Malaysian Snack Time Indian Flavour

Wan, like many Malaysian, loves to go to Mamak shops during snack time. Wan lives in a city of Malaysia where the standard of food in the shops are mostly horrible and expensive. However, my big Indian friend Sheila observes: while other eateries wind up, the Mamak shops are mushrooming. There is a good reason. As long as you eat less meat, you pay little to eat well and fill up your stomach.

Would you like to express your snack time preference in Bahasa Malaysia?

Kata Kunci Untuk Menyatakan Cita Rasa

alas perut = snack gemar makan= like to eat gemar akan = like lebih gemar = prefer

Read the Malay Text Below

• Kamu gemar makan yang mana satu, roti planta atau tose?
• Saya lebih gemar makan tose daripada roti planta.
• Eh, kamu gemar akan makanan masam!
• Sebenarnya saya juga gemar akan roti planta, tetapi kena jaga berat badan...

Translation

• Which one do you like to eat, roti planta or tose?
• I prefer tose to roti planta.
• Oh, you like sour food!
• Actually I like roti planta too, but I have to watch my weight...

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Rearrange the sentences below these Indian Snack Time Pictures

1.gemar saya tose makan.

2.akan gemar muruku saya.

3.lebih saya makan papadam gemar.

4.putu saya lebih akan mayam akan gemar.

5.putu buluh benci saya memasak. lebih merasai gemar saya putu buluh

6.akan apam manis sayang saya.

Answers

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Simple Linguistic Facts ---

• Why gemar makan tose and then gemar AKAN tose? First of all you have to distinguish between a transitive verb phrase and an adjective phrase.

  
  In this case,the essence of 'gemar makan tose' is makan, so this is a transitive verb phrase,the essence of 'gemar akan tose' is gemar, so this makes it an adjective phrase.

  
  Malaysian language grammar rules requires a preposition such as AKAN to explain an adjective phrase, other examples:

  
  benci pada sajian berlemak,
  suka akan teh tarik.

• Apam, muruku, tose, have officially become part of our Bahasa Malaysia vocabulary. Putu, mayam, piring and buluh are separate word entries but not phrases. Papadam has not made it yet, one day, maybe.

*Photos of muruku, papadam, putu buluh and apam manis reproduced here with kind permission from www.malaysiabest.net

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