Learn Hardcore Malay: Dia menyentuh kucing comel itu dengan perlahan.

Use the person’s name:
- Ali menyentuh kucing comel itu dengan perlahan. – Ali touched the cute cat slowly.
Or add a noun that shows gender, if relevant:
- Lelaki itu menyentuh kucing comel itu dengan perlahan. – The man touched the cute cat slowly.
- Perempuan itu menyentuh kucing comel itu dengan perlahan. – The woman touched the cute cat slowly.

Malay does not have separate pronouns like he / she, so dia covers both.

What is the base form of menyentuh, and what does the prefix meN- do?

The base (root) verb is sentuh = “touch”.

menyentuh = meN- + sentuh

meN- is a common verb prefix that:
- turns a root into an active verb (often transitive)
- roughly corresponds to an English bare verb: “to touch / touching / touches / touched” depending on context.

The N in meN- changes according to the first consonant of the root:

meN- + sentuh → menyentuh (the n assimilates and you get ny).

So menyentuh just means “(to) touch” in an active sense, with tense supplied by context or time words, not by the prefix itself.

How do we know if menyentuh means “touched”, “touches”, or “is touching”? There’s no tense marker.

Malay verbs don’t change form for tense. menyentuh can mean:

“touches” / “is touching” – present
“touched” – past
even “will touch” – future, in some contexts

You figure out the time from:

time words:
- tadi (earlier), semalam (yesterday), esok (tomorrow)
aspect markers (optional):
- sedang dia menyentuh – “he/she is (currently) touching”
- sudah / telah dia menyentuh – “he/she has already touched”

Your sentence Dia menyentuh kucing comel itu dengan perlahan can be translated as:

“He/She touched the cute cat slowly” (past), or
“He/She is touching the cute cat slowly” (present),
depending on context.

Why is there no word for “the” before kucing? How do articles work in Malay?

Malay has no direct equivalents of English “a / an / the”.

kucing can mean “a cat” or “the cat”
Specificity is shown by context, demonstratives (ini, itu), or additional information.

In your sentence:

kucing comel itu = “that cute cat” / “the cute cat”
The word itu (that) makes it specific, so it works like “the” plus a pointing sense (that).

Why is the adjective comel after kucing? Could we say comel kucing?

In Malay, most adjectives come after the noun:

kucing comel – “cute cat” (literally: cat cute)
baju merah – “red shirt” (shirt red)

So:

kucing (noun) + comel (adjective) is the normal order.
comel kucing is generally wrong as a noun phrase.
(You might see Comelnya kucing! – “How cute the cat is!” but that’s a different structure.)

So the phrase kucing comel itu is in the expected order:
noun – adjective – demonstrative → kucing – comel – itu.

What exactly does itu do here? Is it “that” or “the”? Could we drop it?

itu literally means “that”, but functionally it can also feel like “the” when it refers to something already known in context.

kucing comel itu:
- literally: “that cute cat”
- often translated: “the cute cat” (because it’s specific and known).

Can we drop itu?

Dia menyentuh kucing comel dengan perlahan.
→ “He/She touched a cute cat slowly.” (less specific)
Dia menyentuh kucing comel itu dengan perlahan.
→ “He/She touched that/the cute cat slowly.” (a particular cat you both know or can see)

So itu marks the cat as specific and identifiable.

Why do we say dengan perlahan? It literally looks like “with slowly”. Is dengan necessary?

dengan often introduces adverbial phrases describing manner (“how” something is done).

dengan perlahan – “slowly”, literally “with slow(ly)”
Common pattern: dengan + adjective/adverb → “in a … way”
- dengan cepat – quickly
- dengan lembut – gently
- dengan senyap – silently

Is dengan necessary?

You can also see:
- Dia menyentuh kucing comel itu perlahan-lahan.
- Dia menyentuh kucing comel itu perlahan. (in some contexts)
dengan perlahan tends to sound slightly more standard / neutral, especially in writing.

So it’s a very common, natural way to form an adverbial of manner in Malay.

What’s the difference between perlahan, perlahan-lahan, and dengan perlahan?

All relate to doing something slowly, but with small nuances:

perlahan
- basic form: “slow”
- can be adjective or adverb depending on context.
perlahan-lahan (reduplicated)
- often used as an adverb: “slowly, very slowly, gently”
- feels a bit more emphatic or descriptive.
dengan perlahan
- literally “with slow(ly)”
- standard adverbial phrase = “slowly / in a slow manner”
- neutral, common in both speech and writing.

