Kompas aku ada dalam beg galas.

In Malay, possessors usually come after the noun.

So:

• kompas aku = my compass
• buku saya = my book
• rumah Ali = Ali’s house

This is one of the biggest word-order differences from English. Malay does noun + possessor, not possessor + noun.

Aku means I / me / my, but it is the informal form.

So kompas aku means my compass.

You can often replace aku with saya:

• Kompas saya ada dalam beg galas.

That sounds more neutral or polite. In general:

• aku = casual, personal, used with friends, family, people you are close to
• saya = polite, safer in most situations

So yes, saya is usually the safer choice for learners.

Here, ada shows existence or presence, and in sentences like this it often works like English is/are when talking about location.

So:

• Kompas aku ada dalam beg galas. = My compass is in the backpack.

Malay does not use a general verb exactly like English to be in every situation. For location, ada is very common.

Compare:

• Dia guru. = He/She is a teacher.
  No is word is needed here.
• Dia ada di rumah. = He/She is at home.
  Here ada is commonly used for location/presence.

You may hear shortened speech like that in casual conversation, but Kompas aku ada dalam beg galas is the clearer and more standard full sentence.

Using ada makes the location statement explicit. As a learner, it is a good idea to keep ada in sentences like this.

Dalam means inside / in.

In this sentence, dalam beg galas means in the backpack.

You will also often see di dalam, which is a more explicitly prepositional form:

• dalam beg galas
• di dalam beg galas

Both can work here. Very roughly:

• dalam = often enough on its own in everyday speech
• di dalam = a little more explicit, sometimes a little more formal

So these are both natural:

• Kompas aku ada dalam beg galas.
• Kompas aku ada di dalam beg galas.

Beg galas means backpack.

It is made of:

• beg = bag
• galas = to carry slung over the shoulder/back

Together, beg galas means a bag worn on the back: a backpack.

Malay also uses many borrowed everyday words, and beg is one of them.

Malay usually does not use articles like English a/an/the.

So kompas can mean:

• a compass
• the compass
• just compass

The exact meaning depends on context.

In your sentence, kompas aku is already definite because my compass is naturally specific, so no article is needed.

Yes. A more formal version could be:

• Kompas saya berada di dalam beg galas.

Changes:

• aku → saya for politeness
• ada → berada, which is more formal and often used for location
• di dalam instead of just dalam, which can sound a bit more explicit

Your original sentence is natural and everyday. The formal version is more likely in careful speech or writing.

Yes, but the emphasis changes.

For example:

• Dalam beg galas ada kompas aku.

This is understandable, but it sounds more like In the backpack, there is my compass, with focus on the location or on introducing what is there.

The most neutral way to say My compass is in the backpack is still:

• Kompas aku ada dalam beg galas.

Usually yes. Kompas normally refers to a compass.

The exact type depends on context:

• a navigation compass
• a drawing compass in some contexts

If the situation is unclear, Malay speakers may add more detail, just like in English.

A helpful breakdown is:

• kompas = compass
• aku = my
• ada = is / exists / is located
• dalam = in / inside
• beg galas = backpack

So the structure is roughly:

• compass my exists inside backpack

That sounds strange in English, but it matches normal Malay structure quite well.