Gunakan kedudukan pemulihan asalkan dia tidak sedarkan diri tetapi bernafas.

It is an instruction/command sentence.

The word Gunakan means Use and shows that the sentence is telling someone what to do, not just describing a situation.

This is very common in:

• first-aid instructions
• manuals
• official advice
• warning notices

So the tone is practical and instructional.

Gunakan means use.

It comes from the root guna (use) plus -kan. In commands and formal instructions, gunakan sounds more natural and standard than just guna.

Compare:

• Guna ini. = Use this.
  
  • understandable, but more casual
• Gunakan ini. = Use this.
  
  • more standard/formal

So in this sentence, Gunakan kedudukan pemulihan means Use the recovery position.

Malay usually puts the main noun first, followed by the word that describes or specifies it.

So:

• kedudukan = position
• pemulihan = recovery

Therefore:

• kedudukan pemulihan = recovery position

This is normal Malay word order. English often puts the describing word first (recovery position), but Malay often puts it after the noun.

Other examples:

• bilik tidur = bedroom
• kereta polis = police car
• kad pengenalan = identity card

So kedudukan pemulihan is the natural Malay structure.

Asalkan means provided that, as long as, or on condition that.

In this sentence, it introduces the condition under which you should use the recovery position.

So:

• Gunakan kedudukan pemulihan asalkan...
  = Use the recovery position provided that...

A useful thing to remember: here asalkan is conditional, not about time.
It does not mean for as long as in a time sense. It means if this condition is true.

Dia can mean he or she.

Malay third-person singular pronouns usually do not show gender, so dia is gender-neutral in this sense.

So:

• dia bernafas = he is breathing / she is breathing
• dia tidak sedarkan diri = he is unconscious / she is unconscious

You choose he or she in English based on context, but Malay does not need to specify that here.

Tidak sedarkan diri is a common expression meaning unconscious or not conscious.

You may also see:

• tidak sedar
• hilang kesedaran

All can relate to loss of consciousness, but tidak sedarkan diri is a very common fixed phrase in medical or emergency contexts.

For a learner, the safest approach is to understand tidak sedarkan diri as a set expression meaning:

• to be unconscious
• to have lost consciousness

You do not need to translate every part of it literally to use it correctly.

Tetapi means but.

It shows a contrast:

• the person is not conscious
• but they are still breathing

That contrast is important in first aid, because it tells you the person is unconscious yet still breathing, which is exactly the kind of situation where the recovery position is used.

So the phrase:

• tidak sedarkan diri tetapi bernafas
  means:
• unconscious but breathing

In Malay, the subject is often omitted if it is already understood.

So:

• dia tidak sedarkan diri tetapi bernafas

literally works as:

• he/she is unconscious but breathing

Malay does not need to repeat dia before bernafas because the subject is clearly still the same person.

English sometimes repeats the subject less too:

• He is unconscious but breathing

So this is completely natural Malay.

It can mean either, depending on context.

Malay does not mark tense the same way English does. Very often, the basic verb form can cover:

• breathe
• breathes
• is breathing
• was breathing

In this sentence, the situation is happening now, so bernafas is understood as:

• is breathing

So:

• dia bernafas = he/she is breathing

Malay usually does not use a direct equivalent of English is/am/are in sentences like this.

So English:

• He is unconscious
• She is breathing

becomes Malay:

• Dia tidak sedarkan diri
• Dia bernafas

This is normal. Malay often expresses meaning without a separate verb like is.

That is why the sentence can look shorter or more direct than English.

It is fairly formal and instructional, and it sounds especially suitable for:

• first-aid guidance
• medical instructions
• safety materials

Words like:

• gunakan
• kedudukan pemulihan
• tidak sedarkan diri

make it sound more like official guidance than casual everyday conversation.

In casual speech, someone might choose simpler wording, but this version is very appropriate for emergency instructions.