Lesson 34 Sila (Please)
Click to listen {{ @audio | raw }}A second reading (by Muhammad Nor Ismat, a native speaker)
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Sila duduk! Boleh saya masuk? Boleh, sila masuk. Sila makan. Sila minum. Sila datang ke rumah saya bila senang. |
Please sit! Can I enter? Yes, please enter. Please eat. Please drink. Please come to my house when you are free. |
Vocabulary sila = please duduk = to sit masuk = to enter minum = to drink |
For those who want to know more:
The word Sila can be translated as "Please" in English and is usually used when you invite someone respectfully to do something.
Example: If someone knocks at your door and you ask him to enter you would say Sila masuk. (Please enter.)
Another example: Sila datang ke rumah saya bila senang means "Please come to my house when you are free." But remember that Sila is always used for a polite invitation only.
You cannot translate "Please" into Malay with Sila each and every time though because while you can invite someone to sit or drink, you cannot "invite" him to help you!
In the case of asking a service of another or for help you have to use the word Tolong (see Lesson 38) to remove all ambiguity. Example: Tolong bantu saya. (Please help me.)
There are borderline cases though. The sentence "Please inform him that I will not be coming" can be translated either as Tolong beritahu dia saya tidak akan datang. or Sila beritahu dia saya tidak akan datang. However you will never go wrong if you stick to using Tolong when you are asking someone to do you a service.
When you want your guests to feel really at home you can say Buat seperti di rumah sendiri (literally) Make as if you are in your own house, or as we say in English: Make yourself at home!
When Sila is used with the suffix kan it doesn't need any other word to go with it as it has the sense of "Go ahead" or "Help yourself".
Thus when someone asks if he can borrow something from you (eg. Boleh saya pinjam pen anda sekejap? meaning "Can I borrow your pen for a moment?") you can just say Silakan (the equivalent in English being "Sure, go ahead" or "Sure, just help yourself".
Another word that is often used in the place of Sila is Jemput (a verb meaning "to invite") or Jemputlah. Thus when you invite someone to enter your house you can say Jemputlah masuk.
When asking guests to help themselves to the food that is displayed on the table you can simply say Jemputlah or Silakan (both of which mean "Please help yourself") with your hand showing the table where the food is. Similarly instead of saying Sila makan you can also say Jemput makan.
| ENGLISH | INDONESIAN | MALAY |
|---|---|---|
| Please sit. | Silahkan duduk. | Sila duduk. |
| Can I enter? | Bisa saya masuk? | Boleh saya masuk? |
| Please note that "Silahkan" is also spelt "Silakan" in Indonesian. | ||
| Please drink. | Silahkan minum. | Sila minum. |
| Please come to my house when you are free. | Jemputlah ke rumah saya bila anda ada waktu. | Sila datang ke rumah saya bila senang. |
| Please note that "senang" means "happy" in Indonesian while it means "free" (not busy) as well as "easy" (simple) in Malaysia. The word "gampang" is often used to mean "easy" (simple) in Indonesian while another word "mudah" is used in both countries to mean "easy". | ||
| Make yourself at home. | Anggap saja di rumah sendiri. | Buat seperti di rumah sendiri. |
| Can I borrow your pen for a moment? | Dapatkah saya meminjam pena anda sebentar? | Boleh saya pinjam pen anda sekejap? |
| Please don't worry too much trying to keep Indonesian and Malay apart. You will notice that the Indonesian and Malay sentences are quite often interchangeable and that there is no real line of demarcation between the two languages. It is just that one form might be more often used than another in Indonesia or in Malaysia, that's all there is to it. | ||