Questions
Nothing moves in a Malay question. Word order stays put; you add intonation, a particle, or a question word — in that order of formality.
Yes/no questions
| register | device | example |
|---|---|---|
| colloquial | rising intonation only | Awak lapar? — "You hungry?" |
| colloquial | tag kan? / tak? / ke? | Sedap, kan? · Nak ikut tak? · Betul ke? |
| neutral/formal | Adakah in front | Adakah awak lapar? — "Are you hungry?" |
| formal/written | -kah on the focused word | Benarkah berita itu? — "Is that news true?" |
- -kah attaches to whatever is being asked about and often pulls it to the front: Diakah yang menang? — "Was it he who won?"
- Adakah is just ada + -kah frozen into an all-purpose question opener. Safe anywhere, slightly stiff among friends.
- The everyday tag tak? offers the negative alternative, like Chinese V-not-V: Mahu tak? — "Want it or not?"
Answers: ya (yes), tidak/tak (no, for verbs/adjectives), bukan (no, for nouns), belum (not yet — see Negation for why this one matters).
Question words
Question words mostly stay in place — where the answer would sit:
| word | meaning | example |
|---|---|---|
| apa | what | Awak makan apa? — "What are you eating?" |
| siapa | who | Siapa nama awak? — "What's your name?" (lit. who) |
| mana | which/where | Awak dari mana? — "Where are you from?" |
| di mana | where (at) | Dia tinggal di mana? — "Where does he live?" |
| bila | when | Bila awak balik? — "When are you going home?" |
| kenapa / mengapa | why (colloq. / formal) | Kenapa awak sedih? — "Why are you sad?" |
| bagaimana (colloq. macam mana) | how | Macam mana nak pergi? — "How do I get there?" |
| berapa | how much/many | Berapa harga ini? — "How much is this?" |
Notes:
- Malay asks siapa nama ("who is your name") — memorise it as a chunk.
- berapa teams up with classifiers and measures: berapa orang? (how many people?), pukul berapa? (what time?), berapa lama? (how long?).
- Fronting a question word is possible for emphasis (Apa yang awak makan? — with yang), and formal style fronts it with -kah: Apakah maksudnya?
The colloquial ke
Malaysian speech tacks ke (from -kah) onto alternatives and checks:
Nak teh ke, kopi ke? — "Tea, or coffee?" Dia marah ke? — "Is she angry (or what)?"
Indonesian note
Same toolkit; Indonesian says apakah where Malaysians say adakah, prefers gimana for colloquial "how", kapan for "when" (bila sounds bookish there), and uses the tag kan? heavily — but not Malaysia's ke?.
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