Mereka membalas pukulan itu.

Mereka is the Malay third-person plural pronoun. It can correspond to both they and them, because Malay pronouns do not change form the way English pronouns do.

In this sentence, mereka means they because it is the subject and comes before the verb membalas.

It is also gender-neutral, so it does not tell you whether the group is male, female, or mixed.

Balas is the root word. The prefix meN- turns it into an active verb, and with roots beginning with b, that prefix appears as mem-, giving membalas.

So:

• balas = reply, return, repay
• membalas = to reply to, return, retaliate against

In a sentence like this, membalas is the normal active verb form.

Membalas has a broad idea of responding by giving something back. Depending on context, it can mean:

• to reply
• to return
• to repay
• to retaliate

With pukulan, it often suggests returning a blow or striking back. So the idea is not just a neutral response, but often a response in kind.

Pukul is the root verb meaning to hit, to strike, or to beat.

Pukulan is a noun formed from pukul plus the suffix -an. Here it means something like:

• a hit
• a blow
• a strike
• a punch

So the difference is:

• pukul = the action to hit
• pukulan = the result or instance of that action, a hit/blow

In Malay, demonstratives such as ini and itu normally come after the noun, not before it.

So:

• pukulan itu = that blow / the blow
• orang ini = this person
• rumah itu = that house

This is a very common word-order pattern in Malay.

Literally, itu means that. But in real usage, it often also helps mark something as definite, so in context it can feel closer to English the.

So pukulan itu could be understood as:

• that blow
• the blow
• that strike

Which one sounds best depends on the context and on the translation you were shown.

Malay does not have articles like English a/an and the.

Instead, definiteness is usually understood from context, or it can be made clearer with words like ini and itu. In this sentence, itu helps make pukulan specific.

So Malay often leaves something unmarked where English would require the.

No. Malay verbs do not change form for tense the way English verbs do.

So mereka membalas pukulan itu does not by itself tell you whether the action is past, present, or future. The time is understood from context or from extra words such as:

• sudah / telah = already, did
• sedang = in the process of
• akan = will

For example:

• Mereka telah membalas pukulan itu = they had/already returned the blow
• Mereka sedang membalas pukulan itu = they are returning the blow
• Mereka akan membalas pukulan itu = they will return the blow

Malay nouns usually do not change form for singular vs. plural.

So pukulan itu could refer to that blow or, in some contexts, those blows if the context makes that clear. However, in a sentence like this, it will often be understood as one specific blow or strike unless the wider context suggests otherwise.

If a speaker really wants to make plurality explicit, Malay can use reduplication or other wording, but it is often unnecessary.

Yes. This is an active sentence:

• Mereka = subject
• membalas = active verb
• pukulan itu = object

A passive version could be:

• Pukulan itu dibalas oleh mereka

or, in a common shorter style:

• Pukulan itu mereka balas

The active sentence focuses first on them as the doers. A passive version shifts attention toward the blow.