A frasa is a group of words that works as one unit but is not yet a sentence. Malay has four kinds, named after the head word (kata inti): frasa nama (noun phrase), frasa kerja (verb phrase), frasa adjektif (adjective phrase) and frasa sendi nama (preposition phrase).
What your child will learn
- Name the four kinds of phrase
- Find the head word of a phrase
- Pick out the phrases that make up a sentence
Find the head word
In “rumah besar itu” the head is rumah, a noun, so it is a frasa nama. In “sedang membaca buku” the head is membaca, a verb. In “sangat cantik” the head is cantik, an adjective.
A frasa sendi nama is the odd one out: it is a preposition followed by a noun phrase — di atas meja, ke sekolah, daripada ibu, untuk adik.
Example questions
Here are a few questions like the ones in the first quest. Can you solve them?
1. Apakah jenis frasa “seorang doktor gigi”?
👨⚕️- frasa adjektif
- frasa sendi nama
- frasa kerja
- frasa nama
Show answer
Answer: frasa nama. Kata intinya “doktor”, iaitu kata nama.
2. Betul atau salah? Frasa sendi nama bermula dengan kata sendi nama seperti di, ke dan dari.
- Betul
- Salah
Show answer
Answer: Betul. Contohnya: di rumah, ke pasar, dari sekolah.
3. Apakah jenis frasa “ke sekolah”?
🏫- frasa kerja
- frasa adjektif
- frasa sendi nama
- frasa nama
Show answer
Answer: frasa sendi nama. Frasa itu bermula dengan kata sendi nama “ke”.
Tips for grown-ups
- Underline the head word in phrases from a newspaper headline.
- Build a phrase of each kind around one word: buku, membaca, tebal, di.