Cita-cita saya ialah menjadi jurutera.

My ambition is to become an engineer.

Breakdown of Cita-cita saya ialah menjadi jurutera.

• adalah: to be
• saya: my
• menjadi: to become
• cita-cita: the ambition
• jurutera: the engineer

Questions & Answers about Cita-cita saya ialah menjadi jurutera.

What does each word in Cita-cita saya ialah menjadi jurutera literally mean?

Word-by-word:

• cita-cita – ambition / aspiration (literally a reduplicated form of cita, making it mean “dreams, ambitions” as a concept)
• saya – I / me / my (formal–neutral)
• ialah – is (a linking verb, like is/are in English, used before a noun or a noun-like phrase)
• menjadi – to become
• jurutera – engineer

So the structure is basically: Ambition my is become engineer.

Why is there a hyphen in cita-cita? Is it plural?

The hyphen shows reduplication:

• Base word: cita (idea, dream, hope)
• Reduplicated: cita-cita

In Malay, repeating a noun often:

• gives a plural or collective sense, or
• creates a fixed word with a slightly new meaning.

cita-cita is usually treated as a single vocabulary item meaning ambition / aspirations (often singular in English even though it looks plural in Malay).

So in this sentence, cita-cita is best understood as ambition (a general life goal), not ambitions in the countable sense, unless the context clearly lists several.

What is the difference between cita-cita, impian, harapan, and angan-angan?

They all relate to “dreams” or “hopes,” but with different nuances:

• cita-cita – ambition, long-term life goal (e.g. career, future).
  
  • cita-cita saya ialah menjadi jurutera – a serious life ambition.
• impian – dream (often more emotional or idealistic; can be big life dreams too).
  
  • Impian saya can overlap with cita-cita saya, but impian can also be romantic or very personal.
• harapan – hope/expectation.
  
  • Less “goal-like,” more “I hope this happens.”
• angan-angan – daydream, fantasy, wishful thinking.
  
  • Can sound less serious or unrealistic.

For a serious, realistic career goal, cita-cita is the most natural.

Why is saya placed after cita-cita instead of before, like Saya cita-cita?

In this sentence, cita-cita is the main noun, and saya functions like a possessive:

• cita-cita saya = my ambition (literally “ambition I”)

Malay usually puts the possessor after the thing owned:

• buku saya – my book
• kereta kamu – your car
• rumah mereka – their house
• cita-cita saya – my ambition

So Saya cita-cita… is not correct. If you want to start with saya, you normally change the structure:

• Saya bercita-cita untuk menjadi jurutera. – I aspire to become an engineer.

What exactly does ialah do? Could I leave it out?

ialah is a linking verb (copula) that connects a subject to a complement, similar to is/are in English, especially before nouns or noun-like phrases:

• Ali ialah doktor. – Ali is a doctor.
• Masalah utama ialah kekurangan masa. – The main problem is lack of time.

In your sentence:

• Cita-cita saya (subject)
• ialah (link)
• menjadi jurutera (complement)

Can you drop ialah? In informal speech, many people do:

• Cita-cita saya menjadi jurutera.

This is understandable and commonly heard, but for formal or careful writing, including ialah is preferred because it’s clearer and more standard.

What’s the difference between ialah and adalah? Could I say Cita-cita saya adalah menjadi jurutera?

In modern usage:

• Many native speakers do say:
  Cita-cita saya adalah menjadi jurutera.

Traditional/“school” guidelines often say:

• ialah – used when the complement is a noun or noun phrase.
  e.g. Dia ialah guru.
• adalah – used before adjectives or longer explanatory phrases, or to emphasise the predicate.
  e.g. Masalah ini adalah sangat serius.

Your complement menjadi jurutera is a verb phrase, not a plain noun, so either ialah or adalah can appear in actual usage. Many teachers, however, prefer:

• Cita-cita saya ialah menjadi jurutera.

You will encounter both ialah and adalah in real texts; for exams and textbooks, stick with ialah here.

