Tahun lepas berlaku kebakaran kecil di hutan itu, dan bomba datang dengan siren yang kuat.

Last year there was a small fire in that forest, and the fire brigade came with loud sirens.

Breakdown of Tahun lepas berlaku kebakaran kecil di hutan itu, dan bomba datang dengan siren yang kuat.

• itu: that
• di: in
• dengan: with
• kecil: small
• dan: and
• yang: that/which
• datang: to come
• berlaku: to happen
• kuat: loud
• hutan: the forest
• tahun lepas: last year
• kebakaran: the fire
• bomba: the fire brigade
• siren: the siren

Questions & Answers about Tahun lepas berlaku kebakaran kecil di hutan itu, dan bomba datang dengan siren yang kuat.

What does “tahun lepas” mean exactly, and is it the same as “tahun lalu”?

“Tahun lepas” means “last year”.

• “tahun” = year
• “lepas” = past / last (in this context)

Yes, “tahun lepas” and “tahun lalu” both mean “last year” and are interchangeable in everyday speech.

• Malaysia: You’ll hear “tahun lepas” more often.
• Indonesia: You’ll hear “tahun lalu” more often.

Grammatically, both are fine in standard Malay, and you can safely use either.

Why is there no past tense marker like “sudah” or “telah” in the sentence?

Malay doesn’t mark tense with verb changes like English does. Instead, it relies on:

• Time expressions: “tahun lepas” (“last year”) already shows the action is in the past.
• Optional aspect words like “sudah” and “telah” (“already / has / had”).

You could say:

• Tahun lepas telah berlaku kebakaran kecil…
• Tahun lepas sudah berlaku kebakaran kecil…

These sound a bit more formal or slightly more emphatic, but the original sentence is already complete and natural without them.

What does “berlaku” mean here, and why is the word order “berlaku kebakaran kecil” instead of “kebakaran kecil berlaku”?

“berlaku” means “to happen / to occur / to take place”.

• berlaku = to happen
• kebakaran kecil = a small fire

So “berlaku kebakaran kecil” literally feels like “(there) happened a small fire”.

Both word orders are possible:

• berlaku kebakaran kecil di hutan itu
• kebakaran kecil berlaku di hutan itu

They mean the same thing. Differences:

• “berlaku kebakaran kecil…” is very common in news-style or narrative Malay. It puts focus on the event happening.
• “kebakaran kecil berlaku…” is also correct, a bit closer to English structure (“a small fire occurred”).

In everyday use, you will see both, especially in written reports.

What exactly is “kebakaran kecil”? Why isn’t it “sedikit kebakaran”?

“kebakaran kecil” means “a small fire / a minor fire”.

Breakdown:

• api = fire (the element, flame)
• kebakaran = a fire as an event (a fire incident; usually unwanted)
• kecil = small

So:

• kebakaran kecil = a minor fire (not very big or serious)

Why not “sedikit kebakaran”?

• “sedikit” means “a little / a bit”, and is not normally used to size a fire event.
• “sedikit kebakaran” would sound odd; it’s not idiomatic.

To talk about the size or severity of a fire, Malay normally uses adjectives like:

• kebakaran kecil – small fire
• kebakaran besar – big fire
• kebakaran serius / teruk – serious / severe fire

What does “di hutan itu” mean, and what’s the function of “itu” here?

“di hutan itu” means “in that forest” or “in the forest” (that has been mentioned or is known).

Breakdown:

• di = at / in / on (location marker)
• hutan = forest
• itu = that

“itu” in this kind of sentence often works like the English “the” when referring to a specific thing:

• hutan itu = that forest / the forest (that both speaker and listener know about)

So the sentence assumes both speaker and listener know which forest is meant (maybe it was already mentioned, or it’s the only forest nearby, etc.).

Could you say “di dalam hutan itu” instead of “di hutan itu”? Would it change the meaning?

Yes, you can say “di dalam hutan itu”, and the meaning is very similar:

• di hutan itu = in that forest / at that forest area (more general)
• di dalam hutan itu = inside that forest (a bit more explicitly “inside”)

“di dalam” emphasizes being inside the forest, not just at the area of the forest.

In many contexts, especially in narratives, both will be understood the same. The original “di hutan itu” is already natural and sufficient.

