bahawa

Bahawa is a conjunction in Malay and Indonesian meaning "that," used to introduce a declarative content clause. In both languages it serves to subordinate a clause to a reporting verb, a perception verb, an saying verb, or other constructions that require a content clause. It also appears in formal writing to present asserted or reported information.

In Malay, bahaya? No. The correct form is bahawa. It is used in formal and written Malay examples such as: Saya percaya bahawa dia akan datang. Dia mengatakan bahawa cuaca akan cerah. In Indonesian, the corresponding form is bahwa, used similarly: Saya percaya bahwa dia akan datang. Dia mengatakan bahwa cuaca akan cerah. The two languages share a parallel function and similar examples, with slight orthographic differences: Malay writes bahawa, while Indonesian writes bahwa.

Register and usage notes: Bahawa/bahwa is more common in formal, literary, or official contexts and in journalism and academic writing. In everyday speech, speakers of both languages frequently omit the conjunction and simply say: Saya percaya dia akan datang. This omission is particularly common when the subordinate clause is clear from context and the sentence remains grammatically complete without it.

See also: conjunctions in Malay and Indonesian, reported speech in Malay and Indonesian grammar, syntax of subordinate clauses.