Kasut mendaki kau masih basah.

It breaks down like this:

• kasut mendaki kau = your hiking shoes
• masih basah = still wet

So the sentence is basically:

[noun phrase] + [predicate]

Malay often works like this with adjective-like predicates, so a sentence can simply be Your hiking shoes still wet, with no separate word for are.

Malay usually does not need a verb like to be in sentences like this.

So:

• Kasut mendaki kau masih basah = Your hiking shoes are still wet
• literally more like Your hiking shoes still wet

This is completely normal in Malay. Adjectives such as basah can act as the predicate by themselves.

In colloquial Malay, possessors often come after the noun:

• buku kau = your book
• rumah kau = your house
• kasut mendaki kau = your hiking shoes

So kau here is not the subject you. It is functioning as a possessive, meaning your.

This is a very common pattern in speech.

No, kau is informal.

It is commonly used:

• with close friends
• with family
• in casual conversation
• sometimes in rough or very direct speech

It is usually not appropriate for formal situations or for speaking politely to strangers.

More neutral or formal alternatives would be:

• kasut mendaki kamu masih basah
• kasut mendaki awak masih basah
• kasut mendaki anda masih basah (more formal)

Malay usually puts modifiers after the noun, not before it.

So:

• kasut mendaki = hiking shoes
• literally something like shoes for hiking / climbing

For an English speaker, this feels reversed, because English says hiking shoes, with the modifier first. Malay commonly does the opposite.

Yes, mendaki is basically a verb meaning to climb or to hike uphill.

But in Malay, words are often flexible. A verb can help describe the function or type of a noun. So:

• kasut mendaki = shoes used for hiking/climbing

This is similar to how English uses nouns or verbs in front of other nouns, like running shoes or swimming pool. Malay just builds that idea differently.

Malay nouns usually do not change form for singular vs. plural.

So kasut can mean:

• shoe
• shoes

The context tells you which one is meant.

If Malay wants to make the plural very explicit, it can use reduplication:

• kasut-kasut

But in ordinary speech, that is often unnecessary. In this sentence, the meaning is naturally understood as shoes.

Masih means still.

It usually comes before the word or phrase it modifies:

• masih basah = still wet
• masih ada = still there / still exists
• masih tidur = still sleeping

So masih basah is the normal Malay order for still wet.

Yes. This sentence is understandable and natural in casual speech, but you could make it sound more standard by changing the pronoun:

• Kasut mendaki kamu masih basah.
• Kasut mendaki awak masih basah.
• Kasut mendaki anda masih basah.

You could also use a possessive suffix in some styles:

• Kasut mendakimu masih basah.

That form is correct, but it can sound literary, poetic, or less everyday than kasut mendaki kau.

Yes.

Mendaki is related to climbing or going uphill, so depending on context, kasut mendaki may be understood as:

• hiking shoes
• climbing shoes
• shoes for climbing

The exact English choice depends on the situation. If the intended meaning has already been given to the learner, then that meaning should be followed, but the Malay phrase itself can allow a little flexibility.