Beyond orang, ekor and buah, Malay has classifiers for particular kinds of things: kuntum for flowers, bilah for blades, bentuk for rings, utas for cords and chains, pucuk for letters, pasang for pairs, and several for bunches.
What your child will learn
- Match special nouns to their classifiers
- Use classifiers for groups: gugus, sikat, jambak, kawan
- Explain what kind of thing each classifier fits
A word for every bunch
Sekuntum bunga (a flower), sebilah pisau (a knife), sebentuk cincin (a ring), seutas tali (a rope), sepucuk surat (a letter), sepasang kasut (a pair of shoes), sebidang tanah (a plot of land).
Groups have their own: segugus anggur (a bunch of grapes), sesikat pisang (a hand of bananas), sejambak bunga (a bouquet), sekawan burung (a flock of birds), seberkas kayu api (a bundle of firewood), sebuku roti (a loaf of bread).
Example questions
Here are a few questions like the ones in the first quest. Can you solve them?
1. Gambar yang manakah dibilang dengan “bilah”?
- 💍
- 👟
- 🔪
- 🌸
Show answer
Answer: 🔪. Pisau ialah benda tajam: sebilah pisau.
2. Penjodoh bilangan “bilah” digunakan untuk benda yang…
- hidup
- lembut
- bulat
- tajam
Show answer
Answer: tajam. Contohnya: sebilah pisau, sebilah gunting.
3. Pilih penjodoh bilangan yang betul: ___ bunga
🌸- sehelai
- sebatang
- sebiji
- sekuntum
Show answer
Answer: sekuntum. “Kuntum” digunakan untuk bunga.
Tips for grown-ups
- At the market, name what you see with its classifier.
- Make a matching card game: classifier on one card, noun on the other.