Perlukan

Perlukan is a Malay-language verb that generally means to need or to require. It is used in everyday speech and writing alongside more formal alternatives such as memerlukan and perlu. The form parking in everyday Malay is often considered less formal than memerlukan, but it remains widely understood across Malay-speaking communities.

In usage, perlukan takes a direct object to express what is needed. For example, saya perlukan bantuan means I need help, and mereka perlukan masa means they need time. The construction is typically found in informal registers, headlines, and some conversational contexts where a concise, direct style is preferred. In formal or academic writing, memerlukan is commonly recommended, with perlukana form sometimes used to convey emphasis or immediacy.

The term is used in both Malaysian and Indonesian varieties of Malay, though its acceptability can vary by region and generation. In Singaporean Malay and modern Bruneian usage, perlukan may appear in casual speech, while formal contexts often favor memerlukan. The related adjective perlu, meaning necessary or important, can function in similar semantic space but does not carry the same verb sense as perlukan.

A common point of contrast is the question form perlukah, which asks whether something is needed. This form is distinct from perlukan both in function and punctuation and is a standard tool in Malay for forming yes–no questions about necessity.

See also: perlu, memerlukan, perlukah, Malay verbs.