Breakdown of Jurujual itu kelihatan sedikit cemas, tetapi pelanggan tetap tersenyum.
Questions & Answers about Jurujual itu kelihatan sedikit cemas, tetapi pelanggan tetap tersenyum.
Itu literally means that, but in Malay it often works like the English the when you’re talking about a specific, known person or thing.
- Jurujual itu can be translated as that salesperson or the salesperson, depending on context.
- If you already know which salesperson you’re talking about (from earlier in the conversation), the salesperson is usually the most natural English translation.
- Without itu, jurujual would sound more like a salesperson in a neutral, non-specific way.
Yes. Jurujual is gender‑neutral.
- It simply means salesperson / sales assistant.
- If you really need to specify gender, you would usually add another word, like jurujual lelaki (male salesperson) or jurujual perempuan (female salesperson).
- In most situations, jurujual alone is enough, and people rely on context.
In this sentence, kelihatan means to appear, to look, or to seem, not to see.
- Jurujual itu kelihatan sedikit cemas = The salesperson looked / seemed a little anxious.
- Grammatically, kelihatan is an intransitive verb that’s often followed by an adjective:
- kelihatan letih – looks tired
- kelihatan marah – seems angry
- For to see, Malay usually uses melihat or nampak (depending on context).
Sedikit normally comes before the adjective when it means a little / a bit in a neutral statement.
- sedikit cemas = a little anxious / slightly anxious
- You can say cemas sedikit, but it often feels more like you’re adding a bit as an afterthought or for emphasis, similar to anxious, a bit.
- In standard, neutral style, sedikit cemas is more common and smoother.
All of these relate to negative emotions, but they’re not identical:
- cemas – anxious, tense, uneasy (often with a sense of nervous worry).
- takut – afraid, scared (more about fear).
- risau – worried, concerned (very common in everyday speech).
- bimbang – worried, apprehensive (slightly more formal or serious).
In this sentence, cemas suggests the salesperson looks nervous / anxious, not exactly terrified (takut).
Tetapi means but / however. It links two contrasting clauses.
- tetapi pelanggan tetap tersenyum = but the customer kept smiling.
- Tetapi is more formal and common in writing or careful speech.
- Tapi is the colloquial (informal) version used heavily in everyday spoken Malay, like but in casual English.
- In writing, especially in more formal contexts, tetapi is preferred.
Here tetap means still / continued to / kept on, with a sense of not changing despite something.
- pelanggan tetap tersenyum ≈ the customer kept smiling / still smiled (even though the salesperson looked anxious).
- Tetap often carries a nuance of remaining the same despite obstacles:
- Dia tetap datang – He still came / he came anyway.
- Masih also means still, but it focuses on something that is still in progress or not yet ended, more neutral:
- Dia masih tidur – He is still sleeping.
- In this sentence, tetap fits better because it contrasts the salesperson’s anxiety with the customer’s unchanging smile.
Senyum is the root meaning smile. With different affixes:
- tersenyum – to smile (intransitive verb); common and natural:
- Dia tersenyum. – He/She smiled.
- bersenyum – also to smile, similar meaning and often interchangeable with tersenyum in everyday use.
- senyum (bare root) – often used as a noun (a smile) or in some fixed phrases:
- senyuman – a smile (more clearly nominal).
The ter- prefix in tersenyum historically can suggest a spontaneous or unintentional action, but in modern usage tersenyum and bersenyum are both standard ways to say smile, with only slight nuance at most.
Yes, you can say Jurujual kelihatan sedikit cemas, and it’s grammatically correct.
- Without itu, it sounds more like you’re talking about a salesperson in general, or introducing this salesperson for the first time.
- With itu, Jurujual itu suggests a specific, identifiable salesperson, probably already known from context.
- So itu mainly adds definiteness / specificity, similar to the difference between a salesperson and the salesperson in English.
Malay typically places adjectives after the noun, not before it (unlike English).
- pelanggan baru – new customer
- kereta besar – big car
For degree words like sedikit, the usual order is:
[verb] + sedikit + [adjective]
→ kelihatan sedikit cemas – looked a little anxious.
So the sequence here (kelihatan → sedikit → cemas) follows standard Malay word order.
Yes, there are natural alternatives with slightly different nuance:
- Jurujual itu nampak sedikit cemas – using nampak instead of kelihatan.
- Nampak is more colloquial / conversational, while kelihatan is a bit more neutral or formal.
- Jurujual itu kelihatan agak cemas – using agak instead of sedikit.
- agak cemas ≈ rather / somewhat anxious; it often feels a bit stronger than sedikit cemas (a little anxious).
All versions are correct; the original is a polite, neutral choice.
The sentence is neutral and works well in both written and spoken Malay.
- Words like jurujual, kelihatan, pelanggan, tetapi, and tersenyum are standard and not slangy.
- In very casual conversation, someone might switch to more informal options, e.g.:
- Jurujual tu nampak sikit cemas, tapi pelanggan tu masih senyum.
- As written, though, it’s perfectly natural for narration, descriptions, or polite speech.