Teruskan rali itu; lagipun, kawan itu lincah dan boleh membalas pukulan.

Teruskan means continue it or carry on with it.

It comes from the root terus (continue / go on / straight through) plus the suffix -kan, which often makes the verb transitive, meaning it acts on something.

So:

• terus = continue / go on
• teruskan = continue something

In this sentence, the thing being continued is rali itu (the rally / that rally).

You could think of Teruskan rali itu as:

• Continue the rally
• Keep the rally going

It is also an imperative here, so it sounds like a command or encouragement.

Yes. Rali is a borrowed word, from English rally, and in Malay it is used in sports contexts, especially games like badminton or tennis.

Here it means the exchange of shots between players before a point ends.

So rali itu means:

• the rally
• that rally

Because Malay commonly borrows sports vocabulary, this kind of word is very natural.

In Malay, itu often comes after the noun, unlike English that, which comes before.

So:

• rali itu = that rally / the rally
• kawan itu = that friend / the friend

This is a very common Malay pattern:

• buku itu = that book / the book
• rumah itu = that house / the house

In real usage, itu can sometimes work like the as well as that, depending on context. So kawan itu does not always sound strongly like that specific friend over there; it can simply identify a known person.

Lagipun means something like:

• besides
• after all
• anyway
• in any case

It introduces a reason or supporting point for what was just said.

In this sentence:

• Teruskan rali itu; lagipun, kawan itu lincah dan boleh membalas pukulan.

the idea is:

• Keep the rally going; after all, that friend is agile and can return the shots.

So lagipun helps connect the second clause as a justification for the first.

It can be either, depending on context.

Literally, kawan itu is that friend, because itu is the demonstrative that. But in natural translation, Malay often uses itu where English would simply use the.

So possible translations are:

• that friend
• the friend
• sometimes even your friend / his friend / her friend, if context makes that clear

If the learner already knows which friend is being talked about, English may prefer the friend or simply your friend if that is implied by the situation.

Lincah means:

• agile
• nimble
• quick-moving
• lively

It is often used for physical movement, so it fits sports very well. A player who is lincah moves quickly and reacts well.

But it is not limited to sports. It can also describe:

• a lively child
• someone energetic in movement
• an animal that moves quickly

In this sentence, lincah suggests the friend is physically quick and skillful enough to keep the rally going.

Literally:

• boleh = can / is able to
• membalas = to return / reply to / retaliate against
• pukulan = a hit / strike / shot

So boleh membalas pukulan literally means:

• can return the shot
• can hit back
• can respond to the hit

In a sports context, the most natural English translation is:

• can return shots
• can return the ball/shuttle
• can answer the opponent’s shots

The verb membalas often has the general sense of responding to something. For example:

• membalas mesej = reply to a message
• membalas dendam = take revenge

Here, it means responding to an opponent’s shot with another shot.

Balas is the root word, meaning reply, return, or respond.

The prefix mem- turns it into an active verb:

• balas = reply / return
• membalas = to reply / to return

This is a very common pattern in Malay. Compare:

• baca = read

• membaca = to read

• bawa = bring
• membawa = to bring

So boleh membalas pukulan is the normal verbal form for can return the shots.

Pukulan comes from pukul, which means to hit / strike.

With the suffix -an, pukulan becomes a noun meaning:

• a hit
• a strike
• a shot in sports

In this sentence, it refers to sports shots, so shot is the best translation.

Depending on the sport, English could phrase it as:

• return the shot
• return the ball
• return the shuttle

But the Malay word itself is more general.

Yes, it is grammatically an imperative, so it is a command or instruction:

• Continue the rally
• Keep the rally going

However, in real conversation, Malay imperatives can sound like:

• a direct command
• encouragement
• advice
• a suggestion, depending on tone and context

So this could be said by a coach, a teammate, or even a commentator-like speaker encouraging someone to keep playing.

Malay often omits subjects when they are understood from context, especially in commands.

English requires you to be understood in an imperative:

• Continue the rally

Malay does not need to say awak or kamu here. The command form alone is enough.

So:

• Teruskan rali itu naturally means You, continue the rally

But the you is left unstated.

The semicolon is mainly punctuation style. It separates two closely related parts:

1. Teruskan rali itu
2. lagipun, kawan itu lincah dan boleh membalas pukulan

A comma could also appear in informal writing, and in speech there would just be a pause.

The semicolon helps show that the second part explains or supports the first:

• Keep the rally going; after all, that friend is agile and can return shots.

So it is not a special grammar feature of Malay itself; it is just punctuation.

Usually, yes.

Although membalas pukulan can literally be return the shot, in a sports situation English often sounds more natural with the plural or with the object made more specific:

• can return shots
• can return the ball
• can return the shuttle
• can handle the opponent’s shots

That is because English often prefers a sport-specific expression rather than a very literal one.

So if you are translating naturally, can return shots is a very good choice.

Yes, it is understandable and generally natural, especially in a sports context.

A native speaker would understand it as encouraging someone to keep the exchange going because the other player is agile and able to respond well.

That said, in actual sports talk, speakers might also use more specific wording depending on the sport. For example, they might mention:

• bola for a ball
• bulu tangkis or badminton
• cock / shuttlecock / shuttle in a badminton context

But rali, lincah, and membalas pukulan all fit the general sports meaning well.