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Saya rasa cinta saya terhadap keluarga saya kuat.

Saya rasa cinta saya terhadap keluarga saya kuat.
I feel my love towards my family is strong.

Breakdown of Saya rasa cinta saya terhadap keluarga saya kuat.

saya
I
adalah
to be
keluarga
the family
rasa
to feel
saya
my
kuat
strong
cinta
the love
terhadap
towards
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Questions & Answers about Saya rasa cinta saya terhadap keluarga saya kuat.

Where is the word is in this sentence? Why is there no verb between keluarga saya and kuat?

Malay normally does not use a separate verb like is / am / are before adjectives or nouns in the present tense.

So:

  • cinta saya terhadap keluarga saya kuat
    literally: my love toward my family strong
    = my love toward my family is strong

The structure is:

  • Subject: cinta saya terhadap keluarga saya
  • Predicate (adjective): kuat

Malay simply puts the adjective after the subject phrase. There is no need to add anything like adalah or a verb meaning to be here.

You would not usually say:

  • ✗ cinta saya terhadap keluarga saya adalah kuat (sounds odd/nonnative in most contexts)

Use adalah mainly to link a subject to a noun phrase, especially in formal writing, not before basic adjectives like kuat.

Why is saya repeated three times? Is that necessary?

The sentence has three saya:

  1. Saya rasa – I feel
  2. cinta saya – my love
  3. keluarga saya – my family

Each saya has a clear job:

  • The first saya is the subject of rasa (the one who feels).
  • The second saya marks who the love belongs to.
  • The third saya marks who the family belongs to.

This is not considered clumsy in Malay; repeating pronouns for clarity is very normal.

You can remove one of them, but the meaning shifts slightly:

  • Saya rasa cinta saya terhadap keluarga kuat.
    → My love toward the family is strong (the family is not explicitly marked as my family).

  • Saya rasa cinta terhadap keluarga saya kuat.
    → The love toward my family is strong (the possessor of the love is less explicit).

So the original sentence is the clearest if you want to stress that:

  • It is my feeling,
  • about my love,
  • toward my family.
Why does saya come after cinta and keluarga instead of before them?

In Malay, possessive pronouns normally come after the noun they modify:

  • cinta saya – my love
  • keluarga saya – my family
  • kereta saya – my car
  • nama saya – my name

Putting saya before the noun, like saya keluarga, is not how possession is normally expressed and would sound wrong in standard Malay (unless you add another structure, such as keluarga saya or keluarga saya ini etc.).

So the normal pattern is:

noun + possessor
keluarga saya, rumah dia, baju mereka, etc.

What exactly does rasa mean here? Is it more like feel or think? Could I use fikir instead? And where is that (as in “I feel that…”)?

In this sentence, rasa means something between feel and feel that / think:

  • Saya rasa …
    ≈ I feel that … / I think … (based on emotion or intuition)

Key points:

  1. rasa:

    • Can mean to feel (emotionally or physically).
    • Can also mean to taste (when about food).
    • In opinion sentences, it is softer and more subjective than fikir.

  2. fikir:

    • More like to think / to reason / to consider.
    • Saya fikir cinta saya … kuat = I think (logically) my love … is strong.
      It is grammatical, but for emotional topics, rasa sounds more natural.

  3. The missing that:

    • English uses that: I feel that my love … is strong.
    • Malay can use bahawa for that, but it is optional and usually more formal:
      • Saya rasa bahawa cinta saya terhadap keluarga saya kuat.
    • In everyday speech and writing, bahawa is usually dropped, as in the original sentence.
What does terhadap mean here? How is it different from kepada or untuk?

terhadap is a preposition that roughly means toward / towards / regarding and is often used for attitudes, feelings, or abstract relationships.

In this sentence:

  • cinta saya terhadap keluarga saya
    = my love toward my family

Differences:

  • terhadap

    • Common with abstract nouns: cinta (love), rasa hormat (respect), sikap (attitude), etc.
    • Feels a bit more formal or abstract.
    • Examples:
      • sikap saya terhadap kerja – my attitude toward work
      • rasa hormat mereka terhadap guru – their respect for the teacher

  • kepada

    • Very general to / toward / to(wards) a person.
    • Often used with people, recipients, directions.
    • You can say cinta saya kepada keluarga saya kuat, and it is still acceptable, just a bit more neutral/less formal.

  • untuk

    • Usually for, about purpose or benefit.
    • Not natural here: ✗ cinta saya untuk keluarga saya kuat sounds wrong.

So terhadap is a good, natural choice for love as an attitude toward someone.

Is cinta the usual word for love toward family, or would sayang or kasih sayang be more natural?

All are possible, but the nuance is different:

  • cinta

    • Strong word for love.
    • Very commonly used for romantic love.
    • Can be used for family in more poetic / emotional / formal contexts.
    • Your sentence sounds quite intense or serious.

  • sayang

    • Everyday word for affection / fondness / to love people close to you, especially family and close friends.
    • Very natural for family:
      • Saya sangat sayang keluarga saya. – I really love my family.

  • kasih sayang

    • A noun phrase meaning affection / tender love, often used for family love.
    • Slightly more formal or emotional tone:
      • Kasih sayang saya terhadap keluarga saya sangat mendalam.

Alternative natural sentences for family context:

  • Saya sangat sayang keluarga saya.
  • Saya rasa kasih sayang saya terhadap keluarga saya kuat.

Your original with cinta is grammatically correct; just be aware it may feel more intense or formal.

Why is kuat at the very end? What does it actually modify?

kuat is an adjective meaning strong. In this sentence, it is the predicate of the clause:

  • cinta saya terhadap keluarga saya kuat

Here:

  • Subject: cinta saya terhadap keluarga saya (my love toward my family)
  • Predicate: kuat (is strong)

Malay word order in such sentences is:

subject phrase + adjective

So kuat comes at the end because it describes the whole subject phrase cinta saya terhadap keluarga saya.

It is not just modifying keluarga; it refers to how strong your love is.

How would I say very strong or really strong here? Where do words like sangat go?

You can modify kuat with degree words that usually go before the adjective:

Common ones:

  • sangat kuat – very strong
  • amat kuat – very strong (more formal)
  • terlalu kuat – too strong
  • begitu kuat – so strong
  • kuat sekali – very strong (literally: strong once/one time; idiomatic)

In your sentence, they go right before kuat (or sometimes after, in the case of sekali):

  • Saya rasa cinta saya terhadap keluarga saya sangat kuat.
  • Saya rasa cinta saya terhadap keluarga saya kuat sekali.
Can I drop Saya rasa and just say the rest? How flexible is this sentence in casual speech?

Yes, you can adjust it in a few ways, especially in casual conversation.

  1. Drop Saya rasa when the context already makes it clear you are stating your own feeling:

    • Cinta saya terhadap keluarga saya kuat.
      → My love toward my family is strong.

  2. Use a shorter, more natural everyday version:

    • Saya sangat sayang keluarga saya.
    • Saya sayang keluarga saya kuat. (more colloquial; some speakers might say this)

  3. In informal speech, subjects are sometimes dropped if obvious, but here it is usually nicer to keep Saya for clarity.

The fully explicit version:

  • Saya rasa cinta saya terhadap keluarga saya kuat.

is good for learners and for slightly more formal or careful speech. In relaxed everyday talk, Malays often shorten and simplify structures once the context is clear.