Siapa memenangi piala itu?

Siapa means who. In this sentence, it is the question word asking about the person who won.

Malay does not change who into separate forms like English who/whom, so siapa is used more broadly.

Malay does not form questions the way English does. In English, you often need an auxiliary like did: Who did win the cup? or more naturally Who won the cup?

In Malay, you usually just use the question word plus the normal verb phrase: Siapa memenangi piala itu?

There is no extra helper verb needed.

Menang means to win or to be victorious.

Memenangi is a derived form used when there is a direct object — in this case, piala itu. So:

• menang = win, be victorious
• memenangi piala = win the trophy/cup

A learner can think of memenangi as the form that more clearly takes something won as its object.

The -i is part of the verb formation. With menang, adding the prefix and suffix gives memenangi, which makes the verb work naturally with an object.

So instead of just talking about the action of winning in general, memenangi points to winning something.

You do not need to translate -i word-for-word. It is better to learn memenangi as a whole form meaning to win something.

Piala means cup or trophy, depending on context.

Itu means that or sometimes the, depending on how it is translated in English.

Malay normally puts demonstratives after the noun:

• piala itu = that cup / the cup
• rumah itu = that house / the house

So the order is different from English. English says that trophy; Malay says trophy that.

Yes. Siapa yang memenangi piala itu? is also correct and very natural.

The word yang often links the question word to the rest of the clause. In many contexts, adding yang sounds smoother or more standard.

So both are possible:

• Siapa memenangi piala itu?
• Siapa yang memenangi piala itu?

The second version may sound a little more natural to many speakers, but the meaning is the same.

Not by itself. Malay verbs usually do not change form for tense the way English verbs do.

So memenangi does not itself mean specifically won, wins, or will win. The time is usually understood from context.

Because of the meaning of the sentence, English often translates it as Who won the cup?, but Malay itself is not marking past tense here.

If you wanted to make past time clearer, Malay could use a time marker such as telah, depending on style and context.

Siapakah is a more formal or emphatic version of siapa.

So you may also see:

Siapakah yang memenangi piala itu?

This sounds more formal, careful, or written. In everyday speech, siapa is much more common.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation is:

meh-meh-NAH-ng-ee

A few notes:

• me sounds like meh
• na is like nah
• ng is the same sound as in English sing
• the final i is pronounced clearly, like ee

Malay pronunciation is usually quite regular, so once you know the spelling rules, words are easier to sound out than in English.

Yes. Piala can refer to a cup, especially a prize cup, and more generally a trophy.

So depending on context, English might translate the sentence as:

• Who won the cup?
• Who won the trophy?

Both can be correct translations of piala itu.