English equivalent: from ~
Structure: dari (place/direction/time)
Rules:
- Use ‘dari’ just like its English equivalent ‘from’. However, be careful that this preposition is only used with places, direction and time. See Sentence #1 to #3.
- When saying ‘from a person’, ‘daripada’ is correct. See Sentence #4.
- When making comparison, ‘daripada’ is also used for the equivalent preposition ‘than’. See Sentence #5.
- In colloquial Malay, people use ‘dari’ more often than ‘daripada’ regardless of what the rules are. You will only sometimes hear ‘daripada’.
- Click to see more of the preposition ‘daripada’ and how to make comparison in Malay.
Examples:
- Kami datang dari Ipoh, Perak.
- Mereka memandu dari utara ke selatan.
- Pelajar itu belajar dari pukul 5 pagi pagi ini.
- Hadiah ini bukan daripada saya, tetapi daripada Susanti.
- Kampung ini lebih besar daripada hutan di kampung saya.
- We come from Ipoh, Perak.
- They drove from north to south.
- The student has studied from/since 5 am this morning.
- This gift is not from me, but from Susanti.
- This village is bigger than my village.
Colloquial Malay
- Since both ‘dari’ and ‘daripada’ convey the same meaning, native speakers prefer ‘dari’ because it is shorter. However, you will still hear ‘daripada’ sometimes.
- Note that in all the following sample sentences, the correct preposition should be ‘daripada’.
Examples:
- Komputer ni saya beli dari Ah Cheong.
- Restoran ni lebih mahal dari restoran dekat dengan rumah kita.
- This computer, I bought from Ah Cheong.
- This restaurant is more expensive than the restaurant near our house.