Learn Hardcore Malay: Kamus kecil itu saya beli daripada jurujual yang sama minggu lalu. - I bought that small dictionary from the same salesperson last week.

Saya beli kamus kecil itu daripada jurujual yang sama minggu lalu.
= Neutral order, like English: I bought that small dictionary…
Kamus kecil itu saya beli daripada jurujual yang sama minggu lalu.
= The object (kamus kecil itu) is moved to the front.

Putting the object first is common and natural in Malay. It:

Topicalizes or emphasizes the object:
As for that small dictionary, I bought it from the same salesperson last week.
Sounds a bit more story-like, explanatory, or sometimes more formal/written.

So it’s not wrong; it just highlights “that small dictionary” as the topic of the sentence.

What exactly does “itu” do in “kamus kecil itu”? Why is it after the noun?

Itu is a demonstrative meaning “that”.

In Malay, demonstratives (like “this/that”) usually come after the noun phrase:

kamus itu = that dictionary
kamus kecil itu = that small dictionary
buku baru ini = this new book

So:

kamus = dictionary
kec il = small
kamus kecil = small dictionary
kamus kecil itu = that small dictionary (a specific one already known in context)

Putting itu after the noun phrase is the normal Malay pattern.

Why is the adjective “kecil” after “kamus” and not before it, like in English (small dictionary)?

In Malay, adjectives normally come after the noun:

kamus kecil = small dictionary
kereta merah = red car
budak pandai = clever child

So the structure is typically:

Noun + Adjective

If you put the adjective before the noun (kecil kamus), it will sound wrong or very unnatural in standard Malay.

There is no word for “bought” in the past tense. How does the sentence show that the action happened in the past?

Malay verbs usually do not change form for tense. The verb beli is used for buy/buys/bought.

Past time is indicated by time expressions or sometimes by context:

minggu lalu = last week
tadi = a moment ago
semalam = yesterday
sudah / telah = already (often used to emphasize completion)

Here, minggu lalu tells us that the action happened in the past, so saya beli is understood as “I bought”, not I buy.

You could also say:

Saya sudah beli kamus kecil itu minggu lalu.
= I already bought that small dictionary last week.

But sudah / telah are optional when the time is already clear.

What is the difference between “dari” and “daripada”? Why is “daripada” used here?

Both dari and daripada can translate as “from”, but they are used differently in standard Malay:

dari – mainly for places, time, direction, origin
- dari rumah = from home
- dari pagi = since morning
daripada – mainly for people, comparisons, sources, abstract origin
- daripada jurujual = from the salesperson
- lebih besar daripada itu = bigger than that

In daripada jurujual yang sama:

The source is a person (jurujual = salesperson),
so standard Malay prefers daripada.

In everyday speech, many people use dari for almost everything, but daripada is the more careful/standard choice with people.

What does “jurujual” mean exactly? Is it more like “salesperson”, “vendor”, or “cashier”?

Jurujual literally comes from:

juru- = a prefix meaning specialist / person who does X
jual = to sell

So jurujual means “salesperson / sales assistant / seller”, someone whose job is to sell things (in a shop, at a counter, etc.).

It doesn’t specifically mean cashier (that would be juruwang: juru + wang “money”), although in a small shop the same person might do both jobs.

What does “yang sama” mean here, and why do we need “yang” before “sama”?

In daripada jurujual yang sama:

jurujual = salesperson
sama = same
yang = a marker that introduces a relative clause or modifies the noun

Literally, it is like saying:

the salesperson who is the same

But in natural English we say:

the same salesperson

In Malay, you usually use yang when an adjective or description comes after a noun in a more “descriptive phrase” like a relative clause:

orang yang sama = the same person
rumah yang besar = the house that is big / the big house
jurujual yang ramah = the friendly salesperson

So yang sama is “the one that is the same”.
You can also say jurujual sama in some colloquial contexts, but jurujual yang sama is clearer and more standard.

Does “sama” here mean “together/with” like in “bersama” or “sama saya”?

No. Sama has several meanings depending on context:

same
- orang yang sama = the same person
- jurujual yang sama = the same salesperson
together / with (usually in informal speech or as part of bersama)
- Dia pergi sama saya. (colloquial) = He went with me.
- Dia pergi bersama saya. = He went together with me.

In jurujual yang sama, sama clearly means “same”. It has nothing to do with “together” here.

Can I leave out “itu” and just say “Kamus kecil saya beli daripada jurujual yang sama minggu lalu”?

Yes, you can, but the meaning changes slightly:

Kamus kecil itu saya beli…
= I bought *that small dictionary…*
Refers to a specific dictionary, already known in the context (definite).
Kamus kecil saya beli…
= I bought a small dictionary… (more like introducing it, less clearly “that one we’ve already mentioned”).

So:

With itu → the listener is expected to know which dictionary.
Without itu → it is just “a small dictionary” (more general or new in the conversation).

Is “Kamus kecil itu saya beli…” a passive sentence in Malay?

Grammatically, this is still an active sentence:

saya beli = I buy / I bought
The subject saya is still doing the action.

What has changed is just the word order: the object (kamus kecil itu) is moved to the front to be the topic.

A more clearly passive version would be:

Kamus kecil itu dibeli oleh saya daripada jurujual yang sama minggu lalu.
= That small dictionary was bought by me…

Here, dibeli is the passive form (di- prefix) and oleh saya = by me.

So:

Kamus kecil itu saya beli… → active verb + topicalized object
Kamus kecil itu dibeli oleh saya… → passive verb form

Is “Kamus kecil itu saya beli…” more formal, or is it also common in everyday speech?

Object-fronting like this is very common and natural in both:

Everyday speech
Written Malay (especially storytelling, explanations, narratives)

You will hear forms like:

Buku itu saya belum baca. = I haven’t read that book.
Kereta itu kami beli tahun lepas. = We bought that car last year.

The fully neutral word order (Saya beli kamus kecil itu…) is also fine.
Which one you use often depends on what you want to emphasize or mention first.

What does “minggu lalu” mean exactly, and are there other ways to say “last week”?

Minggu lalu = last week.

Breakdown:

minggu = week
lalu = past / ago / last (in time expressions)

Common alternatives:

minggu lepas – also “last week”, very common in Malaysia.
minggu yang lalu – more formal or careful, literally “the week that has passed”.

All of these are understandable; minggu lalu and minggu lepas are the most common.

Could the whole sentence be reordered as “Saya beli kamus kecil itu daripada jurujual yang sama minggu lalu” and mean the same thing?

Yes. That version is perfectly correct and natural:

Saya beli kamus kecil itu daripada jurujual yang sama minggu lalu.

Both sentences mean the same basic thing:

Kamus kecil itu saya beli… → Emphasizes / topicalizes that small dictionary.
Saya beli kamus kecil itu… → Neutral subject–verb–object order, just like English.

Meaning: I bought that small dictionary from the same salesperson last week in both cases. The difference is mainly in focus and flow, not in factual content.