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Days, Months and Telling the Time in Malay

Malay days of the week from Isnin to Ahad, the twelve months, pukul and jam for clock time, setengah and suku, and why pukul tujuh setengah means 7.30.

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Key takeaways

  • The Malay days are Isnin, Selasa, Rabu, Khamis, Jumaat, Sabtu and Ahad; Wiktionary traces them to Arabic.
  • The months are Januari, Februari, Mac, April, Mei, Jun, Julai, Ogos, September, Oktober, November and Disember.
  • Pukul marks clock time: pukul tiga is three o'clock, and Pukul berapa? asks the time.
  • In Malaysian Malay, pukul tujuh setengah is 7.30; Wikipedia notes that Indonesian setengah tujuh means 6.30.
  • Wikipedia notes that Malaysia uses the 12-hour clock as standard, so parts of the day such as pagi, petang and malam do real work.

Days, months and clock times are some of the most regular vocabulary in Malay. The days are Arabic loans, the months are recognisably English, and clock time is built from one word, pukul, plus a number. The trap is half past, which works differently in Malaysian Malay and Indonesian. This reference covers all three areas with examples from Wiktionary and Wikipedia; spellings are standard Malaysian Malay.

Isnin to Ahad: the seven days

English Malay Origin, per Wiktionary
Monday Isnin Arabic
Tuesday Selasa Arabic
Wednesday Rabu Classical Malay, from an Arabic form
Thursday Khamis Arabic
Friday Jumaat Arabic
Saturday Sabtu Arabic
Sunday Ahad Arabic

The word for "day" is hari: Wiktionary analyses tengah hari, "noon", as tengah "middle" plus hari "day", and lists Hari Satu, literally "day one", as a synonym of Isnin. Wikipedia's article on the names of the days of the week explains two of the Arabic sources. Friday, Jumaat, comes from an Arabic word meaning "to gather", and Saturday, Sabtu, is from the word for the Sabbath. The same table sets the Malay names beside the Arabic ones they come from, such as al-ithnayn for Isnin and al-khamīs for Khamis. Wiktionary also records variants worth recognising. Senin is an alternative form of Isnin, Kamis of Khamis, and Minggu is given as a synonym of Ahad. Wikipedia's comparison of Indonesian and Standard Malay shows the split: Sunday is Ahad in Malaysian Malay and Minggu or Ahad in Indonesian. In Malay, minggu on its own means "week"; Wiktionary traces it to Portuguese domingo, "Sunday".

Januari to Disember: the twelve months

Wiktionary's list of Malay month names:

Month Malay
January Januari
February Februari
March Mac
April April
May Mei
June Jun
July Julai
August Ogos
September September
October Oktober
November November
December Disember

Wiktionary notes that Januari and Ogos are borrowed from English, and that Indonesian uses Maret and Agustus where Malay has Mac and Ogos. The general word bulan means both "moon" and "month": Aku pergi ke sana dua kali untuk setiap bulan, "I go there twice every month".

Pukul, jam and asking the time

Wiktionary gives two words you need:

  • pukul: as a verb "to hit, to strike", and as a noun "hour" in clock times: pukul tiga, "three o'clock".
  • jam: "hour" as a period of sixty minutes, and "clock".

To ask the time, say Pukul berapa? or Sekarang pukul berapa?, literally "now, how many o'clock?". Malay question words covers berapa and the rest, and Malay numbers gives the numbers that go after pukul.

Half and quarter: setengah and suku

Setengah means "a half", from se- plus tengah, "middle". Suku means "a quarter"; Wiktionary's example is Sekarang satu suku, "It's a quarter past one now". In Malaysian Malay the fraction comes after the hour: Wikipedia's comparison article gives pukul tujuh setengah as half past seven.

A worked example: one phrase, two times

Take the same three words in two standards:

  1. Malaysian Malay: pukul tujuh setengah = 7 + 0.5 = 7.30, half past seven.
  2. Indonesian: pukul setengah tujuh = half an hour before seven = 7 − 0.5 = 6.30. Wikipedia explains that this follows Dutch half zeven.

The difference is exactly one hour, which is enough to miss a bus. Wikipedia adds a second difference: Malaysia uses the 12-hour clock as standard, while Indonesia, Brunei and Singapore use the 24-hour clock as standard. Malay vs Indonesian covers more of these splits.

Pagi, tengah hari, petang and malam

With a 12-hour clock, the part of the day carries information. Wiktionary gives:

Malay English
pagi morning
tengah hari noon, midday
petang afternoon, between noon and evening
malam night

These also make greetings: Wiktionary's example for malam is Selamat malam, "Good night". Wiktionary lists sore as a synonym of petang, and Wikipedia's comparison table gives selamat as the "good" of "good morning" in both standards.

Practising days and time in the app

Learn Malay - Bahasa Melayu covers time expressions in its grammar lessons and numbers, daily routines and transport in its early units, with listening practice built on everyday dialogue. It is free with ads and optional in-app purchases, and it is one of our language-learning apps. For phrases to use with these words, see Malay phrases for travel.

Good to know

Frequently asked questions

What are the days of the week in Malay?
Isnin (Monday), Selasa (Tuesday), Rabu (Wednesday), Khamis (Thursday), Jumaat (Friday), Sabtu (Saturday) and Ahad (Sunday). Wiktionary lists Senin as an alternative form of Isnin and Minggu as a synonym of Ahad, the form Wikipedia gives for Indonesian Sunday.
How do you ask what time it is in Malay?
Pukul berapa? or Sekarang pukul berapa?, 'now, what o'clock?'. Wiktionary gives both, and lists pukul tiga as 'three o'clock'. The word jam means 'hour' or 'clock'.
Does pukul tujuh setengah mean 6.30 or 7.30?
In Malaysian Malay it means 7.30, half past seven. Wikipedia's comparison of Indonesian and Standard Malay notes that Indonesian pukul setengah tujuh means 6.30, 'half to seven', following Dutch half zeven, so the two standards differ by an hour.
Is Sunday Ahad or Minggu in Malay?
Ahad in Standard Malay. Wikipedia's comparison table gives Ahad for Malaysian Malay and Minggu or Ahad for Indonesian. Wiktionary notes that minggu, from Portuguese domingo, means 'week' in Malay.

Sources

  1. Names of the days of the week (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia — accessed
  2. Isnin (opens in a new tab)Wiktionary — accessed
  3. Template:list:Gregorian calendar months/ms (opens in a new tab)Wiktionary — accessed
  4. pukul (opens in a new tab)Wiktionary — accessed
  5. Comparison of Indonesian and Standard Malay (opens in a new tab)Wikipedia — accessed

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