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Guru melarang murid bercakap kuat di dalam kelas.

Guru melarang murid bercakap kuat di dalam kelas.
The teacher forbids pupils to speak loudly in the classroom.
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Questions & Answers about Guru melarang murid bercakap kuat di dalam kelas.

What is the base form of melarang, and what does the prefix me- do?

The base (root) verb is larang, meaning to forbid / to prohibit.

The verb melarang is formed by adding the prefix meN- to the root:

  • larang → meN- + larang → melarang

For roots beginning with l, the prefix surfaces as me- and the l stays:

  • meN- + larang → melarang

Function of meN- here:

  • It makes an active, transitive verb (an action done by a subject to an object).

  • So melarang means to forbid (someone from doing something), as in this sentence:

    • Guru melarang murid bercakap…
      The teacher forbids the pupils to speak…
Is murid singular or plural here? How do you say a student or the students in Malay?

In this sentence, murid can mean either pupil / student (singular) or pupils / students (plural). Malay usually does not mark singular vs. plural on the noun itself.

Context tells you which is meant. Here, because it’s about classroom behaviour, it very naturally means the pupils / the students.

To be more explicit:

  • seorang murid = one pupil / a pupil
  • dua orang murid = two pupils
  • para murid = the pupils / all the pupils (slightly formal)
  • murid-murid = pupils / students (plural by repetition; quite common)

So you could also say:

  • Guru melarang para murid bercakap kuat di dalam kelas.
    The teacher forbids the pupils from speaking loudly in the classroom.
In English we say “forbid students to speak” or “forbid students from speaking”. Where is to/from in melarang murid bercakap?

Malay doesn’t need a separate word like to or from in this structure.

The pattern is simply:

  • melarang + [person] + [action]

So:

  • melarang murid bercakap kuat
    literally: forbids pupils speak loudly

The relationship “forbid someone to/from do something” is understood from word order:

  • melarang = to forbid
  • murid = the one who is being forbidden
  • bercakap kuat = the action that is forbidden

You can sometimes add daripada after the person:

  • Guru melarang murid daripada bercakap kuat.

This is also correct. daripada roughly corresponds to from here, and it can sound a bit more formal or explicit. But:

  • melarang murid bercakap kuat
    is already natural, standard Malay and doesn’t feel incomplete.
What’s the difference between bercakap and cakap?

Both are related to speaking / talking, but they differ in formality and grammar.

  • cakap

    • Root word.
    • Common in informal speech and in imperatives:
      • Jangan cakap! = Don’t talk!
    • Often used as a plain verb in casual conversation.

  • bercakap

    • Formed with prefix ber-
      • cakap.
    • Often feels more standard / neutral / slightly formal.
    • In many contexts, it’s the more “textbook” choice for to talk / to speak.

In this sentence:

  • murid bercakap kuat → “the pupils speak/talk loudly”

You could also say in colloquial speech:

  • Cikgu melarang murid cakap kuat dalam kelas.
    (Here cikgu is informal for guru.)

But in written or more formal Malay, bercakap is the better choice.

How can kuat, which I know as strong, mean loudly here?

In Malay, kuat primarily means strong, but it also means loud when talking about sound.

Examples:

  • suara kuat = loud voice
  • bunyi kuat = loud sound
  • bercakap kuat = to speak loudly
  • ketawa kuat = to laugh loudly

Malay does not always have a special “-ly” adverb form like English. The same word often does the job of an adjective and an adverb. So:

  • kuat = strong (adjective), and also
  • kuat = loudly (adverb, by context)

In bercakap kuat, context (an action + a manner) tells us it means loudly, not strongly.

What’s the difference between di dalam kelas and just di kelas or dalam kelas?

All three are possible, but they have slightly different nuances.

  1. di

    • Basic preposition for at / in / on (location)

  2. dalam

    • Means inside / inside of

  3. di dalam

    • Literally at inside (of); often used as a set phrase to emphasize inside a place.

Applied to kelas:

  • di dalam kelas

    • Literally: inside the classroom
    • Slight emphasis on being inside the room.
    • Common in written and more careful speech.

  • di kelas

    • Literally: at/in the class / classroom
    • Also correct; a bit shorter, quite natural in everyday use.

  • dalam kelas

    • Literally: inside the class / classroom
    • Also acceptable; often used too, especially in speech.

So:

  • Guru melarang murid bercakap kuat di dalam kelas.
  • Guru melarang murid bercakap kuat di kelas.
  • Guru melarang murid bercakap kuat dalam kelas.

All can be understood as in the classroom, with di dalam kelas sounding slightly more explicit or formal.

Does kelas mean the classroom (room) or the class (group of students) here?

