Learn Hardcore Malay: Kejutan itu membuat guru tersenyum dan hampir menangis. - That surprise makes the teacher smile and almost cry.

Malay has no separate words for a and the, so itu often makes a noun definite (specific, known) the way the does in English. In the sentence, kejutan itu suggests a specific surprise that both speaker and listener already know about, or that has just been mentioned in the context.

Why is the subject kejutan itu placed at the beginning? Could I start with guru instead?

Malay normally uses Subject–Verb–Object order, so kejutan itu is the subject and naturally appears first. The structure is:

Kejutan itu (subject)
membuat (verb)
guru (object / affected person)
tersenyum dan hampir menangis (what happened to the teacher)

You could say something like Guru itu tersenyum dan hampir menangis kerana kejutan itu (The teacher smiled and almost cried because of the surprise), but that is a slightly different structure and meaning: now guru itu is the subject, and the surprise is given as a reason using kerana. The original sentence focuses on the surprise as the cause.

How does membuat work here? Does it literally mean to make, like in English?

Yes. In this context, membuat works like English to make (someone) do something. The pattern is:

membuat + person + verb/adjective

So:

membuat guru tersenyum ≈ made the teacher smile
membuat saya gembira ≈ made me happy

Here, the guru is not doing the main action of the sentence; they are the person being caused to smile and almost cry by kejutan itu.

Why is there no preposition (like to) before guru? Why not membuat kepada guru?

In Malay, when you use membuat in the sense of to make / cause, the person affected normally appears directly after the verb without a preposition:

membuat dia marah – made him/her angry
membuat saya tersenyum – made me smile

So guru is simply the direct object of membuat. Using a preposition like kepada here would be incorrect, because kepada is used with certain verbs like beri kepada (give to), cakap kepada (talk to), but not with this causative use of membuat.

What is the role of ter- in tersenyum? How is it different from senyum or tersenyum vs bersenyum?

The base word is senyum (smile), which can be a noun or root. Tersenyum is a common verb form that means to smile or smiling.

In general, ter- has several functions in Malay (accidental, stative, superlative), but with some verbs like tersenyum, it is lexicalized – it is simply the normal way to say smile in many contexts. You may also see bersenyum, which also means to smile; the difference is subtle and often stylistic. In sentences like this, tersenyum is very natural and common, and you can read guru tersenyum as the teacher smiled / was smiling.

Why is it hampir menangis and not something like menangis hampir? Where does hampir usually go?

Hampir means almost / nearly, and it normally comes before the verb or phrase it modifies. So:

hampir menangis – almost cried
hampir jatuh – almost fell
hampir setiap hari – almost every day

Putting hampir after the verb (menangis hampir) would sound unnatural or wrong. In the sentence, hampir modifies menangis, showing that the teacher did not actually cry, but came close to crying.

Does hampir menangis mean the teacher did not cry at all, or could it include crying a little?

Literally, hampir menangis means almost cried and usually implies that the crying did not quite happen. It suggests strong emotion, on the verge of tears.

However, in natural usage, people sometimes use hampir menangis a bit loosely, especially in speech or storytelling, to mean so emotional that tears were very close, maybe just starting. The safe, literal interpretation is: the teacher came very close to crying, but did not fully cry.

Why isn’t the subject guru repeated before hampir menangis? How do we know who is almost crying?

Malay often avoids repeating the same subject when listing multiple actions. Here the pattern is:

membuat guru
- tersenyum
- dan hampir menangis

The understood subject for both tersenyum and hampir menangis is guru. This is like English made the teacher smile and almost cry, where you also do not repeat the teacher before almost cry. The context tells you that both verbs refer to the same person.

There is no word for did or made in the past tense here. How do we know this sentence is about the past?

Malay usually does not mark tense using verb changes (no -ed, no separate past form). Membuat is the same form whether the action is past, present, or future. Time is understood from context or from time expressions like tadi (earlier), semalam (last night), akan (will), etc.

In many narrative or story contexts, a simple sentence like Kejutan itu membuat guru tersenyum dan hampir menangis will naturally be understood as happening in the past, similar to how English sometimes uses the historical present in storytelling.

Could we say Kejutan itu membuat guru itu tersenyum instead? What is the difference between guru and guru itu here?

Yes, you could say Kejutan itu membuat guru itu tersenyum dan hampir menangis. That would mean That surprise made the teacher smile and almost cry, with the teacher also clearly marked as specific/known.

In the original sentence, kejutan itu is definite (that particular surprise), but guru is generic or understood from context (the teacher involved in this situation). Malay often drops itu when the identity of the person is already clear in the broader context. Adding itu to guru makes it more explicitly that teacher or the teacher, which can sound a bit more formal or more specific.

Is membuat the only option? How is it different from menjadikan or membikin?

In this sentence, membuat is very natural and neutral. Other options:

menjadikan – often means to turn (something) into (something) or to make X become Y; sounds a bit more formal or structural: kejutan itu menjadikan guru itu tersenyum is possible but less usual for emotions.
membikin – colloquial/informal version of membuat, common in speech and some dialects: bikin in Indonesian/informal Malay.

For emotional or psychological effects on a person, membuat is the most common and neutral choice in standard Malay:
Kejutan itu membuat guru tersenyum dan hampir menangis.

Could the sentence start with Guru itu instead of Kejutan itu while keeping the same basic meaning?

Yes, but the structure would normally change slightly. A common alternative is:

Guru itu tersenyum dan hampir menangis kerana kejutan itu.

Here the focus shifts:

Original: focuses on the surprise as the cause (The surprise made the teacher…)
Alternative: focuses on the teacher’s reaction (The teacher smiled and almost cried because of the surprise)

Both convey almost the same overall situation, but the emphasis and grammar differ.