Breakdown of Pengantin perempuan tersenyum kepada saudara-mara di dewan.
Questions & Answers about Pengantin perempuan tersenyum kepada saudara-mara di dewan.
Literally, pengantin perempuan is:
- pengantin = wedding person / someone getting married (gender‑neutral: bride or groom)
- perempuan = woman / female
So pengantin perempuan = female wedding person, i.e. the bride.
In natural English, you almost always translate pengantin perempuan simply as the bride.
You can also see:
- pengantin lelaki or pengantin laki-laki = the groom
- Sometimes just pengantin is used when the context already makes it clear which person is meant.
Base word: senyum = smile (verb or noun)
With prefix: tersenyum = to smile (intransitive verb form)
In this sentence, tersenyum is simply the normal, natural verb to smile:
- Pengantin perempuan tersenyum… = The bride smiled…
The prefix ter- has several functions in Malay, but with some verbs (like tersenyum, tergelak, tertidur) it forms a common “state / action” verb:
- Dia senyum. – He/She smiles. (slightly more casual / verblike use of base form)
- Dia tersenyum. – He/She smiles / is smiling. (very natural, slightly more descriptive)
In many contexts, senyum and tersenyum can both be used as verbs, but tersenyum often sounds a bit more complete and standard in narrative sentences like this.
Here, kepada is used like English to in smiled to / at someone:
- tersenyum kepada saudara-mara = smiled at (to) the relatives
Rough guide:
kepada – “to (a person / living thing / recipient)”
- Saya bercakap kepada dia. – I spoke to him/her.
- Dia tersenyum kepada saya. – She smiled at me.
pada – “on/at/in” (more general), often for time, objects, or abstract things
- Pada hari Sabtu – on Saturday
- Pada pendapat saya – in my opinion
ke – “to (a place / direction)”
- Pergi ke dewan – go to the hall
So tersenyum kepada saudara-mara is the most natural choice here.
tersenyum pada saudara-mara can be heard, especially in casual speech, but kepada is the standard “to (people)” preposition.
saudara-mara means relatives or extended family in general.
- saudara on its own can mean:
- sibling
- cousin
- or more broadly “relative” or even “brother/sister” in a formal address
- When reduplicated as saudara-mara, it means relatives / kinfolk / extended family collectively.
It’s quite broad and usually includes uncles, aunts, cousins, etc. It does not specify exactly which relatives, just “family members” beyond the immediate nuclear family.
Other related words:
- keluarga = family (unit)
- ahli keluarga = family members
- adik-beradik = siblings
- sepupu = cousins
saudara-mara is collective and usually understood as plural: relatives.
For a (single) relative, you normally use saudara plus a classifier:
- seorang saudara = a/one relative
- dua orang saudara = two relatives
Some examples:
- Dia datang dengan saudara-mara. – She came with (her) relatives.
- Dia datang dengan seorang saudara. – She came with a relative.
The hyphen shows reduplication, a common Malay pattern:
- Base word: saudara
- Reduplicated: saudara-mara
Reduplication often means:
- plurality / many items
- variety / general group
- or a more collective sense
So saudara-mara = a group of relatives / kinfolk, not just one saudara.
Other examples:
- orang → orang-orang (people)
- rumah → rumah-rumah (houses)
- burung → burung-burung (birds)
Sometimes reduplication changes the meaning more idiomatically, as with saudara-mara.
di dewan = in the hall / at the hall (location)
- di = at / in / on (locative preposition)
- dewan = hall (e.g. event hall, assembly hall)
di dalam dewan = inside the hall, a bit more explicit about being inside rather than just “at” the hall.
In many contexts, di dewan and di dalam dewan can both be used and understood as “in the hall”. di dalam adds a little extra emphasis on the interior.
No, in this sentence di is a preposition, not a prefix.
As a preposition of place, di is written separately:
- di dewan – in/at the hall
- di rumah – at home
- di sekolah – at school
As a passive verb prefix, di- is attached directly to the verb:
- ditulis – written
- dibaca – read
- dimakan – eaten
So:
- di dewan – correct (preposition + noun)
- didewan – would be read as a verb form (and is incorrect in this context)
Malay normally does not use articles like the or a/an.
Definiteness is usually understood from:
- Context – In a wedding context, pengantin perempuan will naturally be “the bride” (the specific one at this wedding).
- Possessives – pengantin perempuan itu, pengantin perempuan tersebut, pengantin perempuan itu tadi, etc. can make it more explicitly “that bride / the bride”.
- Demonstratives – ini (this), itu (that):
- dewan ini – this hall
- saudara-mara itu – those relatives
In translation, we add the or a according to what sounds natural in English, even though Malay doesn’t mark it explicitly.
Basic word order here is Subject – Verb – (Prepositional phrases):
- Pengantin perempuan (subject)
- tersenyum (verb)
- kepada saudara-mara di dewan (prepositional phrases)
You can move the place phrase di dewan to the front for emphasis or style:
- Di dewan, pengantin perempuan tersenyum kepada saudara-mara.
In the hall, the bride smiled at the relatives.
Both are grammatical. Fronting di dewan just emphasizes the location more, which is common in storytelling or descriptive writing.
Yes, tersenyum kepada [someone] is a very natural way to say smiled at [someone].
Common patterns:
- tersenyum kepada dia – smiled at him/her
- tersenyum kepada saya – smiled at me
- tersenyum kepada tetamu – smiled at the guests
You can also hear:
- tersenyum kepada
- senyum kepada
- senyum pada (more casual)
- tersenyum ke arah [seseorang] – smiled toward someone (more directional imagery)
But in standard, neutral style, tersenyum kepada [orang] works very well.
The sentence is neutral and standard, suitable for writing (e.g. a story, news report) and for polite speech:
- Pengantin perempuan tersenyum kepada saudara-mara di dewan.
In casual spoken Malay, you might hear some changes such as:
- Dropping ter-:
- Pengantin perempuan senyum pada/kepada saudara-mara kat dewan.
- Using kat for di:
- … saudara-mara kat dewan.
- Some pronunciation reductions: perempuan → pompuan / perempuan (depending on dialect)
But the original sentence is perfect for learners: clear, standard, and widely understood.