Questions & Answers about Kucing saya suka duduk dekat sofa.
Why is it kucing saya and not saya kucing for my cat?
In Malay, possessors usually come after the thing they possess.
- kucing saya = my cat (literally: cat my)
- rumah mereka = their house (house their)
Putting saya first (saya kucing) is ungrammatical; it sounds like two separate nouns (I, cat) with no clear relationship. So for my X, you normally say X saya, not saya X.
Does saya here mean my or I? How can it mean both?
Saya is a first‑person pronoun that can mean both I and my, depending on position:
- On its own or as the subject: Saya lapar. = I’m hungry.
- After a noun: kucing saya = my cat (literally cat I).
Malay doesn’t have separate forms like I / my / me. The single word saya covers all of these, and its function is understood from its position in the sentence.
Why is there no word for the before sofa?