The word kelas can mean both:

  1. The room (classroom)
  2. The group of students (a class)

In this sentence:

  • di dalam kelas
    is understood by default as in the classroom (the room), because of the spatial preposition di dalam.

If you wanted to clearly talk about the physical room in a more “pure Malay” style, you could also say:

  • di dalam bilik darjah = in the classroom (lit. lesson room)

But di dalam kelas is entirely standard and natural, and context makes it clear it refers to the room.

Why is there no word like the or a (article) before guru and murid?

Malay generally does not use articles like the, a, or an.

  • Guru can mean:

    • a teacher
    • the teacher

  • murid can mean:

    • a pupil / student
    • the pupil / the pupils / pupils / students

The definiteness or specificity is understood from context. In this sentence, in a normal school context, the natural reading is:

  • Guru = the teacher (of this class)
  • murid = the pupils (of this class)

When you need to be explicit:

  • seorang guru = a teacher
  • guru itu = that teacher / the teacher
  • murid itu = that student / the student
  • para murid or murid-murid = the students / students
Could we say Guru melarang murid di dalam kelas bercakap kuat instead? Does the word order matter?

You can say:

  • Guru melarang murid di dalam kelas bercakap kuat.

But the nuance shifts slightly.

  1. Original sentence:

    • Guru melarang murid bercakap kuat di dalam kelas.
    • The structure is:
      • [melarang] [murid] [bercakap kuat] [di dalam kelas]
    • Meaning focus: “forbids the pupils from speaking loudly in the classroom.”

  2. Modified sentence:

    • Guru melarang [murid di dalam kelas] bercakap kuat.
    • Here, murid di dalam kelas can be read as a unit:
      • “the pupils who are in the classroom”
    • This can be understood as “The teacher forbids the pupils who are in the classroom from speaking loudly,” which is similar, but the phrase di dalam kelas is more tightly attached to murid than to bercakap.

In everyday use, many speakers wouldn’t feel a big difference, but:

  • If you want to be very clear that what is restricted is speaking loudly in that location, the original word order is more straightforward.
Is there a difference between melarang and other verbs like tidak membenarkan or menghalang?

Yes, there are nuance differences:

  • melarang

    • To forbid / to prohibit.
    • Often implies a rule or explicit prohibition.
    • Very natural in classroom / rule-based contexts.

  • tidak membenarkan

    • Literally: does not allow / does not permit.
    • Softer or more neutral than melarang; describes an absence of permission.
    • Example:
      • Guru tidak membenarkan murid bercakap kuat di dalam kelas.
        The teacher does not allow the pupils to speak loudly in the classroom.

  • menghalang

    • To block, prevent, hinder.
    • Focuses on preventing something from happening, possibly by action.
    • Example:
      • Guru menghalang murid daripada bercakap kuat di dalam kelas.
        The teacher (actively) prevents the students from speaking loudly in the classroom.

In your sentence, melarang is the most straightforward way to express forbids / prohibits.

Is this sentence formal? How might people say this more casually?

The original sentence is neutral to slightly formal, suitable for writing, rules, or narration:

  • Guru melarang murid bercakap kuat di dalam kelas.

A more casual / colloquial version might be:

  • Cikgu tak bagi murid cakap kuat dalam kelas.

Changes:

  • guru → cikgu (informal/common word for teacher)
  • melarang → tak bagi (colloquial: “don’t allow”)
  • bercakap → cakap (informal)
  • di dalam kelas → dalam kelas (shorter, very natural in speech)

Meaning is the same, but the register is much more casual and spoken.

How do we know if this is present, past, or future tense? There’s no tense marking.

Malay verbs normally do not change form to show tense (present, past, future). Melarang by itself is tenseless.

The time is understood from context or from optional time words:

  • Guru melarang murid bercakap kuat di dalam kelas.
    Could mean:
    • The teacher forbids the students from speaking loudly in class. (general rule)
    • The teacher forbade the students from speaking loudly in class. (narration)
    • The teacher will forbid the students from speaking loudly in class. (with appropriate context)

To make tense explicit, you add time markers:

  • telah / sudah (past, “already”):

    • Guru telah melarang murid bercakap kuat di dalam kelas.
      The teacher has forbidden the pupils from speaking loudly in the classroom.

  • sedang (ongoing):

    • Guru sedang melarang murid bercakap kuat di dalam kelas.
      The teacher is (right now) forbidding the pupils from speaking loudly in the classroom.

  • akan (future):

    • Guru akan melarang murid bercakap kuat di dalam kelas.
      The teacher will forbid the pupils from speaking loudly in the classroom.

Without such markers, you rely on context to understand the time reference.