difference between will and would in BM

Moderator:atalarikt

glooper4
Posts:1
Joined:2010-02-16, 21:30
Real Name:Tim Cregan
Gender:male
Location:Brighton
Country:GBUnited Kingdom (United Kingdom)
difference between will and would in BM

Postby glooper4 » 2010-03-09, 21:14

English speaker just starting out learning bahasa malay.

The book I'm learning from (Teach Yourself Malay) explains the following:

"To express when in the future, you must use kalau or jika both of which also mean if"

The book then gives the following examples:

"1. Tolong beritahu kami kalau sudah sampai = Please tell us when we get there

and

2. Kalau saya jutawan, saya akan beri sumbangan kepada orang miskin = If I were a millionaire, I would give charity to the poor."

My question is can these two sentences be translated as

1. Please tell me if we get there

and

2. When I am a millionaire, I will give charity to the poor. ?

Of course I'm aware this is a question about a conditional tense in a language which does not express tense in the same way as european languages. But is there really no if / when distinction? The book I'm learning from isn't very good so I'm not sure if this is simply wrong, or whether BM just tolerates ambiguity in this instance.

I hope my question is clear.

Terima Kasih katas bantuan

Glooper

adzmir98
Posts:1
Joined:2010-04-13, 4:45
Real Name:Adzmir
Gender:male
Location:Kuala Lumpur
Country:MYMalaysia (Malaysia)

Re: difference between will and would in BM

Postby adzmir98 » 2010-04-13, 4:50

Hi Glooper,

There is a distinction between if and when.
If=kalau(associated with physical presence)
When=apabila (associated with time, duration etc.)

As per your sentence:

"Tolong beritahu kami kalau sudah sampai"

You can substitute it with

"Tolong beritahu kami 'apabila' sudah sampai"

Happy learning!


Return to “Indonesian/Malay (Bahasa Indonesia/Bahasa Malaysia)”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 11 guests