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Imbuhan me-

Hello and welcome again to Mari Belajar Bahasa Melayu. It's been a while I know, and I
apologize for my long absence as I had been busy with work and a new life. nyways, let's get
on to learning Bahasa Melayu.
In this chapter, I would like to introduce to you the prefi! me". #he prefi! me" is used to make
the kata akar $root words% into transiti&e &erbs.
'hat do you mean by transiti&e &erbs( It means that the subject is acting on an object directly.
'e ha&e many e!amples of it in other languages like )rench for e!ample or *apanese. Howe&er,
you ha&e to remember that the prefi! me" category comprises of me-, men-, mem-, meng". #he
prefi!es depend on the first letter of the word that comes after it.
few e!amples+
,. li me"lawan bu.
li fights bu.
-. .erempuan itu sedang men"jeling lelaki itu.
#hat woman is staring at that man.
/. 0leh sebab kepanasan, ibu meng"ipas dirinya.
Because it is hot, mother fans herself.
#here really is no general rule that you can follow. #he only way for you to know which ones to
use is by reading a lot of Malay papers.
Howe&er, I will try to make it easier for you to remember.
)or words beginning with 'k', the 'k' is usually dropped and the prefi! meng" is used.
1!ample+
,. kipas " fan
meng"ipas " to fan
-. kupas " to peel
meng"upas " peeling
/. kunci " key
meng"unci " to lock
)or words beginning with 's', the 's' is dropped and is changed into a 'y'. 2sually men" is used for
these words.
1!ample+
,. 3apu " to sweep
Meny"apu " the act of sweeping
-. 3impan " to keep
Meny"impan " the act of keeping
/. 3angkal " to deny
Meny"angkal " the act of denying
)or words beginning with a 'b' the prefi! mem" is usually used.
1!ample+
,. Bakar " to burn
Mem"bakar " the act of burning
-. Baling " to throw
Mem"baling " the act of throwing
)or words beginning with 'p', the 'p' is dropped and mem" is used.
1!ample+
,. .anas " hot
Mem"anas"kan " the heat up something
-. .aling " to turn away
Mem"aling " the act of turning away
1!ceptions+ pelawa $to in&ite% becomes mem"pelawa $the act of in&iting%, persona becomes
mem"persona"kan.
'ords with a &owel, 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o', 'u' are usually preceeded by meng".
1!amples+ Meng"ajak $the act of in&iting%, meng"elak $the act of a&oding%, meng"intai $the act of
peeping%, meng"olah $the act of changing something%, meng"ucap $the act of saying something%.
nother e!ception that you ha&e to remember is that for one syllable words, menge" is used.
1!amples+
,. 4at " to paint $pronounced as ch"at as in ch"air%
Menge"cat $the act of painting%
-. #ar " tar
Menge"tar $the act of tarring as in tarring a road%
lways remember that there is always an e!ception for these rules that I'&e just told you. 3o read
up and impro&e your Bahasa.
In the ne!t chapter we will probably go for a break from the grammar stuff and start with some
basic con&ersations. #ill ne!t time.

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