All are generally acceptable, e.g.:

Dia menyentuh kucing comel itu dengan perlahan.
Dia menyentuh kucing comel itu perlahan-lahan.

Both are natural. perlahan-lahan can sound slightly more gentle / gradual.

Could we say Dia perlahan-lahan menyentuh kucing comel itu instead? Where can the adverb go?

Yes, that’s possible:

Dia menyentuh kucing comel itu perlahan-lahan.
Dia perlahan-lahan menyentuh kucing comel itu.

Both are acceptable. Differences:

Malay is quite flexible with adverb placement.
Putting perlahan-lahan right after Dia may give slight emphasis to the manner (“slowly” is highlighted), but the basic meaning is the same.

What you generally don’t do is put the adverb inside the verb:

❌ Dia menyentuh perlahan-lahan kucing comel itu. (sounds odd)

So the safest positions are:

before the verb phrase: Dia perlahan-lahan menyentuh …
or after the object: Dia menyentuh … perlahan-lahan.

How would I say “He/She touched it slowly” without repeating the word kucing?

You can use the object pronoun suffix -nya:

Dia menyentuhnya dengan perlahan.
→ “He/She touched it slowly.”

Here:

menyentuh = to touch
-nya = “it / him / her” (context decides which)
So menyentuh + nya → menyentuhnya = “touched it/him/her”.

Malay often attaches -nya directly to the verb when the object has already been mentioned or is obvious from context.

Is kucing comel singular or plural? How do we say “cute cats”?

By default, kucing comel is number-neutral:

could be “a cute cat” or “cute cats”, depending on context.

To make it clearly plural, you can:

Reduplicate the noun:
- kucing-kucing comel – cute cats (in general)
Use a numeral or quantifier + classifier:
- beberapa ekor kucing comel – several cute cats
- dua ekor kucing comel – two cute cats

In your sentence, kucing comel itu with itu usually implies one specific cat, unless context strongly suggests a group.

Is comel the normal word for “cute”? Is it formal or informal?

comel is the standard, very common word for “cute / adorable / pretty (in a cute way)”.

It’s used for:
- animals: kucing comel (cute cat)
- babies: bayi comel
- people, usually in a sweet/adorable tone.

Formality:

Neutral in most contexts; not slang.
Perfectly fine in both spoken and written Malay.

Some related words:

cantik – beautiful / pretty (more about attractiveness)
indah – beautiful (often for scenery, language, etc.)

For a cat, kucing comel is the most natural.

Do we ever need a preposition before kucing? Why is it just menyentuh kucing, not something like menyentuh kepada kucing?

The verb menyentuh is transitive and takes a direct object without a preposition:

menyentuh + [direct object]
- Dia menyentuh kucing comel itu. – He/She touched the cute cat.

You don’t say:

❌ menyentuh kepada kucing for this meaning.

Prepositions like kepada (“to”) or pada (“on/at”) are used in other structures:

Dia meletakkan tangan pada kucing itu. – He/She put (his/her) hand on the cat.
Dia memberi makanan kepada kucing itu. – He/She gave food to the cat.

But with menyentuh, the noun it affects is a direct object: menyentuh kucing.

Is there a form like menyentuhkan? How is it different from menyentuh?

Yes, there is a causative form menyentuhkan (verb + -kan), though it’s less common in everyday speech with sentuh.

menyentuh = to touch (directly)
- Dia menyentuh kucing itu. – He/She touched the cat.
menyentuhkan [something] kepada/pada [something]
≈ to cause something to touch something else, “to put/touch X onto Y”
- Dia menyentuhkan tangannya pada kucing itu.
  – He/She touched the cat with his/her hand (literally: caused his/her hand to touch the cat).

In your original sentence, simple menyentuh is the natural choice.

If I want to say “He/She gently touched the cute cat” rather than just “slowly”, is perlahan still the right word?

perlahan focuses on slowness (“slowly”).
For “gently”, Malay often uses lembut (soft, gentle):

Dia menyentuh kucing comel itu dengan lembut.
→ “He/She gently touched the cute cat.”

Comparisons:

dengan perlahan – slowly (pace, speed)
dengan lembut – gently (softness, delicateness)

You can even combine them if you want both nuances:

Dia menyentuh kucing comel itu dengan perlahan dan lembut.
– He/She touched the cute cat slowly and gently.