Saya tidak tahu sama ada pelawak itu menggunakan satira atau ironi.

Sama ada means whether.

In this sentence, it introduces an indirect question:

• Saya tidak tahu = I do not know
• sama ada... = whether...

So Saya tidak tahu sama ada... means I do not know whether...

A very common pattern is:

• Saya tidak pasti sama ada... = I am not sure whether...
• Mereka belum memutuskan sama ada... = They have not decided whether...

Malay usually uses:

• tidak to negate verbs and adjectives
• bukan to negate nouns and noun phrases, or to contradict/deny something

Here, tahu is a verb-like word meaning know, so tidak is the correct negation:

• Saya tidak tahu = I do not know

Compare:

• Dia tidak gembira = He/She is not happy
• Itu bukan pelawak = That is not a comedian

So in your sentence, bukan would be wrong.

Itu here means something like that or the one we are talking about.

So:

• pelawak = comedian
• pelawak itu = that comedian / the comedian

In Malay, itu often comes after the noun:

• rumah itu = that house / the house
• orang itu = that person / the person
• pelawak itu = that comedian / the comedian

Depending on context, English may translate it as either that comedian or the comedian.

That is normal Malay word order.

In English, demonstratives come before the noun:

• that comedian

In Malay, they usually come after:

• pelawak itu

This same pattern applies broadly:

• buku ini = this book
• kereta itu = that car

So pelawak itu is exactly the expected order in Malay.

Menggunakan is the verb form meaning to use. It is built from the root guna with the prefix meng- and suffix -kan.

• guna = use, usefulness, or informal verb use
• menggunakan = to use, to employ

In careful or standard written Malay, menggunakan is very natural here:

• pelawak itu menggunakan satira atau ironi = the comedian uses/used satire or irony

In more casual speech, many speakers might say:

• pelawak itu guna satira atau ironi

That is more conversational.

By itself, menggunakan does not mark tense.

Malay verbs generally do not change form for past, present, or future the way English verbs do. Time is usually understood from context or shown with time words such as:

• semalam = yesterday
• sekarang = now
• esok = tomorrow
• sudah = already
• akan = will

So this sentence could mean:

• I do not know whether the comedian uses
• I do not know whether the comedian used

The intended time depends on context.

Usually, no, not in the same way.

Sama ada is specifically used for whether.

• Saya tidak tahu sama ada dia datang = I do not know whether he/she is coming

Jika and kalau usually mean if:

• Jika dia datang, saya akan gembira = If he/she comes, I will be happy
• Kalau hujan, kita duduk di rumah = If it rains, we stay at home

Learners often want to translate English if and whether with the same Malay word, but Malay normally distinguishes them here. In your sentence, sama ada is the best choice.

Because Malay does not require gendered pronouns the way English does, and in this sentence the subject is stated directly:

• pelawak itu = the comedian

So Malay simply says:

• Saya tidak tahu sama ada pelawak itu menggunakan...

There is no need to add he or she. Also, Malay often does not mark gender unless it is specifically relevant.

Yes, atau means or.

So:

• satira atau ironi = satire or irony

You may also see ataupun, which can often mean the same thing in many contexts. But atau is the basic and very common word.

Examples:

• kopi atau teh = coffee or tea
• betul atau salah = right or wrong

They are learned/borrowed vocabulary, and they are very close to the English words satire and irony.

That is common in Malay, especially for literary, academic, or abstract terms.

So for an English speaker, these are relatively easy to recognize:

• satira = satire
• ironi = irony

Even though they look familiar, you still need to learn how they fit into Malay sentence structure.

It is natural and fairly neutral, especially in writing or careful speech.

In casual spoken Malay, people might shorten some parts:

• Saya tak tahu sama ada pelawak itu guna satira atau ironi.

Changes:

• tidak → tak
• menggunakan → guna

The meaning stays the same, but the tone becomes more conversational.

Not normally, unless the subject is already completely clear from context.

The clause after sama ada needs a subject:

• sama ada pelawak itu menggunakan satira atau ironi

If you removed pelawak itu, the sentence would feel incomplete unless the omitted subject was understood from previous speech.

So in most standalone sentences, keeping pelawak itu is the natural choice.