Mereka memburu di hutan.

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

So mereka memburu di hutan can mean:

• They hunt in the forest
• They are hunting in the forest
• They hunted in the forest

The exact time is normally understood from context or from time words such as:

• semalam = yesterday
• sekarang = now
• esok = tomorrow
• selalu = always / usually

For example:

• Semalam mereka memburu di hutan = They hunted in the forest yesterday.
• Sekarang mereka memburu di hutan = They are hunting in the forest now.

Mereka means they.

It is a third-person plural pronoun, so it refers to more than one person.

A few useful points:

• mereka = they
• dia / ia = he, she, him, her, it depending on context
• Malay does not mark gender in the pronoun the way English does, so dia can mean he or she

Also, mereka is most naturally used for people. It is less natural for animals or objects in many contexts.

The basic root is buru, which is related to hunting / chase / pursue.

The form memburu is made with the prefix meN-, which often forms an active verb.

So:

• buru = root
• memburu = to hunt

With roots beginning with b, the meN- prefix becomes mem-, so:

• buru → memburu

This is a very common pattern in Malay:

• baca → membaca = to read
• beli → membeli = to buy
• buru → memburu = to hunt

In a sentence like this, mem- is part of the meN- verbal prefix system, which usually marks an active verb.

So memburu is the normal active form meaning to hunt.

Compare the idea roughly like this:

• memburu = to hunt / to be hunting
• diburu = to be hunted

Example:

• Mereka memburu rusa = They hunt deer.
• Rusa itu diburu = The deer is hunted / was hunted.

A learner should also notice that di as a preposition and di- as a passive prefix are different things:

• di hutan = in the forest (di written separately)
• diburu = hunted / is hunted (di- written attached)

Not always.

In English, hunt often makes us expect an object, such as hunt deer or hunt animals, but Malay can leave the object unstated if it is obvious, unimportant, or general.

So Mereka memburu di hutan is perfectly fine and means something like:

• They hunt in the forest.
• They are out hunting in the forest.

If you want to say what they are hunting, you can add an object:

• Mereka memburu rusa di hutan = They hunt deer in the forest.
• Mereka memburu babi hutan di hutan = They hunt wild boar in the forest.

Here di is a preposition meaning something like in, at, or sometimes on, depending on context.

So:

• di hutan = in the forest

This is one of the most common location markers in Malay:

• di rumah = at home / in the house
• di sekolah = at school
• di bandar = in town / in the city

A very important spelling point:

• di hutan → di is a preposition, so it is written separately
• diburu → di- is a verb prefix, so it is written attached

Malay does not use articles like English a, an, and the in the same regular way.

So hutan can mean:

• forest
• a forest
• the forest

The exact meaning depends on context.

If Malay speakers want to be more specific, they can add other words, for example:

• sebuah hutan = a forest
• hutan itu = the forest / that forest

So:

• di hutan = in a forest / in the forest
• di hutan itu = in that forest / in the forest

Hutan generally means forest or jungle, depending on context and translation style.

In many English translations, hutan may be rendered as:

• forest
• jungle
• woods

The best choice depends on the situation. In a basic learning sentence, forest is usually the safest translation.

You may also see related expressions like:

• hutan hujan = rainforest
• hutan simpan = reserve forest
• orang hutan literally means person of the forest, though in English orangutan is the animal name

Yes, this sentence uses a very familiar order for English speakers:

• Mereka = subject
• memburu = verb
• di hutan = location phrase

So the pattern is basically:

Subject + Verb + Place

That is very natural in Malay.

You can sometimes move the location phrase for emphasis:

• Di hutan, mereka memburu. = In the forest, they hunt.

But the original order is simple and standard.

Sometimes, yes.

Malay often omits subjects when they are already clear from context. So in conversation, a speaker might simply say:

• Memburu di hutan.

if it is already obvious who is doing it.

However, in a standalone learning sentence, keeping mereka is helpful and natural because it makes the subject explicit.

In practice, di hutan is most naturally understood as in the forest.

But the preposition di is broader than any single English preposition. Depending on context, it can correspond to:

• in
• at
• on

For example:

• di rumah = at home / in the house
• di meja = on the table
• di sekolah = at school

So di is a general location marker, and English chooses the most natural translation based on the noun that follows.

It is neutral and completely normal Malay.

Nothing about Mereka memburu di hutan is especially slangy or overly formal. It works well as a standard textbook sentence.

If you were speaking very casually, Malay often allows shorter or less explicit phrasing, but the sentence itself is perfectly standard.

In standard Malay, memburu is the expected form from buru.

So the normal sentence is:

• Mereka memburu di hutan.

Using berburu would sound nonstandard in formal Malay. Learners should stick with memburu here.

A helpful rule of thumb is that many transitive-style action verbs take meN-, and buru follows that pattern:

• memburu sesuatu = to hunt something

Even when the object is not stated, memburu is still the natural verb form.