Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya menutup tingkap kerana hujan lebat. - I close the window because of the heavy rain.

Saya – polite, neutral; safe in almost all situations (with strangers, at work, in public).
Aku – informal/intimate; used with close friends, siblings, or when talking to yourself.
Other forms (like gua, wa) are slang or dialectal and not standard.

In this sentence, Saya menutup tingkap kerana hujan lebat, using Saya sounds appropriate and polite in most everyday contexts.

What is the difference between tutup and menutup?

Tutup is the root word meaning closed / to close.
Menutup is the active verb form meaning to close (something).

tutup – base form, often used in short commands:
- Tutup tingkap! – Close the window!
menutup – used in full sentences with a subject:
- Saya menutup tingkap. – I close the window / I closed the window.

Grammatically, meN- is a common verb prefix in Malay that turns a root word into an active verb:

baca → membaca (to read)
tulis → menulis (to write)
tutup → menutup (to close)

Why isn’t there a word for the in tingkap or hujan?

Malay does not use articles like the or a/an the way English does.

tingkap can mean a window or the window, depending on context.
hujan can mean rain, the rain, or just it rains / it is raining in context.

In Saya menutup tingkap kerana hujan lebat, you choose the most natural translation in English from context, for example:

I closed the window because it was raining heavily.
I close the window because of the heavy rain.

Malay relies on context instead of articles.

How do I know if this sentence is past, present, or future tense?

From form alone, Saya menutup tingkap kerana hujan lebat is tense-neutral. It could mean:

I close the window because it’s raining heavily. (habitual/present)
I am closing the window because it’s raining heavily. (present)
I closed the window because it was raining heavily. (past)

Malay usually shows time using time words, not verb changes:

Past: tadi, semalam, kelmarin
- Tadi saya menutup tingkap kerana hujan lebat. – I closed the window earlier because it was raining heavily.
Future: nanti, akan, esok
- Nanti saya akan menutup tingkap kalau hujan lebat. – Later I will close the window if it rains heavily.

The basic verb form menutup does not change for tense.

Is the word order the same as English in this sentence?

Yes, mostly.

Malay uses Subject – Verb – Object – (Reason/Time/etc.), similar to English.

Saya (Subject)
menutup (Verb)
tingkap (Object)
kerana hujan lebat (Reason phrase: because of heavy rain)

So Saya menutup tingkap kerana hujan lebat parallels:

I closed the window because of the heavy rain.

The main difference is inside phrases, like hujan lebat (see next question).

In hujan lebat, which word is the adjective, and why is it after the noun?

In hujan lebat:

hujan = rain (noun)
lebat = heavy (adjective)

Malay normally places adjectives after nouns:

baju merah – red shirt (literally: shirt red)
rumah besar – big house (literally: house big)
hujan lebat – heavy rain (literally: rain heavy)

So the natural order is noun + adjective, not the English adjective + noun.

What does kerana mean, and is it the same as sebab?

Kerana means because or due to.

Kerana and sebab both express cause, and often can be swapped:

Saya menutup tingkap kerana hujan lebat.
Saya menutup tingkap sebab hujan lebat.

Differences:

kerana – slightly more formal/neutral; common in writing and polite speech.
sebab – very common in everyday conversation; slightly more casual.

Both are widely understood and used. Your sentence sounds natural with either.

Can I put kerana hujan lebat at the beginning of the sentence?

Yes. You can move the reason to the front:

Kerana hujan lebat, saya menutup tingkap.
– Because of the heavy rain, I close/closed the window.

The meaning is the same; you just change the emphasis slightly (starting with the reason). This word order is common and natural.

How would I make tingkap plural, like windows?

There are a few ways, depending on context:

Use a number or quantifier (most common and natural):
- dua tingkap – two windows
- beberapa tingkap – several windows
- semua tingkap – all the windows
Reduplication (less necessary here, but possible):
- tingkap-tingkap – windows (in general, or many windows)

Often, Malay doesn’t mark plural if it’s obvious:

Saya menutup tingkap could also mean I close the windows if the situation makes that clear.

How would I say I did not close the window because of the heavy rain in Malay? Is there any ambiguity?

The straightforward negative is:

Saya tidak menutup tingkap kerana hujan lebat.

However, this sentence is ambiguous, just like in English:

I didn’t close the window, and the reason is the heavy rain.
I closed the window, but not because of the heavy rain. (less likely reading)

If you want to be very clear that the reason is not the heavy rain, you can say:

Saya menutup tingkap, tetapi bukan kerana hujan lebat.
– I did close the window, but not because of the heavy rain.

If you mean I didn’t close it and the reason was the heavy rain, you can clarify:

Saya tidak menutup tingkap, sebab hujan terlalu lebat.
– I didn’t close the window because the rain was too heavy.

Context and extra wording usually remove ambiguity.

Is Saya menutup tingkap kerana hujan lebat formal, casual, or somewhere in between?

It is neutral and polite, suitable for:

speaking to strangers
talking at work or in class
writing (e.g., in a short story or explanation)

If you want it more casual with friends, you might say:

Aku tutup tingkap sebab hujan lebat.

Here:

Aku (informal I)
tutup (base form instead of menutup)
sebab (more conversational than kerana)

Can Malaysians drop Saya and just say Menutup tingkap kerana hujan lebat?

In a normal statement, you usually keep the subject:

Saya menutup tingkap kerana hujan lebat.

However, in instructions/imperatives, the subject is often dropped:

Tutup tingkap sebab hujan lebat. – Close the window because of the heavy rain.

Without Saya, Menutup tingkap kerana hujan lebat sounds incomplete in standard Malay, unless it’s part of a longer structure (e.g., a clause in a complex sentence). For a simple sentence with I, keep Saya.