Grammar Rule in 30 Seconds

Use 'Siapa' to ask about people; it usually stays at the end or beginning of the sentence.

  • Use 'Siapa' to ask about a person's identity: 'Siapa nama anda?' (Who is your name?)
  • It can be placed at the start or end of a sentence: 'Siapa itu?' or 'Itu siapa?'
  • It does not change based on gender or plurality: 'Siapa mereka?' (Who are they?)
Siapa + [Person/Subject]?

Meanings

The interrogative pronoun 'Siapa' is used to inquire about the identity of a person or people.

1

Identity Inquiry

Asking for the name or identity of someone.

“Siapa nama awak?”

“Siapa di sana?”

Usage of Siapa

Form Usage Example
Siapa Direct Question Siapa itu?
Siapakah Formal Question Siapakah anda?
Siapa pun Whoever Siapa pun boleh datang
Siapa-siapa Anyone Ada siapa-siapa di sana?
Siapa yang Who (relative) Dia siapa yang saya cari

Reference Table

Reference table for Who: Siapa
Form Structure Example
Direct Siapa + [Noun]? Siapa nama awak?
Predicate [Noun] + Siapa? Itu siapa?
Formal Siapakah + [Noun]? Siapakah tuan?
Plural Siapa + [Noun] (plural context) Siapa mereka?
Relative Siapa + yang + [Verb] Siapa yang makan?
Indefinite Siapa-siapa Ada siapa-siapa?

طیف رسمیت

رسمی
Siapakah individu tersebut?

Siapakah individu tersebut? (General)

خنثی
Siapa orang itu?

Siapa orang itu? (General)

غیر رسمی
Siapa tu?

Siapa tu? (General)

عامیانه
Siapa tu?

Siapa tu? (General)

The Siapa Web

Siapa

Direct

  • Siapa itu? Who is that?

Relative

  • Siapa yang... The person who...

Indefinite

  • Siapa-siapa Anyone

مثال‌ها بر اساس سطح

1

Siapa nama awak?

Who is your name?

2

Siapa itu?

Who is that?

3

Dia siapa?

Who is he/she?

4

Siapa mereka?

Who are they?

1

Siapakah lelaki di sana?

Who is the man over there?

2

Awak bercakap dengan siapa?

Who are you talking to?

3

Siapa yang datang semalam?

Who came yesterday?

4

Boleh saya tahu siapa anda?

May I know who you are?

1

Siapa yang bertanggungjawab atas projek ini?

Who is responsible for this project?

2

Saya tidak tahu siapa dia sebenarnya.

I don't know who he really is.

3

Siapa pun yang menang, kita tetap kawan.

Whoever wins, we remain friends.

4

Siapa yang awak maksudkan?

Who do you mean?

1

Siapakah gerangan yang mengetuk pintu?

Who is the person knocking at the door?

2

Tidak kira siapa yang bertanya, jawapannya tetap sama.

No matter who asks, the answer remains the same.

3

Siapa yang sanggup melakukan perkara ini?

Who would be willing to do this?

4

Siapa yang anda pilih sebagai wakil?

Who did you choose as the representative?

1

Siapa yang menabur, dia yang menuai.

He who sows, reaps.

2

Siapa jua yang hadir, sila daftar di sini.

Whoever attends, please register here.

3

Siapa yang tidak kenal tokoh ini?

Who doesn't know this figure?

4

Siapa sangka dia akan berjaya?

Who would have thought he would succeed?

1

Siapa pun dia, martabatnya tetap tinggi.

Whoever he is, his dignity remains high.

2

Siapa yang berani menentang arus?

Who dares to go against the current?

3

Siapa yang dimaksudkan dengan 'kita' di sini?

Who is meant by 'we' here?

4

Siapa yang tidak mahu kebahagiaan?

Who doesn't want happiness?

به‌راحتی اشتباه گرفته می‌شود

Who: Siapa در مقابل Siapa vs Apa

Learners often use 'siapa' for things.

Who: Siapa در مقابل Siapa vs Sesiapa

Learners use 'siapa' for 'whoever'.

Who: Siapa در مقابل Siapa vs Mana

Learners use 'siapa' for 'which'.

اشتباهات رایج

Siapa ini buku?

Apa ini?

Siapa is for people, not objects.

Siapa adalah dia?

Siapa dia?

Adalah is unnecessary here.

Siapa-siapa nama awak?

Siapa nama awak?

Don't reduplicate for simple questions.

Siapa kamu pergi?

Siapa yang pergi?

Need 'yang' for relative clauses.

Siapa yang awak beli?

Apa yang awak beli?

Again, object vs person.

Siapa-siapa pun boleh.

Siapa pun boleh.

Redundant reduplication.

Siapa dia pergi?

Siapa yang pergi?

Missing relative marker.

Siapa yang saya nampak itu adalah kawan saya.

Orang yang saya nampak itu kawan saya.

Siapa is for questions, not relative clauses in this context.

Siapa-siapa yang mahu, sila datang.

Sesiapa yang mahu, sila datang.

Use 'sesiapa' for 'whoever'.

Siapa yang awak cakap?

Dengan siapa awak cakap?

Need preposition 'dengan'.

Siapa yang saya maksudkan adalah dia.

Orang yang saya maksudkan ialah dia.

Avoid using 'siapa' as a relative pronoun in formal writing.

Siapa-siapa pun tidak tahu.

Sesiapa pun tidak tahu.

Use 'sesiapa' for negative/indefinite.

Siapa yang dia panggil?

Siapa yang dipanggilnya?

