Monday, January 9, 2012

How to construct compound sentences in Malay

The first lesson with my Form 4 Malay Language class invariably begins with the scope of the SPM exam. In the section 'Pengetahuan dan Kemahiran Bahasa' (Knowledge and Skills in Language), students have to construct sentences. In order to make their sentences, I will introduce my cultured drink, the 'yakus' (Mind you, it's not Yakult). It stands for 'yang' (that/which), 'apabila' (when), 'kerana (because)', 'untuk' (to + verb) (to be followed by a verb) and 'supaya' (so that). As long as they include any one of these words in their sentence, it will become a compound sentence.

Let me show readers how this is so through the following sentences.
1 berisi
Dua buah bakul yang berisi buah durian ini dikandar oleh Pak Busu dari dusunnya.
[These two baskets which were filled with durians were carried by Pak Busu on a pole hung on his shoulder from his orchard.]

2 mengisi
Apabila saya mengisi sebarang borang, saya pasti berbuat demikian dengan berhati-hati.
[When I fill in any form, saya will certainly do so carefully.]

3 mengisikan
Saya mengisikan asid ke dalam botol itu dengan berhati-hati kerana tidak mahu menumpahkannya.
[Saya filled the botol with acid carefully because I did not want to spill it.]

4 memenuhi
Penonton sudah memenuhi stadium itu untuk menyaksikan perlawanan bola sepak antara pasukan Malaysia dengan pasukan Singapura.
[The spectators filled the stadium to watch the football match between the Malaysian team and the Singaporean team.]

5 mengekalkan
Aminah sentiasa mengekalkan kebersihan pekarangan rumahnya supaya dapat menjauhkan lalat dan lipas.
[Aminah always keeps her courtyard clean so that she can keep houseflies and cockroaches at bay.]

I hope this tip is useful to SPM students.

Happy constructing compound sentences the 'yakus' way.

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