Anak saudara saya bermain permainan papan dengan keluarga saya di ruang tamu.

My niece/nephew plays board games with my family in the living room.

Breakdown of Anak saudara saya bermain permainan papan dengan keluarga saya di ruang tamu.

• di: in
• dengan: with
• keluarga: the family
• saya: my
• bermain: to play
• ruang tamu: the living room
• permainan papan: the board game
• anak saudara: the niece/nephew

Questions & Answers about Anak saudara saya bermain permainan papan dengan keluarga saya di ruang tamu.

What exactly does anak saudara saya mean? Is it niece, nephew, or something else?

Anak saudara saya literally means “my sibling’s child”.

• anak = child
• saudara = sibling / relative
• saya = my / I

In standard Malay, anak saudara is used for both niece and nephew.
The word itself does not show gender.

If you want to be more specific, you can say:

• anak saudara lelaki saya = my nephew (male)
• anak saudara perempuan saya = my niece (female)

Why is saya placed after the noun (anak saudara saya, keluarga saya) instead of before it like in English?

In Malay, possessive pronouns normally come after the noun:

• anak saudara saya = my niece/nephew
• keluarga saya = my family
• buku saya = my book

The pattern is:
[noun] + [possessor]

So instead of saying my family, Malay says family my (keluarga saya).
This is the usual and most natural word order in Malay.

How do I know what tense bermain is? Does it mean “is playing”, “plays”, or “played”?

The verb bermain itself has no tense. Malay verbs generally don’t change form for tense.

bermain just means “to play / playing”.

The exact time is understood from context or from time words, for example:

• Anak saudara saya bermain permainan papan…
  → can mean “plays” (habitually) or “is playing” (right now)
• Tadi, anak saudara saya bermain permainan papan…
  → “Earlier, my niece/nephew played board games…”
• Esok, anak saudara saya akan bermain permainan papan…
  → “Tomorrow, my niece/nephew will play board games…”

So your original sentence can naturally be translated as either:

• “My niece/nephew is playing board games…” (now)
  or
• “My niece/nephew plays board games…” (in general)

depending on the context.

Isn’t bermain permainan papan like saying “play playing board games”? Why use both bermain and permainan?

It looks repetitive to an English speaker, but it’s normal in Malay.

• main = to play (root verb)
• bermain = to play (verb with ber-)
• permainan = game / games (noun, formed with per‑ ‑an)
• permainan papan = board game(s)

So bermain permainan papan is literally “play board games”, not “play playing board games”.

The pattern is simply:

• bermain (to play) + permainan papan (board games)

What’s the difference between permainan papan and papan permainan? Are both correct?

Both word orders are technically possible, but they don’t feel equally natural here.

• permainan papan

  • Literally: game(s) [of] board
  • Idiomatic meaning: board game(s)
  • This is the normal, natural way to say board games.

• papan permainan

  • Literally: board [for] games
  • This sounds more like a game board (the physical board) rather than “board games” as an activity.

In your sentence, permainan papan is the best and most common choice.

Can I drop the second saya and just say dengan keluarga? Will it still mean “with my family”?

You can say dengan keluarga instead of dengan keluarga saya, and in many real situations people would understand it as “with my family” from context.

However:

• dengan keluarga saya = clearly “with my family”
• dengan keluarga = “with (the) family / with a family”, whose family is not specified

So:

• If you’re just making an example sentence or you want to be clear, dengan keluarga saya is better.
• In a longer conversation where it’s obvious you’re talking about your family, people often shorten it to dengan keluarga.

What’s the difference between dengan keluarga saya and bersama keluarga saya?

Both are often translated as “with my family”, but they have slightly different flavours:

• dengan keluarga saya

  • dengan = with
  • Very common, neutral, used everywhere.
  • Focus is just on being with someone.

• bersama keluarga saya

  • bersama = together with
  • Slightly more formal or “nice-sounding”.
  • Emphasises a sense of togetherness.

In your sentence, both are fine:

• … bermain permainan papan dengan keluarga saya …
• … bermain permainan papan bersama keluarga saya …

They are both correct and natural.

What does ruang tamu literally mean? Why does it mean “living room”?

Breakdown:

• ruang = space / area / room
• tamu = guest

So ruang tamu literally means “guest room / guest area”.

Culturally, this is the part of the house where guests are received and entertained, which corresponds to what English calls the living room. That’s why ruang tamu is normally translated as “living room”.

You generally don’t say just tamu for the room; tamu by itself is “guest”, not “living room”.

Why is di ruang tamu put at the end of the sentence? Can it go earlier?

The word order in your sentence is:

• Anak saudara saya (subject)
• bermain (verb)
• permainan papan (object)
• dengan keluarga saya (prepositional phrase: with whom)
• di ruang tamu (prepositional phrase: where)

This is a very natural order in Malay: S – V – O – [extra info].

You can move di ruang tamu earlier, especially if you want to emphasise the place:

• Di ruang tamu, anak saudara saya bermain permainan papan dengan keluarga saya.
  = In the living room, my niece/nephew is playing board games with my family.

That sounds like you are focusing on “in the living room”.

The original version, with di ruang tamu at the end, is the most neutral word order.

How would the sentence change if there were more than one niece/nephew? Do I need to mark plurals?

Malay does not have to mark plurals the way English does. Often, context alone tells you if it’s one or many.

Your original sentence:

• Anak saudara saya bermain permainan papan…
  could be understood as:
  • “My niece/nephew is playing…” (singular) or
  • “My nieces/nephews are playing…” (plural)

If you want to make the plural clear, you can:

1. Use a plural marker like para:

   • Para anak saudara saya bermain permainan papan…
     = My nieces and nephews are playing board games…

2. Repeat the noun:

   • Anak-anak saudara saya bermain permainan papan…
     = My nieces/nephews are playing board games…

Both are grammatical; anak-anak saudara saya is very common in everyday speech to show plurality.

Could I use aku instead of saya here? Would anything else in the sentence need to change?

You can use aku, but you should only do so in informal situations with people you are close to (friends, siblings, etc.).

If you switch to aku, you also normally change possessive saya → aku:

• Anak saudara aku bermain permainan papan dengan keluarga aku di ruang tamu.

Changes:

• saya (neutral / polite “I, my”) → aku (informal “I, my”)
• keluarga saya → keluarga aku

It would sound strange to mix them (e.g. aku with keluarga saya) in the same sentence in casual speech.