Muzik itu sangat rancak.

That music is very upbeat.

Breakdown of Muzik itu sangat rancak.

• adalah: to be
• itu: that
• muzik: the music
• sangat: very

Questions & Answers about Muzik itu sangat rancak.

Why is there no word for is in this sentence?

In Malay, you often do not need a verb like is/are when linking a subject to an adjective.

So:

• Muzik itu sangat rancak = That music is very lively/upbeat

Malay can simply put the noun phrase and the adjective phrase together without a copula verb in many everyday sentences.

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What does itu mean here?

Itu usually means that.

In muzik itu, it points to a specific piece of music that both speaker and listener can identify:

• muzik itu = that music

A very important pattern in Malay is that demonstratives like ini and itu usually come after the noun:

• muzik ini = this music
• muzik itu = that music

This is different from English, where this/that comes before the noun.

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Why does itu come after muzik instead of before it?

Because that is the normal Malay word order for demonstratives.

Malay uses:

• noun + ini
• noun + itu

So:

• buku itu =