Syarikat kurier menghubungi gadis itu.

Malay usually uses Subject + Verb + Object word order, just like basic English sentences.

• Syarikat kurier = the subject
• menghubungi = the verb
• gadis itu = the object

So the sentence structure is:

Syarikat kurier + menghubungi + gadis itu
= The courier company + contacted / contacts + the girl

Putting the subject first is the normal, neutral way to say it.

Literally, it is:

• syarikat = company
• kurier = courier

Together, syarikat kurier means courier company.

In Malay, noun + noun combinations like this are very common. The second noun often functions a bit like a classifier or type label, so syarikat kurier means a company of the courier type, or more naturally, a courier company.

Malay does not have articles like a, an, and the in the same way English does.

So:

• syarikat can mean a company or the company
• gadis can mean a girl or the girl

Context usually tells you which one is meant.

In this sentence, gadis itu is clearly definite because of itu, but syarikat kurier has no explicit marker of definiteness. Depending on context, it could mean:

• a courier company
• the courier company

Very often, translations choose the most natural English option based on context.

Itu often means that, but in many sentences it also works a lot like the when referring to a specific, known noun.

So:

• gadis = girl
• gadis itu = that girl / the girl

In this sentence, gadis itu most naturally means the girl if the girl is already identifiable from context.

A key thing for English speakers to notice is that itu comes after the noun:

• gadis itu = that/the girl
• not itu gadis for this meaning

That is the normal Malay pattern for demonstratives like ini and itu when they modify a noun.

• gadis ini = this girl
• gadis itu = that girl

So unlike English, where we say that girl, Malay says literally girl that.

This is very common and important to get used to.

The base word is hubung, which is related to connection/contact.

From that base, Malay forms the verb menghubungi, which means to contact, to get in touch with, or sometimes to call/contact someone depending on context.

So:

• hubung = connection/contact-related root
• menghubungi = to contact someone

Meng- is part of the active verb prefix system in Malay, often called the meN- prefix.

It commonly forms active verbs, especially in formal or standard Malay.

Here:

• root: hubung
• active verb: menghubungi

The prefix changes shape depending on the first sound of the root. That is why learners often see forms like:

• membaca
• menulis
• mengambil
• menghubungi

So meng- here marks the verb as an active action performed by the subject.

In Malay, menghubungi is a transitive verb, so it takes a direct object without a preposition.

That means Malay says:

• menghubungi gadis itu = contact the girl

not:

• menghubungi dengan gadis itu

English sometimes uses expressions like get in touch with, but Malay often uses a direct verb instead.

So the structure is perfectly normal:

subject + menghubungi + object

The -i is part of the verb formation and helps create a transitive verb meaning to do the action in relation to someone/something.

With hubung, the form menghubungi means to contact someone/something.

For learners, the safest thing is to learn menghubungi as a whole vocabulary item meaning to contact.

You do not always need to analyze every affix in detail at first, but it is useful to notice that Malay often builds verbs with combinations like:

• prefix + root + suffix

Here that combination gives a verb that naturally takes an object.

Yes. Malay verbs do not usually change form for tense the way English verbs do.

So menghubungi by itself can mean:

• contacts
• is contacting
• contacted
• has contacted

The time is usually understood from context, or shown with time words such as:

• semalam = yesterday
• tadi = earlier
• sekarang = now
• esok = tomorrow

So this sentence could be interpreted differently depending on context.

Gadis usually means girl or young unmarried woman, depending on context and tone.

In many learner translations, it is simply given as girl, but in real usage it can sometimes overlap with young woman.

Malay nouns are often broader than the closest English equivalent, so the best translation depends on the situation.

Yes, but it would not mean exactly the same thing.

• gadis = girl / young woman
• perempuan = woman / female

So gadis itu emphasizes that she is a girl or young woman, while perempuan itu is broader and can sound more like that woman or the female person depending on context.

They are not always interchangeable.

Not exactly. It is still a noun, but Malay often places nouns together in a way that English would sometimes translate with an adjective.

So:

• syarikat kurier literally looks like company courier
• natural English: courier company

This kind of noun-noun combination is very common in Malay, for example:

• stesen bas = bus station
• kad kredit = credit card

So kurier is functioning as the type of company, not as a separate adjective form.

Yes. Malay has a very common passive construction.

An active version is:

• Syarikat kurier menghubungi gadis itu.

A passive version could be:

• Gadis itu dihubungi oleh syarikat kurier.

That means The girl was contacted by the courier company.

So if you want to focus on gadis itu instead of syarikat kurier, Malay can do that quite naturally with the passive.