Learn Hardcore Malay: Dalam ucapan itu, beliau berterima kasih kepada semua yang hadir di majlis perkahwinan. - In that speech, he/she thanks everyone who attended the wedding ceremony.

Dalam – in / during
ucapan – speech, address
itu – that (refers to a specific speech already known in context)
beliau – he / she (polite, respectful)
berterima kasih – to give thanks / to thank (literally “to be thankful”)
kepada – to / towards (used after berterima kasih to mark the person thanked)
semua – everyone / all
yang – that / who (relative marker)
hadir – present / in attendance
di – at / in
majlis – ceremony / event / function
perkahwinan – wedding / marriage

Structure: Dalam ucapan itu (In that speech), beliau berterima kasih kepada semua yang hadir di majlis perkahwinan (he/she thanked everyone who was present at the wedding ceremony).

Why is dalam used here, and how is it different from di or pada?

Dalam literally means in / inside, and in this sentence it has the sense of “in the context of / during”:

Dalam ucapan itu – in that speech / during that speech

Differences:

dalam – “in, inside, within”; often used for:
- physical inside: dalam beg (inside the bag)
- abstract contexts: dalam ucapan, dalam mesyuarat (in a speech, in a meeting), dalam kehidupan (in life)
di – “at / in / on” (location):
- di rumah (at home)
- di sekolah (at school)
  You normally wouldn’t say *di ucapan itu.
pada – “on / at / in” (time, or abstract targets):
- pada hari Isnin (on Monday)
- pada masa itu (at that time)
- Sometimes you might see pada ucapan itu in very formal language, but dalam ucapan itu is more natural for “in that speech”.

So here dalam is the most natural choice to mean “in / during that speech”.

What is the function of itu after ucapan, and how does it differ from ini?

Itu and ini are demonstratives:

itu – that
ini – this

Placed after a noun, they typically mean that X / this X:

ucapan itu – that speech (one already mentioned or known)
ucapan ini – this speech (the current or very close one)

Function here:

Dalam ucapan itu implies a specific, previously known speech:
- maybe a speech earlier in a ceremony, or one mentioned in the previous sentence.

If you said:

Dalam ucapan ini, beliau berterima kasih…
That would sound like “In this speech, he/she thanks…”, focusing on a speech being referred to as “this one” (e.g. the one we are about to read / hear now).

When should I use beliau instead of dia for “he / she”?

Both mean he / she, but differ in formality and respect:

beliau
- Polite, respectful, formal
- Often used for:
  - leaders, teachers, bosses, VIPs
  - people you want to show respect to in writing or formal speech
- Common in news reports, official statements, formal essays
dia
- Neutral, everyday pronoun “he / she”
- Used in casual speech, with friends, family, or in informal writing

In this sentence:

beliau berterima kasih… suggests the speaker is someone respected (e.g. a VIP at the wedding, a public figure, or the bride/groom in a formal write-up).

More informal version:

Dalam ucapan itu, dia berterima kasih kepada semua yang hadir…
Grammatically fine, but less formal/respectful in tone.

Is berterima kasih one word or two, and how is it different from just saying terima kasih?

In standard writing it’s two words:

berterima kasih

Parts:

terima kasih – thank you (literally “receive thanks”)
ber- – a prefix forming an intransitive verb (often “to have / to be in a state of”)

So:

terima kasih – the set phrase “thank you”
- Terima kasih! (Thank you!)
berterima kasih – the verb “to be thankful / to thank (someone)”:
- Saya berterima kasih kepada guru saya.
  I am thankful to / I thank my teacher.

In this sentence:

beliau berterima kasih kepada semua…
= “he/she thanked everyone…” or “he/she expressed thanks to everyone…”

You generally wouldn’t say *beliau terima kasih kepada… as a verb. You either use berterima kasih kepada… (verb phrase) or just Terima kasih kepada… as a short formal expression.

Why do we need kepada after berterima kasih, and can it be replaced with untuk or omitted?

Berterima kasih typically takes kepada to introduce the person or group being thanked:

berterima kasih kepada [person]

Examples:

Saya berterima kasih kepada ibu bapa saya.
I am thankful to my parents.
beliau berterima kasih kepada semua yang hadir…
he/she thanked everyone who was present…

About alternatives:

kepada – “to / towards”, used with a person/recipient.
untuk – “for”, focuses on purpose or benefit, not the recipient.

You cannot normally replace kepada with untuk here:

*berterima kasih untuk semua yang hadir – unnatural / wrong.

Omitting kepada:

beliau berterima kasih kepada semua… – natural.
*beliau berterima kasih semua… – sounds wrong; you need kepada before semua as the indirect object.

So: berterima kasih kepada X is the correct pattern.

What does semua yang hadir literally mean, and what is the role of yang here?

Literal breakdown:

semua – all / everyone
yang – a relative marker: that / who / which
hadir – present / in attendance

So semua yang hadir = “all who were present” / “everyone who was present”.

