How to Form Yes/No Questions in Malay for English Speakers

Forming yes/no questions in Malay is straightforward and different from English. Unlike English, Malay does not use auxiliary verbs like "do" or "does" to form questions. Instead, the sentence structure remains mostly the same, and intonation or question words indicate a question.

Basic Structure of Yes/No Questions in Malay

In Malay, yes/no questions often have the same word order as statements. The key difference is the intonation when speaking or the addition of question tags or particles.

For example, the statement "You eat" in Malay is "Kamu makan." To turn this into a yes/no question, you can say "Kamu makan?" with a rising intonation.

Using Question Particles

Malay uses question particles such as kah, ya, and tidak to form yes/no questions, but these are more formal or literary and less common in everyday speech.

The particle kah can be added to the predicate to form a question, for example: "Adakah kamu makan?" meaning "Have you eaten?" Here, adakah is a formal question word derived from ada (to have/exist) plus kah.

Using Question Tags

Another common way to form yes/no questions is by adding question tags such as kan or tak at the end of a statement.

For example: "Kamu makan, kan?" means "You eat, right?" and expects confirmation.

Examples of Yes/No Questions in Malay

• Kamu suka kopi? (Do you like coffee?)
• Dia datang esok? (Is he coming tomorrow?)
• Kamu sudah makan, kan? (You have eaten, right?)
• Adakah dia guru? (Is he/she a teacher?)

Tips for English Speakers Learning Malay Yes/No Questions

1. Remember that intonation is very important. A rising tone at the end of a sentence often indicates a question.

2. You don't need to invert the subject and verb as in English questions.

3. Using question particles like kah or kan can make your questions sound more natural or polite.