Mereka memilih beregu.

they

Breakdown of Mereka memilih beregu.

• memilih: to choose
• beregu: doubles (sport)

Questions & Answers about Mereka memilih beregu.

What are the parts of this sentence?

It follows a very common Malay pattern: Subject + Verb + Object/Complement.

• Mereka = subject
• memilih = verb
• beregu = what is being chosen

So the structure is straightforward and quite close to English word order.

Why is it memilih and not just pilih?

Pilih is the root word.

memilih is the standard active verb form made with the meN- prefix. This prefix often marks an active transitive verb, meaning the verb acts directly on an object.

Here is the formation:

• pilih → root
• meN- + pilih → memilih

Because the root starts with p, the p drops after the prefix, giving memilih, not mempilih.

So:

• pilih = root / dictionary form / sometimes imperative or informal usage
• memilih = to choose, chooses, chose, choosing, depending on context

Does mereka mean they or them?

Malay pronouns usually do not change form for subject and object the way English pronouns do.

So mereka can correspond to either they or them, depending on where it appears in the sentence.

In Mereka memilih beregu, it comes before the verb, so it is clearly the subject, meaning they.

A useful extra note: mereka is mainly used for people, not usually for things.