Culture & Religion

English to Bahasa Malaysia phrasebook – Part 1: Greetings

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lost in paradise

Generally, Malay is quite an easy language to learn. Words are mostly spelled phonetically, so you pronounce what you see, and the tenses are not as confusing as English or French.

If you’re new in Malaysia and you’d like to pick a up a new language, or if you’ve been here a while but you’re still a little confused, here’s a list of basic Malay phrases you can learn for your day-to-day interactions.

We’ll continue to add more pages in future so stay tuned for phrasebooks on Going Shopping, Eating and more, which you will be able to find here in our collection of BM Phrasebooks.

English Bahasa Melayu
Good morning Selamat pagi
Good afternoon Selamat tengah hari
Good evening Selamat petang
Good night Selamat malam
Goodbye (formal) Selamat tinggal; (informal) Bye
Thank you Terima kasih
You’re welcome Sama-sama
I (formal) Saya; (informal) Aku
You (singular) Awak
He/She Dia
We Kami
You (two, three, etc) (plural) Kamu (dua, tiga, etc.)
They Mereka
How are you? Apa khabar?
I'm fine Khabar baik
Yes Ya
No (formal) Tidak; (informal) Tak
Maybe Mungkin
I don’t know Saya tak tahu
Excuse me (when someone is in your way) Tumpang lalu
Excuse me (to ask someone something) Tumpang tanya
Please help Tolong
I’m sorry Minta ma’af / ma’afkan saya
I’m lost Saya sesat
I'm hungry Saya lapar
I'm tired Saya penat
I'm busy Saya sibuk
My name is... Nama saya...
What is your name? Apa nama kamu?
I'm from... Saya dari...
Where are you from? Kamu dari mana?
I don't understand Saya tidak faham
Do you speak English? Awak boleh cakap English?

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