Mereka bercakap tentang seks.

Mereka means they / them.

A useful point for learners is that mereka is normally used for people, not for things. So if you are talking about several people, mereka is the natural choice.

Malay does not distinguish they and them by form here; the role is understood from the sentence.

Examples:

• Mereka datang. = They are coming / They came.
• Saya nampak mereka. = I saw them.

Cakap is the basic root connected with speaking or talking.
When you add the prefix ber-, you get bercakap, which means to speak / to talk.

So:

• cakap = the root
• bercakap = to talk, to be speaking

In many everyday sentences, the form with ber- is what you expect for an intransitive verb like this.

For example:

• Dia bercakap. = He/She is talking.
• Mereka bercakap tentang seks. = They are talking about sex.

In casual speech, you may also hear cakap used more loosely, but bercakap is a good standard form.

Not exactly, though they are related.

• bercakap usually means to talk / to speak
• berkata usually means to say / to state

So bercakap focuses more on the act of speaking or having a conversation, while berkata often introduces words or statements.

Compare:

• Mereka bercakap tentang politik. = They are talking about politics.
• Dia berkata bahawa dia penat. = He/She said that he/she was tired.

In your sentence, bercakap is the natural choice because the idea is talking about a topic.

Yes. Tentang means about / concerning, and it is a very common and standard way to introduce a topic.

So:

• bercakap tentang sesuatu = to talk about something

Examples:

• Kami bercakap tentang kerja. = We talked about work.
• Dia menulis tentang sejarah. = He/She writes about history.

There are other ways to say about in Malay, depending on style:

• mengenai = about, regarding; often a bit more formal
• pasal = about; more colloquial in many contexts

So this sentence sounds normal and standard with tentang.

Broadly, yes. The sentence follows a very familiar order:

Mereka + bercakap + tentang seks
Subject + Verb + Prepositional phrase

So Malay is often straightforward for English speakers in simple sentences like this.

Breakdown:

• Mereka = subject
• bercakap = verb
• tentang seks = prepositional phrase giving the topic

That said, Malay can also move things around for emphasis in some contexts, but this is the basic and neutral order.

No, not by itself.

Malay verbs usually do not change form for tense the way English verbs do. Bercakap can mean:

• are talking
• talk
• were talking
• talked

The time is usually understood from context or from time words.

Examples:

• Mereka sedang bercakap tentang seks. = They are talking about sex right now.
• Mereka sudah bercakap tentang seks. = They have already talked about sex.
• Mereka akan bercakap tentang seks. = They will talk about sex.

So without extra markers, the sentence is tense-neutral and depends on context.

Seks is a loanword, ultimately from English sex.

Malay uses many borrowed words, especially for modern, scientific, or international vocabulary. Seks is completely normal and understandable in Malay.

Its spelling follows Malay conventions:

• English sex
• Malay seks

The pronunciation is also adapted to Malay sound patterns, so the written k is reflected in the pronunciation.

It sounds mostly neutral standard Malay.

Why:

• mereka is standard
• bercakap is standard
• tentang is standard

Nothing in the structure is especially slangy. The topic word seks can of course feel sensitive depending on context, but grammatically the sentence itself is neutral.

If you wanted a more casual tone, people might say things like:

• Mereka cakap pasal seks.

That version is more conversational.

Yes, sometimes.

Malay often drops subjects when they are already clear from context. So if everyone knows who is being talked about, you might simply hear:

• Bercakap tentang seks.

However, without context, that can sound incomplete or less natural as a full standalone sentence. In a clear context, though, Malay allows this kind of omission much more easily than English does.

So:

• with full clarity and neutrality: Mereka bercakap tentang seks.
• with context already established: Bercakap tentang seks.

No. Malay does not use articles like a, an, or the in the same way English does.

So seks can simply stand on its own.

That means Malay often leaves nouns more general unless the context makes them specific.

For example:

• tentang seks = about sex
• tentang topik itu = about that topic

If Malay wants to make something more specific, it usually does so with context, demonstratives like ini/itu, or other descriptive words—not with articles like English.

Yes, but the meaning shifts slightly.

• bercakap tentang seks = talking about sex
• membincangkan seks = discussing sex

Membincangkan sounds a bit more deliberate or formal, like a discussion rather than just casual talking.

Compare:

• Mereka bercakap tentang seks. = They are talking about sex.
• Mereka membincangkan seks. = They are discussing sex.

So both are possible, but bercakap tentang is broader and more conversational.