tampal → ditampal
di (separate word)
- A preposition meaning “at / in / on”
- Comes before a noun of place
- Example: di papan putih – on the whiteboard

So in the sentence:

ditampal – passive verb (di- + tampal)
di papan putih – a prepositional phrase showing the location

Why is di papan putih used instead of atas papan putih or pada papan putih?

All are possible, but they have slightly different feels:

di papan putih
- Neutral “on/at the whiteboard”
- Very common, especially in school contexts.
atas papan putih
- Literally “on top of the whiteboard”
- More explicitly emphasizes “on the surface of”.
pada papan putih
- Possible, more bookish/formal; pada often acts like “on/at/with regard to”.

In everyday Malay, di papan putih is the most natural and common way to say “on the whiteboard” here.

Why is there no word for “is” or “was” in Gambar pelangi ditampal di papan putih?

Malay generally does not use a separate “to be” verb (like “is / am / are / was”) in this kind of sentence.

The verb ditampal already carries the idea “is/was stuck”. The time (present, past, future) is understood from context, or you add optional time words:

Gambar pelangi ditampal di papan putih semalam.
– The rainbow picture was stuck on the whiteboard yesterday.
Sekarang, gambar pelangi ditampal di papan putih.
– Now, the rainbow picture is stuck on the whiteboard.
Esok, gambar pelangi akan ditampal di papan putih.
– Tomorrow, the rainbow picture will be stuck on the whiteboard.

How do I make it clear that the action is happening right now, like “is being stuck”?

You can use sedang to mark a progressive action:

Gambar pelangi sedang ditampal di papan putih.
– The rainbow picture is being stuck on the whiteboard (right now).

Sedang goes before the verb (here, before ditampal), and shows that the action is in progress.

Why is there no word for “the” or “a” before gambar pelangi?

Malay generally does not use articles like “a / an / the”. Context tells you whether you should understand it as “a”, “the”, or something more general.

So Gambar pelangi ditampal di papan putih could be:

“A rainbow picture is stuck on the whiteboard.”
“The rainbow picture is stuck on the whiteboard.”

If you really need to be specific, you can add words like:

sebuah gambar pelangi – one (a) picture of a rainbow
gambar pelangi itu – that / the rainbow picture

What is the basic word order and structure of this sentence?

The word order is:

Gambar pelangi – subject (what the sentence is about)
ditampal – passive verb
di papan putih – prepositional phrase showing location

So the pattern is:

Subject + passive verb + prepositional phrase
→ Gambar pelangi ditampal di papan putih.

Can I move di papan putih to the front, like Di papan putih gambar pelangi ditampal?

Yes, you can front the location for emphasis or style:

Di papan putih, gambar pelangi ditampal.

This sounds like “On the whiteboard, a rainbow picture is stuck.”

Notes:

Usually you add a comma in writing after the fronted phrase.
The neutral, everyday order is still Gambar pelangi ditampal di papan putih.

Is papan putih always “whiteboard”? Can it mean literally “white board”?

Papan putih is commonly understood as whiteboard (the thing you write on with markers) in modern contexts, especially in schools and offices.

Literally:

papan – board / plank
putih – white

In a different context (for example, carpentry), papan putih could literally mean “a white board/plank”. In this sentence, the classroom context usually makes it natural to interpret as “whiteboard.”