Role of yang:

Introduces a relative clause describing semua.
Pattern: [noun/pronoun] + yang + [description]

Examples:

orang yang tinggi – the person who is tall
pelajar yang rajin – the student who is diligent
semua yang hadir – all (those) who were present

Without yang, semua hadir would more likely be read as “all (are) present” (a simple statement), not “everyone who was present” as a noun phrase referring to a group.

What exactly does hadir mean here, and how is it different from datang or menghadiri?

In this sentence, hadir is used as “present / in attendance”:

yang hadir – “who were present / who attended”

Comparisons:

hadir
- adjective/verb meaning “present (at an event)”
- often used in formal contexts:
  - Para tetamu yang hadir… (the guests who were present)
  - Sila hadir ke mesyuarat. (Please be present at the meeting.)
datang
- “to come” (movement towards a place)
- Dia datang lewat. (He/She came late.)
menghadiri
- “to attend (an event)” – transitive verb with -i suffix
- Dia menghadiri majlis perkahwinan itu.
  (He/She attended that wedding ceremony.)

Here, hadir focuses on the state of being there at the event, not the act of coming to it.

How does majlis perkahwinan work grammatically, and is it the same as saying “wedding ceremony”?

Majlis perkahwinan is a noun–noun compound:

majlis – event / function / ceremony / gathering
perkahwinan – wedding / marriage (the noun derived from kahwin, to marry)

Together:

majlis perkahwinan – wedding ceremony / wedding event / wedding function

This can refer to:

the ceremony itself, or
the reception / wedding feast, depending on local culture and context.

Other related phrases:

upacara perkahwinan – wedding ceremony (more specifically the ritual/ceremony)
kenduri kahwin (colloquial) – wedding feast/party

So “wedding ceremony” is usually a good translation for majlis perkahwinan, but it often also includes the social event around it.

Could we say di majlis perkahwinan itu instead of having itu with ucapan, and what would change?

Your options:

Dalam ucapan itu, beliau berterima kasih kepada semua yang hadir di majlis perkahwinan.
– “In that speech, he/she thanked everyone who was present at the wedding ceremony.”
Dalam ucapan itu, beliau berterima kasih kepada semua yang hadir di majlis perkahwinan itu.
– “In that speech, he/she thanked everyone who was present at that wedding ceremony.”

In (1), itu (“that”) only marks the speech as specific/known. The majlis perkahwinan is mentioned, but not explicitly marked as “that wedding”.

In (2), both ucapan itu and majlis perkahwinan itu are specific, already-known items. This is fine and often used if there might be more than one wedding being discussed, or to emphasise that particular wedding.

Grammatically, both are correct; the difference is just how strongly you point to the specific wedding.

Is the whole sentence formal or informal, and how would it look in more casual Malay?

The original is fairly formal:

Dalam ucapan itu, beliau berterima kasih kepada semua yang hadir di majlis perkahwinan.

Features of formality:

beliau (polite pronoun)
berterima kasih (full verb form)
majlis perkahwinan (formal/neutral term)

A more casual version could be:

Dalam ucapan tu, dia ucap terima kasih kepada semua yang datang ke kenduri kahwin.

Changes:

itu → tu (colloquial pronunciation/spelling)
beliau → dia (less formal pronoun)
berterima kasih → ucap terima kasih (more everyday)
yang hadir → yang datang (more casual verb “come”)
majlis perkahwinan → kenduri kahwin (colloquial for wedding feast/party)

How is past tense (“thanked”) expressed here, since there is no tense marker in Malay?

Malay generally does not mark tense with verb changes like English does. The same verb form can be present, past, or future; time is understood from context.

In:

beliau berterima kasih kepada semua yang hadir di majlis perkahwinan.

berterima kasih by itself is neutral for tense. It can mean:

he/she thanks
he/she thanked
he/she will thank

We interpret it as past here because of the context implied by:

Dalam ucapan itu – “In that speech (already given / already known)”
The narrative style, which in English is usually past tense.

If you wanted to make the past time more explicit, you could add time words:

Pada masa itu, dalam ucapan itu, beliau berterima kasih…
(At that time, in that speech, he/she thanked…)

But it’s normally not necessary; Malay relies on context.

Can the phrase di majlis perkahwinan be moved earlier in the sentence, or does it have to stay at the end?

Malay word order is relatively flexible for adjunct phrases like location, but the given order is the most natural:

Dalam ucapan itu, beliau berterima kasih kepada semua yang hadir di majlis perkahwinan.

You could say:

Dalam ucapan itu, di majlis perkahwinan, beliau berterima kasih kepada semua yang hadir.

This is still grammatical, but:

It sounds a bit heavier and more formal.
It emphasises the setting (at the wedding) earlier.

Usually, di majlis perkahwinan is placed right after hadir to clearly show that “being present” refers to that wedding:

semua yang hadir di majlis perkahwinan
= “everyone who was present at the wedding ceremony”

So the original position is both clear and stylistically natural.