Kamus itu saya guna setiap hari untuk mencari perkataan baru.

I use that dictionary every day to look up new words.

Breakdown of Kamus itu saya guna setiap hari untuk mencari perkataan baru.

• saya: I
• itu: that
• setiap: every
• baru: new
• untuk: to
• hari: the day
• guna: to use
• kamus: the dictionary
• mencari: to look up
• perkataan: the word

Questions & Answers about Kamus itu saya guna setiap hari untuk mencari perkataan baru.

Why is the sentence “Kamus itu saya guna…” and not “Saya guna kamus itu…”? Which one is correct?

Both are correct; the difference is mainly in emphasis and style.

• Saya guna kamus itu setiap hari…
  → Neutral order, like English: “I use that dictionary every day…”
  Subject (saya) + verb (guna) + object (kamus itu).

• Kamus itu saya guna setiap hari…
  → The object (kamus itu) is moved to the front to highlight or “topicalize” it:
  “That dictionary, I use (it) every day…”
  This structure is common and natural in Malay, especially in speech and informal writing, when you want to emphasize the dictionary.

So:

• Both are grammatical.
• Fronted object = more focus on kamus itu than on saya or guna.

What exactly does “itu” in “kamus itu” mean? Is it “that” or “the”?

Itu literally means “that”, but in context it often works like “the” in English.

• kamus itu can be:
  • “that dictionary” (a specific one, maybe farther away or already known in context), or
  • “the dictionary” (when there is a clear, specific dictionary both speaker and listener know about).

Malay doesn’t have a separate word for “the”, so itu often fills that role when pointing to a specific noun.

Why is “guna” used instead of “menggunakan”? Are they different?

Guna and menggunakan both relate to the idea of “use,” but they differ in formality and nuance:

• guna

  • Base verb: “to use.”
  • Common in informal or neutral speech.
  • Short and widely understood.

• menggunakan

  • MeN- verb form from guna.
  • More formal or bookish.
  • Often used in writing, formal speech, instructions, etc.

In this sentence:

• Kamus itu saya guna setiap hari… → natural, conversational.
• Kamus itu saya menggunakan setiap hari… → grammatical but sounds more formal and a bit stiff in everyday conversation.

In normal speech, guna is completely fine and very common.

Do I need an object marker like “it” after “guna”, as in “I use it”?

No. In Malay you usually don’t repeat the object with a pronoun if the noun is already mentioned.

• Kamus itu saya guna setiap hari.
  Literally: “That dictionary I use every day.”
  There is no extra “it,” because kamus itu is already the object.

You would not say:

• ✗ Kamus itu saya guna ia setiap hari.

The fronted kamus itu is enough; Malay doesn’t need an additional “it.”

Where can I put “setiap hari” in the sentence? Can it move?

Yes, setiap hari (“every day”) is fairly flexible:

All of these are grammatical:

1. Kamus itu saya guna setiap hari untuk mencari perkataan baru.
2. Kamus itu saya guna untuk mencari perkataan baru setiap hari.
3. Saya guna kamus itu setiap hari untuk mencari perkataan baru.
4. Setiap hari saya guna kamus itu untuk mencari perkataan baru.

Differences:

• Placing setiap hari near guna stresses how often you use it.
• Placing setiap hari at the beginning (Setiap hari saya…) emphasizes the regularity/time first.

All remain natural; Malay allows some freedom in adverb placement, as long as it’s not confusing.

What is the function of “untuk” in “untuk mencari perkataan baru”?

Untuk is a preposition meaning “for” or a marker similar to “to (do something)” when indicating purpose.

• untuk mencari perkataan baru
  → “to look for new words” / “for finding new words”

So the structure is:

• [main clause]: Kamus itu saya guna setiap hari
• [purpose clause]: untuk mencari perkataan baru

You can think of it as:

• “I use that dictionary every day in order to look for new words.”

Why is “mencari” used here and not just “cari”?

Both cari and mencari exist, but:

• cari is the base form (“look for / search”).
• With untuk, you usually see the MeN- form: mencari.

So:

• untuk mencari = “to search / to look for.”

Using untuk cari is understood and sometimes heard in informal speech, but untuk mencari is more standard and natural in most contexts, especially in writing or careful speech.

What is the difference between “perkataan” and “kata”?

Both relate to “word,” but they’re used slightly differently:

• kata

  • Base root meaning “word” or “to say” (depending on context).
  • Appears in compounds and expressions: kata kerja (verb), kata nama (noun), kata adjektif (adjective).
  • Also used in reported speech structures: Dia kata… (“he/she said…”).

• perkataan

  • More explicitly means “word (as a unit of vocabulary)”.
  • From prefix per-
    • root kata
      • suffix -an.
  • Often used when talking about vocabulary items, spelling, meanings, etc.

In this sentence:

• mencari perkataan baru = “looking for new words (new vocabulary items)”

If you said mencari kata baru, it would be understood, but perkataan baru is more standard and common when referring to “new vocabulary.”

Does “baru” here mean “brand new” or “recent”?

Baru can mean:

1. New (not old, not previously known):

   • perkataan baru → “new words / new vocabulary (to me).”

2. Just / recently when used as an adverb:

   • Saya baru makan. → “I just ate.”

In this sentence, baru is an adjective describing perkataan:

• perkataan baru → “new words” (words that you didn’t know before, or that you’re newly learning).

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral?

The sentence is neutral and natural, leaning slightly informal because of guna instead of menggunakan and the relaxed word order.

• Suitable for:
  • Everyday conversation
  • Informal writing (messages, personal notes)
  • Neutral speech

For more formal writing, you might see something like:

• Saya menggunakan kamus itu setiap hari untuk mencari perkataan baharu.

Here you have:

• menggunakan (more formal),
• baharu (formal spelling variant of baru in some official contexts),
• and the standard SVO order.

Could I drop “saya” and just say “Kamus itu guna setiap hari…”?

No, you generally need the subject pronoun saya here.

• Kamus itu saya guna setiap hari…
  → Clear: “That dictionary, I use (it) every day.”

• ✗ Kamus itu guna setiap hari…
  → Sounds incomplete or ungrammatical in standard Malay.
  It feels like the subject is missing: “That dictionary uses every day…” (nonsense).

Malay can omit pronouns sometimes when context is extremely clear, but in this kind of sentence, you normally keep saya (or another subject like dia, kami, etc.).

Could I say “Kamus itu saya gunakan setiap hari…”? What’s the difference from “guna”?

Yes, you can:

• Kamus itu saya guna setiap hari…
  → Casual, neutral, very common in speech.

• Kamus itu saya gunakan setiap hari…
  → Also correct; sounds a bit more formal or careful.
  The suffix -kan here doesn’t change the core meaning much; it just creates a different verb form gunakan.

In everyday conversation, people usually stick with guna.
Gunakan is more likely in:

• formal writing,
• instructions, e.g., Sila gunakan kamus ini. (“Please use this dictionary.”)

Is “Kamus itu saya guna setiap hari untuk mencari perkataan baru.” a complete sentence in Malay?

Yes, it’s a fully complete and natural sentence. Its structure is:

• Topic / object (fronted): Kamus itu
• Subject: saya
• Verb: guna
• Time expression: setiap hari
• Purpose phrase: untuk mencari perkataan baru

Altogether:
“Kamus itu saya guna setiap hari untuk mencari perkataan baru.”
= “I use that dictionary every day to look for new words.”