Posmen sedang menghantar surat ke rumah saya.

The postman is delivering a letter to my house.

Breakdown of Posmen sedang menghantar surat ke rumah saya.

• ke: to
• sedang: currently
• rumah: the house
• saya: my
• posmen: the postman
• surat: the letter
• menghantar: to send

Questions & Answers about Posmen sedang menghantar surat ke rumah saya.

Why is there no word for the or a in Posmen sedang menghantar surat ke rumah saya?

Malay does not use articles like the or a/an.
The noun posmen can mean the postman or a postman, depending only on context.

• Posmen sedang menghantar surat ke rumah saya.
  → The postman is delivering a letter / letters to my house.
• If you need to be very specific (for example, that postman), you might add words like itu (that):
  Posmen itu sedang menghantar surat ke rumah saya.

What does sedang mean, and can I leave it out?

Sedang marks an action that is in progress, similar to English is/are … -ing.

• With sedang:
  Posmen sedang menghantar surat… → The postman is (right now) delivering letters…
• Without sedang:
  Posmen menghantar surat… → Can mean The postman delivers letters… / The postman is delivering letters… (more general; context decides.)

You can leave sedang out, but then the sentence becomes less specifically progressive and more neutral in time.

What is the difference between menghantar and hantar?

Hantar is the base verb to send / to deliver.
Menghantar is the meN- form of the same verb and is often more formal or complete.

• In everyday speech, people frequently say: Posmen hantar surat…
• In more standard/formal Malay (or writing): Posmen menghantar surat…

Both are usually understood the same way in this sentence; the meN- form just follows a common grammatical pattern for active transitive verbs.

Does surat mean letter or letters here?

Malay usually does not mark plural on nouns.

• surat can mean a letter, the letter, or letters, depending on context.
• To make it explicitly plural, you can say surat-surat or add a number:
  
  • banyak surat – many letters
  • tiga surat – three letters

In the original sentence, surat could be understood as either a letter or letters.

Why is it ke rumah saya and not something like di rumah saya?

ke and di are different prepositions:

• ke = to / towards (movement, direction)
  
  • Posmen menghantar surat ke rumah saya.
    → The postman is delivering letters *to my house.*
• di = at / in (location, no movement)
  
  • Posmen berada di rumah saya.
    → The postman is *at my house.*

So we use ke here because the action involves movement towards your house.

What does rumah saya literally mean? Why is it house my and not my house?

The literal order is house my: rumah (house) + saya (I / my).
In Malay, possession is usually shown by putting the possessor after the noun:

• rumah saya – my house
• kereta saya – my car
• buku saya – my book

In English we say my house; in Malay we say rumah saya, but the meaning is the same.

Could I replace saya with other words like aku, kami, or kita?

Yes, but the meaning and politeness level change:

• saya – I / me (neutral, polite; safe in most situations)
• aku – I / me (informal, intimate; with close friends, family)
• rumah kami – our house (excluding the listener)
• rumah kita – our house (including the listener)

So, for example:

• Posmen sedang menghantar surat ke rumah aku. – very casual
• Posmen sedang menghantar surat ke rumah kami. – to our house (not yours)
• Posmen sedang menghantar surat ke rumah kita. – to our (your and my) house

Why is ke used with rumah saya but kepada is used with people?

Malay distinguishes between movement to a place and giving something to a person:

• ke – to (a place / direction)
  
  • ke rumah saya – to my house
  • ke sekolah – to school
• kepada – to (a person / recipient)
  
  • menghantar surat kepada saya – send a letter to me
  • beri buku kepada Ali – give a book to Ali

So you say surat ke rumah saya (to my house) but surat kepada saya (to me).

How would I say this in the past or future? Malay doesn’t show tense in the verb, right?

Correct: Malay verbs don’t change form for tense. You add time words to show past, present, or future.

• Past:
  Tadi posmen sedang menghantar surat ke rumah saya.
  → Earlier, the postman was delivering letters to my house.
• Future:
  Nanti / Esok posmen akan menghantar surat ke rumah saya.
  → Later / Tomorrow the postman will deliver letters to my house.

The verb menghantar itself stays the same.

How would I make this sentence negative?

Use tidak before the verb (or before sedang + verb):

• Posmen tidak menghantar surat ke rumah saya.
  → The postman does not / is not delivering letters to my house.
• Posmen tidak sedang menghantar surat ke rumah saya.
  → The postman is not currently in the process of delivering letters to my house. (more explicitly about the ongoing action)

For verbs and adjectives, tidak is the usual negator (not bukan).

Is posmen gendered, like postman vs postwoman?

No. Malay generally does not mark gender in nouns like this.

• posmen can refer to a male or female postal worker.
• If you really need to specify gender, you can add words like:
  
  • posmen lelaki – male postman
  • posmen perempuan – female postwoman

But usually posmen alone is enough and understood as gender-neutral in practice.