-nya

Third-person Suffix -nya

Level 1

The suffix -nya is the standard way to say 'his', 'her', or 'its' in Malay. It attaches directly to the end of a noun.

How It Works

The suffix -nya is one of the most versatile tools in Malay. At Level 1, we focus on its role as a third-person possessive marker.

1. How to attach it:
It is an enclitic, meaning it must be attached to the word before it. Unlike prepositions like di, there is no space.

  • Rumah (house) + -nya = Rumahnya (His/her house)
  • Kucing (cat) + -nya = Kucingnya (Its/his/her cat)

2. Gender and Number:
Malay has no grammatical gender. Therefore, -nya can mean 'his', 'her', or 'its' depending on who you are talking about.

3. Definiteness:
Sometimes, -nya functions like the English word 'the'. If a noun has already been mentioned, adding -nya signals that you are talking about that specific thing again (e.g., bukunya could mean 'the book' that we just discussed).

4. Pronunciation Note:
In Standard Malaysian Malay, if a word ends in the 'a' sound (which is often pronounced as a soft 'uh' or schwa [ə] in isolation), adding -nya causes that final vowel to be pronounced as a clear, full [a] sound (like the 'a' in 'father'). For example, nama (nam-uh) becomes namanya (na-ma-nya).

Examples (5)

  1. Di mana begnya?

    Where is his/her bag?

    Word by Word: At where bag-his?

    Here, -nya attaches to 'beg' (bag) to show it belongs to a third person.

  2. Kucing itu sedang menjilat bulunya.

    That cat is licking its fur.

    Word by Word: Cat that [progressive] lick fur-its.

    In this case, -nya refers to the cat ('its').

  3. Nama adiknya ialah Sarah.

    His/her younger sibling's name is Sarah.

    Word by Word: Name sibling-his/her is Sarah.

    The suffix -nya attaches to 'adik' (younger sibling) to show possession.

  4. Keretanya sangat besar.

    His car is very big.

    Word by Word: Car-his very big.

    The suffix -nya is gender-neutral and can mean 'his' or 'her'.

  5. Saya suka warnanya.

    I like the color (of it).

    Word by Word: I like color-the/its.

    Here, -nya refers back to an object previously mentioned, functioning like 'its' or 'the'.

Common Mistakes

  • Using a space before the suffix.

    buku nya
    bukunya

    -nya is a suffix and must always be attached directly to the noun without a space.

  • Redundant possession using both 'dia' and '-nya'.

    dia punya namanya
    namanya

    You should choose one way to show possession. Using both the possessive marker 'punya' with the suffix '-nya' is repetitive and incorrect.

How It Connects

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-nyaLevel 1Third-person Suffix -nya

Learn This First

To understand the -nya suffix for possession, learners must first understand how Malay expresses possession by placing the possessor after the noun. They also need to be familiar with the third-person pronoun 'dia', as '-nya' serves as its bound equivalent for possession.

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Patterns that build on this one.

Words in This Pattern

-nya