Chapter 5A – Prepositions

Preposition

Literally, ‘di’ means ‘at‘ when used with preposition. There is another ‘di’ in Malay used with verb for passive voice

Preposition : He is in the office – Dia berada di pejabat / Dia di pejabat
Passive Voice : He is promoted – Dia dinaikkan pangkat

Note :

1. When using ‘di’ with preposition, space must be used : di sana (there)
2. When using ‘di’ with verb in passive voice, it must be intact (no space) : dibawa (brought)
3. Please note that a few prepositions do not use ‘di’, eg : dengan (with), jauh (far), dari (from)
4. Officially, all prepositions used with ‘verb to be’ need to be used with the word ‘berada’ – literally means located : He is here – Dia berada di sini
5. In a sentence where preposition is used with verb, the word ‘berada’ cannot be used, eg : I sleep in the room – Saya tidur di dalam bilik
6. In daily conversation, it is very common that ‘berada’ is either shortened as ‘ada’, or it may totally be omitted : Dia ada di sini / Dia di sini
7. It is also common for the Malays to replace ‘di’ with ‘dekat’ (means near) and sometimes combined with ‘ada’ (means exist) in their conversation : He is here – Dia dekat sini / Dia ada dekat sini

Listed below are some common prepositions used in our daily conversation :

• at : di
• at : pada (used to indicate time)
• at the corner : di penjuru
• on : di atas
• on 5th floor : di tingkat lima
• on top floor : di tingkat paling atas
• on ground floor : di paras jalanraya (road level)
• on the body part : di bahagian badan
• above : di atas
• in : di dalam
• inside : di dalam
• into : ke dalam
• middle : di tengah
• outside : di luar
• with : dengan
• without : tanpa
• by : dengan
• under : di bawah
• below : di bawah
• far : jauh
• far from : jauh dari
• not far from : tidak jauh dari
• near : dekat
• nearby : dekat dengan / berhampiran dengan
• beside : di sebelah
• behind : di belakang
• infront of : di hadapan
• opposite of : bertentangan dengan
• at the end of : di hujung
• here : di sini
• there : di sana / di situ
• over there : di sana
• on the left : di sebelah kiri
• on the right : di sebelah kanan
• in the middle : di tengah
• straight on : terus
• from : dari
• to : ke
• there : di sana
• far : jauh
• through : melalui
• everwhere : di mana-mana sahaja
• elsewhere : di tempat lain
• around : di sekitar

Sample Conversation :

Remember : berada can be replaced with ‘ada’ or totally omitted

1. I am from Europe : Saya dari Eropah (berada cannot be used with dari)
2. He is with her sister : Dia berada dengan adiknya
3. They are in the room : Mereka berada di dalam bilik
4. The food is on the table : Makanan itu berada di atas meja
5. I put the money in the drawer : Saya letak duit itu di dalam laci (verb is used with preposition, therefore berada cannot be used)
6. The shop is over there : Kedai itu di sana
7. He lives above : Dia tinggal di atas
8. He is on 7th floor : Dia berada di tingkat tujuh
9. The bank is opposite the shop : Bank itu bertentangan dengan kedai itu
10. Your friend is here : Kawan awak ada di sini