Mereka tidak mahu menyerah.

Yes, mereka usually means they or them, depending on the role in the sentence.

In Mereka tidak mahu menyerah, it is the subject, so it means they.

A few useful notes:

• mereka is plural
• it does not show gender
• it is generally used for people, not usually for things or animals in normal speech

So it is a general, gender-neutral they.

Because tidak is the normal negator for verbs and adjectives.

Here, mahu means want, which is a verb, so:

• tidak mahu = do not want

By contrast, bukan is usually used to negate:

• nouns
• noun phrases
• identity/classification
• corrections or contrasts

For example:

• Dia bukan guru. = He/She is not a teacher.
• Itu bukan kereta saya. = That is not my car.

So in this sentence, tidak is the correct choice.

Mahu means to want.

It is very common and natural in everyday Malay. In many situations, it overlaps with:

• ingin = wish, desire
• hendak = want, intend

But there are differences in tone:

• mahu: common, neutral
• ingin: a bit more formal or literary
• hendak: can sound formal, firm, or old-fashioned in some contexts

In casual speech, you may also hear:

• nak = colloquial form of hendak
• sometimes mau in certain regional varieties

So tidak mahu menyerah is a very normal way to say do not want to give up / surrender.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Menyerah often means:

• to surrender
• to give up
• to yield

So Mereka tidak mahu menyerah could mean:

• They do not want to surrender.
• They do not want to give up.

The exact English choice depends on the situation:

• in war or conflict: surrender
• in effort, struggle, or motivation: give up

Malay word order here is very straightforward:

• Mereka = subject
• tidak = negator
• mahu = verb want
• menyerah = following verb/complement

So the structure is:

subject + negation + verb + verb

That is why tidak comes before mahu:

• Mereka tidak mahu menyerah = They do not want to give up.

If you moved tidak elsewhere, it would usually sound wrong or change the meaning.

Because Malay does not normally need a separate word like English to in this structure.

English says:

• want to surrender

Malay simply says:

• mahu menyerah

This is very common in Malay. After verbs like mahu, boleh, cuba, perlu, and others, the next verb can follow directly.

Examples:

• Saya mahu makan. = I want to eat.
• Dia boleh datang. = He/She can come.
• Kami cuba bantu. = We try to help.

So mahu menyerah is completely normal.

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

So Mereka tidak mahu menyerah does not by itself mark a specific tense like present or future. It could mean:

• They do not want to give up.
• They did not want to give up.
• They will not want to give up.

Usually, the time is understood from context or shown with time words such as:

• sekarang = now
• semalam = yesterday
• esok = tomorrow
• nanti = later

For example:

• Semalam mereka tidak mahu menyerah. = Yesterday they did not want to give up.
• Sekarang mereka tidak mahu menyerah. = Now they do not want to give up.

Yes, the prefix matters.

Menyerah is formed with the meN- verbal prefix. This is a very common Malay verb-forming prefix. In this case, it gives you an active verb meaning to surrender / give up.

A related form is:

• serah = hand over, submit, surrender, depending on context

The prefix changes shape depending on the first sound of the root, which is why learners often see different forms like:

• membaca
• menulis
• mengambil
• menyerah

You do not need to analyze it every time to understand the sentence, but it is useful to know that menyerah is a normal active verb form.

This is a very useful distinction.

• menyerah usually means to surrender / give up
• menyerahkan usually means to hand over / submit something

So:

• Mereka tidak mahu menyerah. = They do not want to surrender / give up.
• Mereka tidak mahu menyerahkan dokumen itu. = They do not want to hand over that document.

The ending -kan often makes the verb more clearly transitive, meaning it takes an object.

Yes, in casual speech, very often.

You may hear:

• Mereka tak nak menyerah.

This is a more colloquial version of:

• Mereka tidak mahu menyerah.

Changes:

• tidak → tak
• mahu / hendak → nak

This casual form is extremely common in spoken Malay, but tidak mahu is safer for standard writing and formal learning.

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation guide is:

muh-REH-kah tee-DAK MAH-hoo muh-NYEH-rah

A few notes:

• r in Malay is usually tapped or trilled lightly
• c is pronounced like ch, but there is no c in this sentence
• ny in menyerah sounds like the ny in canyon
• final h in mahu and menyerah is usually lightly pronounced or breathy, depending on accent and style

If you say each syllable clearly, you will usually be understood well.

Sometimes, yes.

Malay can omit the subject in some contexts when it is already obvious. So in conversation, someone might simply say:

• Tidak mahu menyerah.

This could mean:

• do not want to give up
• does not want to give up
• they do not want to give up

The listener figures it out from context.

However, for a full clear sentence, especially for learners, Mereka tidak mahu menyerah is better.

It is mostly neutral standard Malay.

• mereka is standard
• tidak is standard
• mahu is standard
• menyerah is standard

So the sentence works well in:

• writing
• news-style language
• standard conversation
• learning materials

A more casual spoken version would be:

• Mereka tak nak menyerah.

A more formal or literary version might use:

• Mereka tidak ingin menyerah.
• Mereka tidak hendak menyerah.

But your original sentence is very natural and standard.