Malay Prepositions
Learning the Malay Prepositions is very important because its structure is used in every day conversation. The more you practice the subject, the closer you get to mastering the Malay language. But first we need to know what the role of Prepositions is in the structure of the grammar in Malay.
Malay prepositions link nouns, pronouns and phrases to other words in a sentence. The word or phrase that the preposition introduces is called the object of the preposition. Here are some examples:
| English Prepositions | Malay Prepositions |
| Prepositions | Preposisi |
| inside the house | di dalam rumah |
| outside the car | di luar kereta |
| with me | bersama saya |
| without him | tanpa dia |
| under the table | di bawah meja |
| after tomorrow | lusa |
| before sunset | sebelum matahari terbenam |
| but I'm busy | tapi saya sibuk |
As you can see from the example above, the structure of the Prepositions in Malay has a logical pattern. Locate the Prepositions above and see how it works with the rest of the sentence in Malaysian.
List of Prepositions in Malay
Below is a list of the Time place and demonstrative pronouns in Malay placed in a table. Memorizing this table will help you add very useful and important words to your Malay vocabulary.
| English Prepositions | Malay Prepositions |
| about | tentang |
| above | di atas |
| across | di seberang |
| after | selepas |
| against | terhadap |
| among | antara |
| around | sekitar |
| as | sebagai |
| at | di |
| before | sebelum |
| behind | di belakang |
| below | di bawah |
| beneath | di bawah |
| beside | di sebelah |
| between | di antara |
| beyond | luar |
| but | tetapi |
| by | oleh |
| despite | walaupun |
| down | ke bawah |
| during | selama |
| except | kecuali |
| for | untuk |
| from | dari |
| in | di/di dalam |
| inside | di dalam |
| into | ke dalam |
| near | berhampiran |
| next | seterusnya |
| of | dari |
| on | pada |
| opposite | seberang |
| out | di luar |
| outside | di luar |
| over | atas |
| per | setiap |
| plus | tambah |
| round | bulat |
| since | sejak |
| than | daripada |
| through | melalui |
| till | sampai |
| to | untuk |
| toward | ke arah |
| under | bawah |
| unlike | tidak seperti |
| until | sehingga |
| up | ke atas |
| via | melalui |
| with | dengan |
| within | dalam |
| without | tanpa |
| |
| two words | dua perkataan |
| according to | menurut |
| because of | kerana |
| close to | berhampiran |
| due to | disebabkan oleh |
| except for | kecuali |
| far from | jauh dari |
| inside of | dalam |
| instead of | daripada |
| near to | berhampiran |
| next to | sebelah |
| outside of | di luar |
| prior to | sebelum |
| |
| three words | tiga perkataan |
| as far as | sejauh |
| as well as | mahupun |
| in addition to | disamping |
| in front of | di depan |
| in spite of | walaupun |
| on behalf of | bagi pihak |
| on top of | di atas |
| |
| demonstrative pronouns | preposisi demonstratif |
| this | ini |
| that | bahawa |
| these | ini |
| those | itu |
Time place and demonstrative pronouns have a very important role in Malay, therefore they need very special attention. Once you're done with the Malaysian Prepositions, you might want to check the rest of our Malay lessons here: Learn Malay. Don't forget to bookmark this page.