Mereka tidak mahu berhutang.

Mereka means they / them, but in this sentence it is the subject, so it means they.

A few useful points:

• It is third person plural.
• It does not show gender, so it can mean they for any group of people.
• Unlike English, Malay pronouns do not change form like they/them/their in the same way. Context and sentence position help show the role.

So in Mereka tidak mahu berhutang, mereka is simply they.

Because tidak is the normal negator for verbs and adjectives, while bukan is mainly used to negate nouns and noun phrases.

Here:

• mahu = a verb-like word meaning want
• berhutang = a verb meaning to be in debt / to borrow on credit

So the correct negation is:

• tidak mahu = do not want

Compare:

• Mereka tidak mahu berhutang = They do not want to be in debt.
• Mereka bukan pelajar = They are not students.

So bukan would not sound right here.

Mahu means to want.

Yes, it is closely related to:

• mau — a common shorter variant, especially in speech and some regional usage
• nak — very common in everyday spoken Malay, from hendak

So these are all connected:

• mahu
• mau
• nak

In many contexts, they can all mean want.

Examples:

• Mereka tidak mahu berhutang — neutral/standard
• Mereka tidak mau berhutang — acceptable variant
• Mereka tak nak berhutang — very colloquial spoken Malay

So mahu is a good standard form for learners.

Because Malay does not need a separate word like English to in this structure.

In English:

• They do not want to be in debt

In Malay:

• Mereka tidak mahu berhutang

After mahu, the next verb can come directly:

• mahu makan = want to eat
• mahu pergi = want to go
• mahu berhutang = want to be in debt / want to borrow on credit

So this is normal Malay grammar. You do not need to insert a separate word meaning to.

Berhutang comes from hutang, which means debt or a debt.

With the prefix ber-, it becomes a verb meaning something like:

• to be in debt
• to owe money
• to borrow on credit
• to have debts

The exact English translation depends on context.

So Mereka tidak mahu berhutang could mean:

• They do not want to be in debt.
• They do not want to owe money.
• They do not want to borrow on credit.

All of these are related to the core idea of hutang.

The prefix ber- often turns a base word into a verb with meanings like:

• to have
• to use
• to do
• to be engaged in
• to be in a state involving

In berhutang:

• hutang = debt
• berhutang = to have debt / to be in debt

Other examples:

• baju = shirt
  berbaju = wearing a shirt
• jalan = walk/road
  berjalan = to walk
• keluarga = family
  berkeluarga = to have a family / be married with a family

So here ber- helps create the verbal idea to be in debt.

It can suggest either, depending on context.

Berhutang is broad. It can refer to:

• being in debt
• owing money
• getting into debt
• buying/obtaining something on credit

So without extra context, the sentence is slightly flexible.

For example, it could mean:

• They do not want to end up owing money.
• They do not want to live with debt.
• They do not want to borrow on credit.

Malay often leaves this kind of detail to context more than English does.

This follows normal Malay sentence order:

• Mereka = subject
• tidak = negation
• mahu = main verb / modal-like word
• berhutang = following verb

So the pattern is:

Subject + negation + mahu + verb

Very common examples:

• Saya tidak mahu pergi = I do not want to go.
• Dia tidak mahu makan = He/She does not want to eat.
• Mereka tidak mahu berhutang = They do not want to be in debt.

This is one of the most useful basic sentence patterns in Malay.

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

So mahu and berhutang stay the same whether the meaning is present, future, or general.

Mereka tidak mahu berhutang could mean:

• They do not want to be in debt.
• They do not want to get into debt.
• They did not want to be in debt.
  (if the context is clearly past)

Time is usually understood from:

• context
• time words
• the wider conversation

For example:

• Sekarang mereka tidak mahu berhutang.
  Now they do not want to be in debt.
• Esok mereka tidak mahu berhutang lagi.
  Tomorrow they do not want to be in debt anymore.
• Dulu mereka tidak mahu berhutang.
  In the past, they did not want to be in debt.

So the bare sentence itself is tenseless, and context fills in the time.

Yes. Tak is the very common spoken/colloquial short form of tidak.

So these both work:

• Mereka tidak mahu berhutang. — more standard/formal
• Mereka tak mahu berhutang. — more casual/spoken

Learners should know both, because tak is extremely common in real-life conversation.

Yes. A few common alternatives are:

• Mereka tidak ingin berhutang.
  Ingin is a bit more formal/literary than mahu.

• Mereka enggan berhutang.
  Enggan means are unwilling / refuse, so it sounds stronger.

• Mereka tidak mahu berhutang lagi.
  This means They no longer want to be in debt or They do not want to be in debt anymore.

So:

• mahu = want
• ingin = wish/desire, often more formal
• enggan = unwilling / refuse

The original sentence is simple, natural, and neutral.