Malay builds new words by adding pieces to a base word (kata dasar). A piece added to the front is an imbuhan awalan, a prefix. The first ones to learn are ber-, me-, ter-, di-, pe- and se-.
What your child will learn
- Find the base word inside a prefixed word
- Name the prefix
- Say how ter-, pe-, di- and se- change the meaning
What the prefixes do
Ber- and me- usually make verbs: bermain (play), melompat (jump). Di- makes a passive verb: dimasak (is cooked). Pe- often makes the person who does it: pemain (player), penulis (writer).
Ter- can mean “by accident” (terjatuh, fell over) or “most” (tertinggi, tallest). Se- means “one”: sebiji is one biji. Not every word that starts with these letters has a prefix — meja and berita are base words.
Example questions
Here are a few questions like the ones in the first quest. Can you solve them?
1. Apakah imbuhan awalan dalam “melompat”?
🤸- ter-
- di-
- ber-
- me-
Show answer
Answer: me-. me- + lompat menjadi “melompat”.
2. Tambahkan awalan “ber-” pada “jalan”.
- berjalanan
- bejalan
- berjalan
- jalanber
Show answer
Answer: berjalan. ber- + jalan menjadi “berjalan”.
3. Apakah kata dasar bagi “membaca”?
📖- mem
- aca
- membac
- baca
Show answer
Answer: baca. “membaca” terbentuk daripada kata dasar “baca”. Kata dasar ialah perkataan asal sebelum ditambah imbuhan.
Tips for grown-ups
- Pick a base word such as “main” and see how many words you can build: bermain, pemain, mainan.
- Cover the prefix with a finger and ask what word is left.