Bonus itu penting bagi pekerja di kilang.

to be

Breakdown of Bonus itu penting bagi pekerja di kilang.

• itu: that
• di: at
• penting: important

Questions & Answers about Bonus itu penting bagi pekerja di kilang.

What does itu do in this sentence? Is it like “the” or “that”?

Itu is a demonstrative that usually means “that”.

In this sentence:

• Bonus itu can be translated as:
  • “That bonus” – a specific bonus you and the listener know about, or
  • “The bonus” – natural in English even though Malay doesn’t have a separate word for “the”.

So itu makes bonus definite / specific. Without itu, bonus would be more general: “(a) bonus” or “bonuses in general”.

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Why is there no word for “is” between bonus itu and penting?

Malay usually does not use a verb like “to be” (is/are/am) when linking a noun to an adjective.

• English: The bonus is important.
• Malay: Bonus itu penting. (literally: “That bonus important.”)

The linking “is” is just understood from the structure.

You can see adalah used as a kind of “is”, but it’s generally:

• Used before nouns or noun phrases, not adjectives.
• More common in formal or written Malay.

So:

• Bonus itu penting. ✅ (natural)
• Bonus itu adalah penting. ⚠️ grammatical but sounds stiff or bookish, and many speakers would avoid it in everyday speech.

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