What does “bomba” mean? Is it singular or plural?

In Malaysian usage, “bomba” usually refers to the fire department or fire and rescue services, and by extension firefighters.

In this sentence:

• bomba datang ≈ “the fire brigade came” / “the firefighters came”.

Malay generally does not mark singular/plural on the noun:

• bomba = firefighter / firefighters / the fire department (depending on context)

If you really need to specify:

• anggota bomba = fire service personnel / individual firefighters
• pihak bomba = the fire department (as an institution)

But in everyday sentences like this, “bomba” on its own is completely normal.

Is “bomba” used in Indonesia too?

Normally no, not in the same way.

• Malaysia / Brunei: bomba is the common word (e.g. Balai Bomba = fire station).
• Indonesia: Common terms are “pemadam kebakaran”, “damkar” (short for pemadam kebakaran), or “petugas pemadam kebakaran” for the firefighters.

So, this sentence is clearly in Malaysian Malay style because of the word “bomba”.

What does “datang dengan siren yang kuat” literally mean?

Literally:

• datang = came
• dengan = with
• siren = siren
• yang kuat = that is strong → (in this context) loud

So “bomba datang dengan siren yang kuat” ≈

“the fire brigade came with sirens that were loud”
or more natural English: “the fire brigade arrived with loud sirens”.

In Malay, “kuat” is often used for sound, meaning loud / strong-sounding.

Why is “kuat” used to mean “loud”? Isn’t “kuat” “strong”?

Yes, “kuat” primarily means “strong”, but in Malay it also commonly means “loud” when describing sound:

• bunyi yang kuat = a loud sound
• muzik kuat sangat = the music is too loud
• siren yang kuat = a loud siren

So, the idea is strength of the sound, which in English we express as “loud”. This is a very normal and natural usage in Malay.

What is “yang” doing in “siren yang kuat”?

“yang” introduces a descriptive clause or phrase about a noun.

In “siren yang kuat”:

• siren = siren
• yang kuat = that is strong/loud

Together: “siren yang kuat” = “siren that [are] loud” → “loud sirens”.

Function of “yang” here:

• It links the noun “siren” to its description “kuat”.
• This is similar to a very short relative clause: “siren that are loud”.

You’ll often see this pattern:

• rumah yang besar = the house that is big → big house
• orang yang baik = the person who is kind → kind person
• suara yang merdu = the voice that is melodious → melodious voice

Why is there a comma before “dan” in “… di hutan itu, dan bomba datang …”? Is that normal?

Yes, it’s acceptable and quite common, especially in writing that wants to mark a clearer pause.

The sentence has two main clauses:

1. Tahun lepas berlaku kebakaran kecil di hutan itu,
2. dan bomba datang dengan siren yang kuat.

You can write it with or without the comma:

• Tahun lepas berlaku kebakaran kecil di hutan itu dan bomba datang dengan siren yang kuat.
• Tahun lepas berlaku kebakaran kecil di hutan itu, dan bomba datang dengan siren yang kuat.

Both are grammatically fine. The comma simply makes the separation between the two events a bit clearer.

Is the subject missing in “berlaku kebakaran kecil di hutan itu”? How is that allowed?

From an English perspective, it feels like there is “no subject”, but in Malay this is completely normal.

You can think of it as:

• (Telah) berlaku kebakaran kecil di hutan itu.
  ≈ “(There) occurred a small fire in that forest.”

Malay often allows sentences that start with a verb followed by what would be considered the “subject” in English. There’s no need for a dummy subject like “there” or “it”.

So “berlaku kebakaran kecil…” is a very standard way to say “a small fire happened…” without an explicit subject pronoun.

Could I say “Tahun lepas ada kebakaran kecil di hutan itu” instead of “berlaku kebakaran kecil”?

Yes, you can.

• Tahun lepas ada kebakaran kecil di hutan itu…

This is also natural and commonly used, especially in more casual speech. Subtle differences:

• berlaku kebakaran kecil – sounds a bit more formal / report-like, like in news, official reports, or written narratives.
• ada kebakaran kecil – sounds a bit more informal / conversational, like “there was a small fire”.

Both are correct; the original just uses a slightly more neutral-to-formal style with “berlaku”.