Passive voice preference.

الگوهای جمله‌سازی

Siapa ___ awak?

___ itu?

Siapa yang ___?

___ pun boleh datang.

Real World Usage

Texting constant

Siapa tu?

Job Interview common

Siapakah yang anda wakili?

Travel common

Siapa pemandu pelancong kami?

Social Media very common

Siapa ni?

Food Delivery occasional

Siapa yang hantar makanan?

Classroom constant

Siapa yang belum siap?

💡

Keep it simple

Don't overthink the sentence structure. 'Siapa itu?' is always correct.
⚠️

People only

Never use 'siapa' for objects. Use 'apa' instead.
🎯

Formal vs Informal

Use 'Siapakah' for formal writing and 'Siapa' for daily speech.
💬

Politeness

When asking a stranger, start with 'Boleh saya tahu...' before using 'siapa'.

Smart Tips

Always start with 'Siapa' to be clear.

Dia siapa? Siapa dia?

Use 'Siapa nama' as a fixed phrase.

Siapa awak? Siapa nama awak?

Add '-kah' to 'Siapa'.

Siapa yang hadir? Siapakah yang hadir?

Add 'punya' after 'siapa'.

Siapa buku ini? Siapa punya buku ini?

تلفظ

si-A-pa

Siapa

Pronounced see-ah-pah. Stress the middle syllable.

Question

Siapa itu? ↗

Rising intonation at the end for questions.

حفظ کنید

روش یادسپاری

Think of 'Siapa' as 'See-a-pa'—you see a person and ask 'Who?'

تداعی تصویری

Imagine a detective with a magnifying glass looking at a person's face and saying 'Siapa?'

Rhyme

When you see a face you don't know, say Siapa to make it go.

Story

Ali walks into a room. He sees a stranger. He asks, 'Siapa itu?' The stranger smiles and says, 'I am your new friend.'

شبکه واژگان

SiapaNamaOrangSiapakahSiapa-siapaSiapa pun

چالش

Ask 3 people their names today using 'Siapa nama anda?'

نکات فرهنگی

Using 'Siapa' is very common, but in formal settings, adding '-kah' is polite.

Similar to Malay, but 'siapa' is used universally.

Very similar to standard Malay usage.

Siapa is a native Austronesian interrogative pronoun.

شروع‌کننده‌های مکالمه

Siapa nama awak?

Siapa kawan baik awak?

Siapa yang awak kagumi?

Siapa yang patut kita jemput?

موضوعات نگارش

Write about your family members.
Describe a person you met today.
Who is your role model and why?
Reflect on a time you met someone influential.

Test Yourself

Fill in the blank.

___ nama awak?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Siapa
Siapa is for people.
Choose the correct question. چند گزینه‌ای

Which is correct?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Siapa itu?
Siapa is for people.
Fix the sentence. Error Correction

Find and fix the mistake:

Siapa itu buku?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Apa itu buku?
Siapa is for people.
Reorder the words. Sentence Reorder

Arrange the words in the correct order:

All words placed

Click words above to build the sentence

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Siapa itu?
Standard order.
Translate to Malay. ترجمه

Who is he?

Answer starts with: Sia...

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Siapa dia?
Siapa is who.
Match the question to the answer. Match Pairs

Match each item on the left with its pair on the right:

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Itu Ali
Ali is a person.
Choose the correct form. Conjugation Drill

___ yang datang?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Siapa
Siapa is for people.
Complete the dialogue. Dialogue Completion

A: ___? B: Saya Budi.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Siapa nama awak
Asking for identity.

Score: /8

تمرین‌های عملی

8 exercises
Fill in the blank.

___ nama awak?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Siapa
Siapa is for people.
Choose the correct question. چند گزینه‌ای

Which is correct?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Siapa itu?
Siapa is for people.
Fix the sentence. Error Correction

Find and fix the mistake:

Siapa itu buku?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Apa itu buku?
Siapa is for people.
Reorder the words. Sentence Reorder

itu / siapa / ?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Siapa itu?
Standard order.
Translate to Malay. ترجمه

Who is he?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Siapa dia?
Siapa is who.
Match the question to the answer. Match Pairs

Siapa itu?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Itu Ali
Ali is a person.
Choose the correct form. Conjugation Drill

___ yang datang?

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Siapa
Siapa is for people.
Complete the dialogue. Dialogue Completion

A: ___? B: Saya Budi.

✓ Correct! ✗ Not quite. Correct answer: Siapa nama awak
Asking for identity.

Score: /8

سوالات متداول (8)

Yes, 'siapa' is invariant. It works for one person or many.

It is neutral. Use 'siapakah' for formal contexts.

Because 'siapa' is specifically for humans/people. Use 'apa' for things.

Yes, 'Itu siapa?' is perfectly fine in casual speech.

'Siapa' is for questions, 'sesiapa' is for 'anyone'.

No, avoid 'adalah' in questions.

Yes, it is standard across Malaysia, Indonesia, and Brunei.

Use 'siapa punya' (who owns).

Scaffolded Practice

1

1

2

2

3

3

4

4

Mastery Progress

Needs Practice

Improving

Strong

Mastered

In Other Languages

Spanish high

Quién

Malay 'siapa' is invariant.

French high

Qui

Malay is much simpler.

German moderate

Wer

Malay has no case system.

Japanese high

Dare

Malay does not use particles in the same way.

Arabic high

Man

Arabic has different interrogatives for gender in some contexts.

Chinese high

Shéi

Chinese word order is stricter.

Learning Path

Prerequisites

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