Learn Hardcore Malay: Filem sejarah itu adakah awak sudah tonton?

Malay word order is quite flexible. Putting “Filem sejarah itu” at the start is a way to emphasize the topic of the sentence: “That history movie, have you already watched (it)?”

You could also say:

Adakah awak sudah tonton filem sejarah itu?
Awak sudah tonton filem sejarah itu?

All are grammatically correct. The original sentence simply fronts the object (the movie) to highlight it. This sounds slightly more formal or “written” than everyday speech.

What exactly does “adakah” mean, and is it necessary?

“Adakah” is a formal question marker used mainly in yes/no questions. It roughly corresponds to putting the auxiliary first in English:

Adakah awak sudah tonton…? ≈ Have you already watched…? / Did you watch…?

Functionally, “adakah”:

Marks the sentence as a question.
Adds a formal or careful tone (often written language, official speech, or careful polite speech).

It is not necessary in everyday conversation. More natural spoken versions would be:

Awak dah tengok filem sejarah itu?
Dah tengok filem sejarah tu?

So “adakah” is grammatical and polite, but often sounds formal or bookish in casual speech.

What is the role of “sudah” here? Is it like English present perfect (“have watched”)?

“Sudah” literally means “already”, and it indicates that an action is completed.

In this sentence:

sudah tonton ≈ have already watched / already watched

Malay doesn’t have tense endings like English. Instead, words like sudah (already), belum (not yet), akan (will), sedang (in the middle of) add time/aspect meaning.

Compare:

Awak tonton filem sejarah itu?
– Very bare: You watch that history movie? (context needed to know when)
Awak sudah tonton filem sejarah itu?
– Have you already watched that history movie? (completed action)

In speech, “sudah” is very often shortened to “dah”:

Awak dah tengok filem sejarah tu?

Why is it “tonton” and not “menonton”? Aren’t Malay verbs usually with meN-?

Both “tonton” and “menonton” are correct.

tonton – base verb (to watch), very common, especially in conversation.
menonton – derived verb (to watch), slightly more formal or complete-looking.

You could say:

Filem sejarah itu adakah awak sudah tonton?
Filem sejarah itu adakah awak sudah menonton?

They mean the same thing. Using the base form tonton without meN- is very common with many verbs, especially in:

Informal speech
After auxiliaries such as sudah, belum, nak, mau, boleh, etc.

Example:

Saya nak makan. (not memakan in casual speech)
Dia belum baca buku itu. (not membaca in casual speech)

What does “awak” mean exactly, and how polite is it?

“Awak” is a 2nd person singular pronoun meaning “you”.

Politeness/usage:

Neutral and common in friendly or semi-formal situations.
Often used between people who are not very far apart in age or social status.
In some regions it can sound slightly intimate or affectionate, but in general it’s just a normal “you”.

Alternatives:

kamu – also “you”, often used to groups (plural) or to someone younger / juniors.
anda – more formal, distant, polite, common in public notices, customer-facing language.
encik / puan / cik + name – very polite, like “Mr / Mrs / Miss”.

So you could also say:

Filem sejarah itu adakah anda sudah tonton? (more formal/distant)
Filem sejarah itu kau dah tengok? (very casual; kau is informal “you”)

What does “itu” add to “filem sejarah itu”? Is it “that” or “the”?

“Itu” literally means “that”, but it also works like an article (similar to “the”) indicating something specific/known.

filem sejarah – some history movie (general)
filem sejarah itu – that history movie / the history movie (we both know about)

So “itu” here signals that both speaker and listener know which movie is being referred to—maybe it was mentioned before, is visible, or is otherwise specific.

If the movie were nearer in space or time, you might use “ini” (this):

filem sejarah ini – this history movie

The English translation would have “…have you watched it?”, but in Malay there’s no “it” at the end. Is that okay?

Yes, that’s natural in Malay. The object pronoun is often omitted when it’s clear from context or was already mentioned.

The full, very explicit version would be:

Filem sejarah itu, adakah awak sudah menontonnya?
(that history movie, have you already watched it?)

Here, -nya = it.

But because “filem sejarah itu” is already mentioned at the start of the sentence, Malay can (and usually does) drop a repeated object pronoun:

Filem sejarah itu adakah awak sudah tonton?

It’s understood that the thing you “watched” is that movie. Repetition would sound heavy in many contexts.

Could the sentence be written more “neutral” or textbook-like in word order?

Yes. A very neutral, textbook-style version would be:

Adakah awak sudah menonton filem sejarah itu?

Characteristics:

“Adakah” comes first, clearly marking a yes/no question.
Verb appears in the more “complete” form menonton.
Object filem sejarah itu follows the verb, like English SVO order.

All of these are natural:

Adakah awak sudah menonton filem sejarah itu?
Awak sudah menonton filem sejarah itu?
Filem sejarah itu adakah awak sudah tonton?

They differ mainly in formality and focus/emphasis.

If I just say “Awak sudah tonton filem sejarah itu.”, is it still a question?

In writing, you must keep the question mark to show it’s a question:

Awak sudah tonton filem sejarah itu?

In speech, intonation turns it into a question. With rising intonation at the end, it means:

You’ve already watched that history movie? / Have you already watched that history movie?

Without “adakah”, Malay often relies on:

Question particles (like kah in some styles)
Intonation
Question words (apa, siapa, bila, etc.)

So yes, “Awak sudah tonton filem sejarah itu?” with rising intonation is a perfectly natural everyday question.

Is “filem sejarah” a fixed phrase? Would “filem bersejarah” mean something different?

They’re slightly different:

filem sejarah
– literally “history film”; usually means a film about historical events (genre: historical movie).
filem bersejarah
– literally “historic film”; often means a film that is itself historically significant or important, not necessarily about history.

In many contexts, people do use them interchangeably in casual speech, but strictly:

filem sejarah – content: deals with history.
filem bersejarah – status: considered historic/significant.

Could we shorten this sentence the way natives speak casually?

Very much so. Common casual versions in spoken Malay (especially in Malaysia) would be:

Dah tengok filem sejarah tu?
Awak dah tengok filem sejarah tu?
Kau dah tengok filem sejarah tu? (very casual)

Differences from the original:

“sudah” → “dah” (colloquial shortening)
“itu” → “tu” (colloquial pronunciation)
Often drop “adakah” entirely.
Sometimes drop the subject pronoun (“awak/kau”) when context is clear.

The meaning is the same: Have you already watched that history movie?

What is the function of the question mark if we already have “adakah”?

They work together but have different roles:

“adakah” – grammatical marker inside the sentence that signals it’s a yes/no question and adds a formal tone.
“?” – punctuation signal for written language, telling the reader to interpret the sentence as a question.

In writing, you usually:

Keep “adakah” if you want formality/emphasis and
Still use the question mark at the end.

In speech, “adakah” helps mark the question even if the intonation isn’t strongly rising.