Kami memadamkan unggun api sebelum tidur.

Kami means we, but it is the exclusive form: it includes the speaker and other people, but not the listener.

So if I say Kami memadamkan unggun api, I mean we put out the campfire, but you were not part of our group.

By contrast, kita is inclusive: it means we, including the listener.

This is a very important distinction in Malay, and English does not usually make it.

Memadamkan is built from:

• padam = extinguished / go out / off
• meN- → mem- here = an active verb-forming prefix
• -kan = a suffix often used when the verb acts on something

So:

• padam = to be out / extinguished
• memadamkan = to extinguish something, to put something out

In this sentence, the thing being extinguished is unggun api.

A useful way to think of it is:

• padam = be extinguished
• memadamkan = cause something to become extinguished

Sometimes you may hear memadam, but memadamkan is the clearer and more standard form when there is a direct object like unggun api.

So:

• memadamkan unggun api = extinguish the campfire

In everyday speech, shorter forms are common, but for learners, memadamkan is the safest standard choice in this sentence.

Unggun api means campfire or bonfire.

It is made up of:

• unggun = a heap or pile, especially something piled up for burning
• api = fire

Together, unggun api is a set expression for a fire made outdoors.

It is more natural than trying to translate English word-for-word in some other way.

Malay does not normally use articles like English a, an, and the.

So unggun api can mean:

• a campfire
• the campfire

The exact meaning depends on context.

That is very normal in Malay. Learners often want to add an article somehow, but usually you simply do not need one.

Sebelum means before, and tidur means sleep or to sleep.

So sebelum tidur literally means before sleeping or before going to sleep.

Malay often leaves out subjects when they are obvious from context. Here, the understood subject of tidur is the same group as kami.

So the sentence naturally means:

• We put out the campfire before going to sleep

You could make it more explicit and say:

• sebelum kami tidur

But sebelum tidur is very natural and common.

Not every verb in Malay needs a prefix in every sentence.

After sebelum, it is very common to use the basic verb form directly:

• sebelum tidur = before sleeping
• selepas makan = after eating
• sesudah pulang = after returning

So tidur here is perfectly normal as a bare verb.

Also, menidur is not the normal form you want here.

Malay verbs do not change form for tense the way English verbs do.

So memadamkan does not itself mean specifically:

• put out
• are putting out
• will put out

The time is understood from context, or from time words if they are added.

So Kami memadamkan unggun api sebelum tidur could describe:

• a habitual action
• a past event
• a planned action

If you want to be clearer, Malay can add time markers such as:

• sudah = already
• sedang = currently
• akan = will

For example:

• Kami sudah memadamkan unggun api sebelum tidur = We had already put out the campfire before sleeping

But without those, the basic sentence is still perfectly normal.

Yes. The sentence follows the common Malay order:

• Kami = subject
• memadamkan = verb
• unggun api = object
• sebelum tidur = time clause / adverbial phrase

So it is basically:

Subject + Verb + Object + Time expression

This is very similar to standard English word order, which makes sentences like this fairly easy for English speakers to follow.

Yes, absolutely.

That version is also natural:

• Sebelum tidur, kami memadamkan unggun api.

It puts more emphasis on the time phrase before sleeping.

Malay is often flexible about moving time expressions, especially to the beginning of the sentence.

Both versions are correct.

In Malay, noun combinations do not always match English word order.

Unggun api is the established expression for campfire. You should learn it as a set phrase.

Even though api means fire, the natural compound here is unggun api, not api unggun.

This is similar to how in English we say campfire, not fire camp.

Yes, depending on context, it can feel a bit broader in English.

Literally it is before sleeping or before going to sleep, but in natural translation it might also be rendered as:

• before bed
• before going to bed

The Malay phrase is simple and natural, and English may choose different wordings depending on style.

In standard Malay, memadamkan unggun api is good and correct.

In casual speech, especially in some informal varieties, people may shorten forms or use slightly different phrasing. For example, spoken Malay often allows shorter verb forms in conversation.

But for learning standard Malay, this sentence is excellent as it is.

So the safe takeaway is:

• memadamkan = standard, correct, useful to learn
• more casual shortening may exist in real speech, but it is better to master the standard form first