Adakah kucing itu muntah?

Did that cat vomit?

Breakdown of Adakah kucing itu muntah?

• itu: that
• kucing: the cat
• adakah: does
• muntah: to vomit

Questions & Answers about Adakah kucing itu muntah?

What does adakah do in this sentence?

Adakah is a yes-no question marker in standard Malay. It signals that the whole sentence is being asked as a question.

So:

Adakah kucing itu muntah?

is a formal or standard way to ask whether the cat vomited / is vomiting.

In everyday speech, Malay often asks the same thing without adakah, just by using question intonation.

Can I leave out adakah?

Yes. Very often, especially in conversation, Malay leaves it out.

You may hear:

Kucing itu muntah?

That can mean the same thing, with your rising intonation showing it is a question.

So the version with adakah is correct, but it sounds more formal, careful, or written.

Why is itu after kucing instead of before it?

In Malay, demonstratives such as ini and itu usually come after the noun.

So:

• kucing ini = this cat
• kucing itu = that cat / the cat

This is different from English, where this and that come before the noun.

Does kucing itu mean that cat or the cat?