Why menjadi and not just jadi? What’s the function of men- here?

Base verb: jadi – to become / to turn into / to be.

With the meN- prefix: menjadi:

• Still means to become, but sounds more complete and natural as a verb in many contexts.
• Often used when followed by a noun:
  
  • menjadi jurutera – become an engineer
  • menjadi guru – become a teacher

jadi alone is also a verb, but:

• It’s commonly used in speech and in other patterns, e.g.
  
  • Jadi apa sekarang? – So what now?
  • Dia jadi marah. – He became angry.
• In formal sentences like this, menjadi + noun is more standard.

So menjadi jurutera is the most natural “to become an engineer” here.

Can I add untuk and say Cita-cita saya ialah untuk menjadi jurutera? Is that better?

Yes, that’s also acceptable:

• Cita-cita saya ialah menjadi jurutera.
• Cita-cita saya ialah untuk menjadi jurutera.

Both mean essentially the same thing. Nuance:

• Without untuk, it’s slightly more direct: “My ambition is become an engineer.”
• With untuk, it sounds like: “My ambition is to become an engineer,” mirroring the English to more closely.

Both are widely used and correct; textbooks often show the version with untuk, but the shorter one is perfectly fine.

Should I say seorang jurutera instead of just jurutera?

You can say either:

• Cita-cita saya ialah menjadi jurutera.
• Cita-cita saya ialah menjadi seorang jurutera.

seorang is a classifier (for people), roughly like “a/an (one person who is)”. Nuance:

• jurutera – generic “engineer” (profession as a concept).
• seorang jurutera – “an engineer” (one individual engineer).

In many career statements, Malay comfortably drops seorang, so the version without it is very natural and not incomplete. Using seorang is slightly more specific, but not required.

How is this different from saying Saya mahu menjadi jurutera?

Compare:

• Cita-cita saya ialah menjadi jurutera.
  – Focus on ambition / life goal. Sounds more long-term, serious, often used in essays, introductions, school contexts.
• Saya mahu menjadi jurutera.
  – mahu = want. This is about desire or wish; it could be long-term or short-term, but doesn’t automatically carry the “big life ambition” nuance.

Both can describe the same reality, but:

• If you’re writing a formal composition about your future, cita-cita saya is more idiomatic.
• In casual speech, Saya mahu jadi/jadi jurutera is very common.

Is this sentence formal, neutral, or casual? In what situations would people actually say it?

Cita-cita saya ialah menjadi jurutera. is:

• Neutral to formal in tone.
• Very common in:
  • school essays/compositions
  • written questionnaires
  • formal self-introductions or speeches (e.g. student presentations)

In casual speech, people often say instead:

• Saya nak/mahu jadi jurutera.
• Saya bercita-cita nak jadi jurutera.

So your sentence is excellent for writing, exams, and polite contexts.

Does cita-cita here feel singular or plural? Could I list more than one goal?

In this sentence, cita-cita feels like a general concept of ambition (effectively singular in meaning).

You can list multiple ambitions:

• Cita-cita saya ialah menjadi jurutera dan doktor.
  – My ambitions are to become an engineer and a doctor.

Grammatically, cita-cita already carries a plural/collective idea from reduplication, so you don’t change the form. The verb ialah can still stay in the singular form; Malay doesn’t mark singular/plural on the verb the way English does.

How do I pronounce cita-cita, ialah, and jurutera?

Approximate pronunciations (using English-like spelling):

• cita-cita: chee-tah chee-tah
  
  • ci = “chee”
  • stress is fairly even: CHEE-tah CHEE-tah (Malay stress is light)
• ialah: ee-ah-lah
  
  • i = “ee”
  • a = “ah”
• jurutera: joo-roo-teh-rah
  
  • ju = “joo”
  • ru = “roo”
  • te = “teh”
  • ra = “rah”

All vowels are short and clear; Malay pronunciation is generally very regular.