'per-' and 'per-...-an' — Malay Grammar

The prefix is far rarer than or . You will mostly meet it in a handful of words of its own, and in nouns that end in .

per- on Its Own

hundred - percent (per hundred)
to make - to make, to fashion

is mostly heard as , as in (made of wood).

Not every word starting with per has this prefix. In (to believe) the root is : the word is , and .

per-...-an: Nouns From ber- Verbs

Many verbs have a matching noun with at the front and at the end. It names the activity, or the thing that comes out of it.

to work - job
to be on holiday - holiday
to speak - speech
to study - lesson
to say - word
to know - introduction

percutian
holiday
perkataan
word

More nouns of this kind: (conversation), (business), (a stop, as in a bus stop) and (picnic).

Spelling

follows the same rule as . It loses its r when the root starts with r or its first syllable has an er, which is why goes with and with , and it becomes pel- before ajar: .

In the course

Sentences from Lingora’s Malay course

20 of the course's 500 sentences use this, the first in lesson 4. A few of them, with the words “'per-' and 'per-...-an'” is about in bold:

Jangan lupa keju untuk perkelahan kita.
Don't forget the cheese for our picnic.
Lesson 477

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