Lesson 63: Compliments and Criticisms!
painting by Steven StahlbergREF: http://pgoh13.free.fr/lesson63compliments.php
In the course of our daily conversations we are bound to hear compliments as well as criticisms about other people (well, that is the way of the world). Or you yourself might feel the urge to praise or criticise someone. Here then are examples of common appreciations and criticisms.
First the appreciations:
When you wish to congratulate someone for an achievement you can either say Saya ucapkan tahniah atas kejayaan anda (I congratulate you on your success) or if that is too long for you just say Syabas! (Well done!). The word is pronounced "sha-bus".
Now we come to the criticisms. About the worst criticism one can make of a Malaysian is that of being kurang ajar. The person to whom this remark is intended would be covered with shame as it means that he has not been properly brought up (is ill-bred or uncouth). Courtesy plays a very important part in the Malay culture. Don't ever forget that. Thus it would be rude (biadab) to hand over something to a Malay with your left hand or for a son to argue loudly with his parents (though modern parents might be more open and allow their children more leeway).
Wherever possible, however, one should avoid hurting the feelings of others by respecting their culture which could be very different from one's own.
By the way the word kurang by itself means "less". Thus if you are asking the shopkeeper to reduce the price you might say Boleh kurang sedikit? (Can you lessen a bit?)
To turn words of compliment into words of criticism you only have to add tidak before the adjectives.
Thus Dia boleh dipercayai means "He can be trusted" whereas Dia tidak boleh dipercayai means "He cannot be trusted".
If you had learnt the first part of this lesson well you should now know the meanings of the following: tidak ikhlas, tidak ramah, tidak murah hati and tidak sabar.
It's time for me to bring up the word setuju which means to agree. Thus "I agree with you" would be Saya setuju dengan anda or Saya setuju dengan apa yang anda kata itu. (I agree with what you said.)
If you would like to use the verb with the prefix you would say Saya bersetuju dengan anda or Saya bersetuju dengan pendapat anda (I agree with your opinion.)
Incidentally a useful opening for a sentence is Pada pendapat saya... as it means "In my opinion...".
If you don't agree with what is being said you only have to put tidak, the word of negation, before setuju . Thus Saya tidak setuju dengan anda. means "I don't agree with you".
You can temper your disagreement by preceding it with Maafkan saya. Thus to politely object to what someone said you could say Maafkan saya, tetapi saya tidak setuju dengan anda (Excuse me, but I don't agree with you) or if you prefer, Maafkan saya, tetapi saya tidak setuju dengan pendapat anda. (Excuse me, but I don't agree with your point of view.)
If you are now at a stage where you can engage in a simple conversation in Malay you should learn this question and use it at the first opportunity: Adakah anda setuju dengan saya atau tidak? (Do you agree with me or not?)
p/s:
Cikgu Bahasa Ajami kata: Salaam. Hari ini cikgu baru tersedar bahawa ada pembaca di blog bicaraskrip yang kurang ajar telah meninggalkan komen yang biadap dan busuk hati! Maka cikgu ingin murid-murid semua mengulangkaji semua komen-komen di blog itu sebagai kerja rumah. Sila berikan jawapan murid-murid di sini secepat mungkin! Sekian, terima kasih. :-)
First the appreciations:
When you wish to congratulate someone for an achievement you can either say Saya ucapkan tahniah atas kejayaan anda (I congratulate you on your success) or if that is too long for you just say Syabas! (Well done!). The word is pronounced "sha-bus".
Now we come to the criticisms. About the worst criticism one can make of a Malaysian is that of being kurang ajar. The person to whom this remark is intended would be covered with shame as it means that he has not been properly brought up (is ill-bred or uncouth). Courtesy plays a very important part in the Malay culture. Don't ever forget that. Thus it would be rude (biadab) to hand over something to a Malay with your left hand or for a son to argue loudly with his parents (though modern parents might be more open and allow their children more leeway).
Wherever possible, however, one should avoid hurting the feelings of others by respecting their culture which could be very different from one's own.
By the way the word kurang by itself means "less". Thus if you are asking the shopkeeper to reduce the price you might say Boleh kurang sedikit? (Can you lessen a bit?)
To turn words of compliment into words of criticism you only have to add tidak before the adjectives.
Thus Dia boleh dipercayai means "He can be trusted" whereas Dia tidak boleh dipercayai means "He cannot be trusted".
If you had learnt the first part of this lesson well you should now know the meanings of the following: tidak ikhlas, tidak ramah, tidak murah hati and tidak sabar.
It's time for me to bring up the word setuju which means to agree. Thus "I agree with you" would be Saya setuju dengan anda or Saya setuju dengan apa yang anda kata itu. (I agree with what you said.)
If you would like to use the verb with the prefix you would say Saya bersetuju dengan anda or Saya bersetuju dengan pendapat anda (I agree with your opinion.)
Incidentally a useful opening for a sentence is Pada pendapat saya... as it means "In my opinion...".
If you don't agree with what is being said you only have to put tidak, the word of negation, before setuju . Thus Saya tidak setuju dengan anda. means "I don't agree with you".
You can temper your disagreement by preceding it with Maafkan saya. Thus to politely object to what someone said you could say Maafkan saya, tetapi saya tidak setuju dengan anda (Excuse me, but I don't agree with you) or if you prefer, Maafkan saya, tetapi saya tidak setuju dengan pendapat anda. (Excuse me, but I don't agree with your point of view.)
If you are now at a stage where you can engage in a simple conversation in Malay you should learn this question and use it at the first opportunity: Adakah anda setuju dengan saya atau tidak? (Do you agree with me or not?)
p/s:
Cikgu Bahasa Ajami kata: Salaam. Hari ini cikgu baru tersedar bahawa ada pembaca di blog bicaraskrip yang kurang ajar telah meninggalkan komen yang biadap dan busuk hati! Maka cikgu ingin murid-murid semua mengulangkaji semua komen-komen di blog itu sebagai kerja rumah. Sila berikan jawapan murid-murid di sini secepat mungkin! Sekian, terima kasih. :-)
salam cikgu..saya bersetuju tetapi maafkan saya kerana tidak membuat kerja rumah itu..saya sudah mencari komen yang berbau busuk hati itu tetapi tidak menjumpainya...sebab saya malas, saya pun tidaklah berusaha lebih tekun..maafkan saya cikgu...
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