Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya duduk di bawah pokok di taman.

Tadi saya duduk di bawah pokok di taman. – I sat under a tree in the park earlier.
Sekarang saya duduk di bawah pokok di taman. – I am sitting under a tree in the park now.
Setiap hari saya duduk di bawah pokok di taman. – I sit under a tree in the park every day.

Why do we need di before bawah and taman?

Di is a preposition meaning “at / in / on”, used to mark a location.
You normally put di before a place word:

di bawah – under / below
di taman – at / in the park
di rumah – at home
di sekolah – at school

So in the sentence, di bawah pokok is “under a tree” and di taman is “in the park”.

What is the difference between di bawah and just bawah?

bawah by itself is a noun meaning “bottom / underside / below”.
di bawah is “under / beneath / below (something)” as a prepositional phrase.

In most normal sentences talking about a location, you include di:

Buku itu di bawah meja. – The book is under the table.

You might see bawah alone in some fixed expressions or short notes (e.g. lihat bawah – “see below”), but as a learner, it is safest to use di bawah when you mean “under” in a full sentence.

Why is there no word for “a” or “the” before pokok and taman?

Malay does not have articles like English a / an / the.
Pokok can mean “a tree” or “the tree”, and taman can mean “a park” or “the park”, depending on context.

If you really need to specify, you use other words:

seekor / sebuah / sebatang, etc. as classifiers with numbers
ini (this) / itu (that)

Examples:

Saya duduk di bawah sebatang pokok di taman. – I sit under one tree in the park.
Saya duduk di bawah pokok itu. – I sit under that tree.

How do I say “under the trees” or “under a few trees” instead of “under a tree”?

You can show plural in several ways:

Reduplication (repeating the noun):
- di bawah pokok-pokok – under the trees (trees in general / many trees)
Using quantity words:
- di bawah beberapa pokok – under a few trees
- di bawah banyak pokok – under many trees
- di bawah tiga pokok – under three trees

Malay often leaves plural unmarked if it’s clear from context, so di bawah pokok could also be understood as “under (the) trees” in the right situation.

Can I say Saya duduk di taman di bawah pokok instead? Is that still correct?

Yes, Saya duduk di taman di bawah pokok. is grammatically correct.
Malay word order is flexible for these location phrases:

Saya duduk di bawah pokok di taman.
Saya duduk di taman di bawah pokok.

Both are natural. The first feels like you’re focusing first on “under a tree”, then adding the detail that this is in a park. The second focuses first on “in the park”, then specifies “under a tree” inside that park. In everyday speech, either is fine.

What is the difference between saya and aku here?

Both saya and aku mean “I”, but they differ in formality and usage:

saya – polite, neutral, standard. Safe in most situations (speaking to strangers, older people, formal settings, writing).
aku – informal, intimate. Used with close friends, to younger people, in songs, or when you want a very casual or emotional tone.

So:

Saya duduk di bawah pokok di taman. – neutral/polite
Aku duduk di bawah pokok di taman. – casual/intimate

As a learner, default to saya unless you’re sure aku fits the relationship and setting.

When should I say sedang duduk instead of just duduk?

Sedang is an aspect marker that highlights an action happening right now (similar to English “am/is/are … -ing”):

Saya sedang duduk di bawah pokok di taman. – I am currently sitting under a tree in the park.

Without sedang, Saya duduk… can still mean “I am sitting…”, but it doesn’t emphasise the “right-now” feeling. You use sedang when you want to clearly show that the action is in progress at this moment or at a specific time in the story.

Why is it di taman, not dalam taman? What’s the difference between di and dalam?

Both can sometimes be translated as “in”, but they’re used differently:

di – general location: at / in / on. Very common and neutral.
dalam – inside, within (emphasises being inside an enclosed space or within the bounds of something).

For open areas like parks, squares, playgrounds, you usually use di:

di taman – in/at the park
di padang – on the field

Dalam taman would sound like you are stressing the “inside the boundaries of the park” idea, but di taman is the natural default.

Can I drop saya and just say Duduk di bawah pokok di taman?

In casual spoken Malay, people sometimes drop the subject when it’s obvious from context, so you might hear:

Duduk di bawah pokok di taman. – (I’m/We’re) sitting under a tree in the park.

However:

In standard/clear Malay, it’s better to keep the subject: Saya duduk…
In writing, exams, or when learning, you should include saya so your sentence is complete and unambiguous.

What exactly does taman mean? Is it only “park”?

Taman most commonly means “park” or “garden-like area”. It can refer to:

a public park
a garden, especially a designed or decorative one
in Malaysia especially, a residential housing area (e.g. Taman Melati as a neighbourhood name)

So di taman normally means “in/at the park”, but context can make it “in the garden” or “in the housing area” if people know which taman you are talking about.

How do you pronounce pokok, and what does the double -ok mean?

Pokok has two syllables: po-kok.

The final k is a glottal stop (a quick closing of the throat), not a strong “k” sound released like in English “kick”.
The vowel o is short in both syllables.

The spelling -ok repeated (pokok) doesn’t mean the vowel is long; it’s just part of the word’s spelling. The word pokok means “tree” (and in some contexts “main / fundamental”, as in pokok masalah – the root of the problem).

Does duduk always mean “sit”, or can it also mean “live / stay” somewhere?

Duduk primarily means “to sit”, as in your sentence.
But in everyday Malay, duduk can also mean “to live / stay (reside)” in a place:

Saya duduk di Kuala Lumpur. – I live in Kuala Lumpur.
Dia duduk dengan ibu bapanya. – He/She lives with his/her parents.

When context clearly involves residence or a city/house, duduk will be understood as “live”. In your example with di bawah pokok di taman, it clearly means physical sitting.