Adjectives
Malay adjectives are refreshingly lazy: they follow the noun, they never agree with anything, and they double as the whole predicate — no "is" needed.
| Malay | gloss |
|---|---|
| kereta merah | a red car |
| rumah besar | a big house |
| Nasi ini sedap. | "This rice is delicious." (adjective = verb-like predicate) |
| Mereka penat. | "They're tired." — no agreement, no copula |
Attributive and predicative are the same bare word. The only ordering rule: adjective right after its noun, before possessor and itu/ini — kereta merah saya itu, "that red car of mine".
Comparison
| degree | pattern | example |
|---|---|---|
| more … than | lebih ADJ daripada | Kereta ini lebih murah daripada kereta itu — "This car is cheaper than that one." |
| less … than | kurang ADJ daripada | Filem ini kurang menarik — "This film is less interesting." |
| as … as | se- + ADJ | Dia setinggi abangnya — "He's as tall as his brother." (also sama tinggi dengan) |
| the most | paling ADJ | restoran paling sedap — "the tastiest restaurant" |
| the most (formal) | ter- + ADJ | gunung tertinggi — "the highest mountain" |
Note the preposition: comparison uses daripada, never dari (see Prepositions for the split).
Intensity
| device | example |
|---|---|
| sangat / amat before | sangat cantik — "very pretty" |
| sekali after | cantik sekali — "so pretty!" |
| terlalu before | terlalu mahal — "too expensive" |
| reduplication | Budak-budak itu kecil-kecil belaka — "Those kids are all tiny." |
Adjective reduplication spreads the quality over many items ("all of them X") or intensifies casually; with a negative it concedes: besar-besar pun tak muat — "big as they are, they still don't fit."
yang for heavy modifiers
A bare adjective attaches directly; add yang when the modifier grows or contrasts:
baju yang paling murah — "the cheapest shirt" kopi yang panas, bukan yang sejuk — "the hot coffee, not the cold one"
Indonesian note
Identical grammar end to end. Only the words differ: "pretty" is cantik both sides but Indonesian loves bagus for "good/nice" where Malaysians often say elok; and banget is Jakarta's sekali.
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