Learn Hardcore Malay: Ibu menggunakan gunting kecil untuk memotong gambar dan menampalnya dalam diari. - Mother uses small scissors to cut out pictures and stick them in the diary.

In Malay, kinship terms like ibu, ayah, kakak, etc. are often capitalized when they are used like a name or title for a specific person:

Ibu = Mum / Mother (mine / ours, understood from context)
ibu = a mother (any mother, general)

So Ibu menggunakan… is like saying “Mum used…” or “Mother used…” in English. The possessive “my” is usually understood from context and not stated unless it’s needed for clarity. You could say Ibu saya (“my mother”) but it’s not necessary here.

Why isn’t there a word for “my” before Ibu or “her” before diari?

Malay usually leaves out possessive words like “my”, “your”, “his/her” when the owner is obvious from context.

Ibu = (my) mother / mum (the “my” is understood)
diari = (her) diary (we understand it belongs to the mother from context)

If you really need to make it explicit, you can say:

Ibu saya – my mother
diari Ibu – Mother’s diary
diarinya – her diary

But in everyday Malay, if there is no ambiguity, you simply omit the possessive word.

What is the difference between guna and menggunakan?

Guna is the base verb: “to use”.
Menggunakan is the more formal, affixed form: meng- + guna + -kan → menggunakan.

In practice:

Ibu guna gunting kecil… – more informal / conversational
Ibu menggunakan gunting kecil… – more formal / standard / written

Meaning-wise here they both mean “use”. In formal writing and careful speech you’ll hear menggunakan a lot; in daily conversation people very often just say guna.

Is gunting singular or plural? How would I say “a pair of scissors”?

Malay nouns normally don’t mark singular vs plural. So gunting can mean:

“scissors”
“a pair of scissors”
“pairs of scissors” (if context makes it plural)

If you want to be very clear about “a pair of scissors”, you can use a classifier:

sepasang gunting – a pair of scissors
sebilah gunting – one (blade) of scissors, also used to mean one pair in some varieties

In this sentence, gunting kecil is naturally understood as “a small pair of scissors”.

Why is it gunting kecil, not kecil gunting, when English says “small scissors”?

In Malay, the adjective normally comes after the noun:

gunting kecil – small scissors
baju baru – new shirt
rumah besar – big house

So the pattern is:

noun + adjective

Putting the adjective first (kecil gunting) is wrong in standard Malay. There are a few special patterns where the order can change, but for ordinary descriptive adjectives (big, small, new, old, red, etc.), the noun comes first.

Does untuk go with both memotong and menampalnya? Could we repeat untuk?

Yes. In this sentence, untuk introduces a purpose clause that covers both verbs:

untuk memotong gambar dan menampalnya dalam diari
“to cut out the pictures and paste them into the diary”

So the structure is:

[main action] + untuk + [verb 1] dan [verb 2]

You could repeat it (untuk memotong gambar dan untuk menampalnya…), but that sounds awkward and overly heavy in normal Malay. One untuk is enough and is understood to apply to both memotong and menampalnya.

What is the difference between potong, memotong, and menggunting?

They’re all related to “cut”, but with different nuances:

potong – base verb “cut”, can be used on its own, especially in casual speech:
- potong kertas – cut paper
memotong – meN- + potong, more “proper” / slightly more formal:
- memotong sayur – to cut vegetables
menggunting – meng- + gunting literally “to cut WITH scissors”:
- menggunting kertas – cut paper with scissors

In the given sentence, memotong gambar is natural and correct. You could also say:

Ibu menggunakan gunting kecil untuk menggunting gambar…

That would emphasize more clearly that the cutting is specifically with scissors, but it’s not necessary because gunting kecil has already been mentioned.

How is menampalnya formed, and what does each part mean?

Menampalnya breaks down like this:

meN- (here: men-) – verbal prefix
tampal – root verb meaning “to paste / to stick (onto something)”
-nya – enclitic pronoun meaning “it / him / her / them” (object), or “his / her / its / their” (possessive), depending on context

So:

menampal – to paste / to stick (something)
menampalnya – to paste / stick it/them

In this sentence, -nya refers to gambar (“the picture(s)”) that were cut out. English would usually translate this as “paste them (into the diary)”.

Key points about -nya here:

It stands for the object (“the pictures”), so no separate pronoun (“them”) is needed.
It is gender‑neutral and number‑neutral: it can mean “it / him / her / them”, depending on context.

What does dalam diari mean exactly, and how is it different from di diari?

Both dalam and di relate to location, but they’re used a bit differently.

di = general preposition for “at / in / on” (location)
dalam = “inside / within”

So:

di diari – literally “at the diary / in the diary”
dalam diari – “inside the diary”

To sound natural and clear that something is pasted inside the diary (on its pages), dalam diari is better. You can also say di dalam diari (“in/inside the diary”), which is a bit more explicit.

So menampalnya dalam diari = “paste them in(to) the diary”.

How do we know this is in the past when Malay verbs don’t change form?

Malay verbs don’t inflect for tense (no -ed, -s, etc.). The time reference (past, present, future) is usually understood from:

context (what was said before / situation)
time words, if needed (semalam – yesterday, tadi – just now, nanti – later, etc.)

In isolation, Ibu menggunakan gunting kecil… could be translated as:

“Mother uses small scissors…” (present)
“Mother used small scissors…” (past)

If this sentence appears inside a narrative about something that already happened, we translate it as past in English: “Mother used small scissors…”. Malay doesn’t need to change the verb form to show this.

How would this sentence sound in more informal everyday Malay?

A natural colloquial version might be:

Mak guna gunting kecik untuk potong gambar lepas tu tampal dalam diari.

Changes compared to the original:

Ibu → Mak (more casual, like “Mum”)
menggunakan → guna (informal)
kecil → kecik (colloquial pronunciation/spelling)
memotong → potong (base verb, casual)
menampalnya → tampal dalam diari (dropping -nya, the object is understood from context)
inserted lepas tu (“after that / then”) to make the sequence of actions more conversational

The original sentence is standard/formal Malay, suitable for writing and neutral narration; the informal version is what you’d more likely hear in relaxed everyday speech.