Dia berkumur agar tidak menelan ubat kumur.

Dia is a third-person singular pronoun meaning he, she, or sometimes they for one person, depending on context.

Malay does not normally mark gender in pronouns the way English does. So in this sentence, dia could mean either he or she. You only know which one is meant from the wider context.

The prefix ber- often forms an intransitive verb, meaning an action that someone does.

So:

• kumur relates to rinsing/gargling
• berkumur means to rinse the mouth / to gargle

In this sentence, berkumur is the natural verb form for the action.

You can think of ber- here as helping turn the base into a verb meaning to do that action.

Agar means so that, in order that, or so as not to in this kind of sentence.

Here, agar tidak menelan ubat kumur gives the purpose or intention: so that he/she does not swallow the mouthwash.

A very common alternative is supaya. In many everyday contexts, agar and supaya are similar:

• Dia berkumur agar tidak menelan ubat kumur.
• Dia berkumur supaya tidak menelan ubat kumur.

Both are understandable, though agar can sound slightly more formal or careful in some contexts.

In Malay, tidak is used to negate verbs and adjectives.

So:

• menelan = to swallow
• tidak menelan = not swallow

That is why tidak comes directly before the verb it negates.

This is different from English, where we usually need do/does not:

• English: does not swallow
• Malay: tidak menelan

Menelan means to swallow.

It comes from the root telan plus the meN- verbal prefix:

• telan = swallow
• menelan = to swallow

The meN- prefix commonly forms active verbs in Malay. Its shape changes depending on the first sound of the root. With telan, it becomes menelan.

So this is a very normal verb form, not a special exception in meaning.

Ubat kumur means mouthwash.

It is made up of:

• ubat = medicine, remedy
• kumur = rinsing/gargling

So literally it is something like gargling medicine or rinsing medicine, which corresponds to mouthwash in English.

Malay often expresses compound ideas with two separate words rather than one single fused word. So even though English has mouthwash as one word, Malay naturally says ubat kumur as two words.

Yes. In tidak menelan ubat kumur, the phrase ubat kumur is the object of menelan.

Structure:

• menelan = swallow
• ubat kumur = mouthwash

So the meaning is not to swallow the mouthwash.

Malay does not usually use articles like a, an, or the the way English does.

So ubat kumur can mean:

• mouthwash
• the mouthwash
• some mouthwash

The exact interpretation depends on context.

This is very normal in Malay. Learners often want to add something equivalent to the, but usually Malay simply leaves it out.

Yes, it is very normal.

The basic structure is:

• Dia = subject
• berkumur = verb
• agar tidak menelan ubat kumur = purpose clause

So the pattern is roughly:

Subject + Verb + Purpose

This is a natural Malay sentence pattern:

• Dia belajar agar lulus. = He/She studies so that he/she passes.
• Dia berlari agar tidak terlambat. = He/She runs so as not to be late.

Yes. A few natural alternatives are possible, depending on style and context.

For example:

• Dia berkumur supaya tidak menelan ubat kumur.
• Dia berkumur dan tidak menelan ubat kumur.

But these are not exactly the same in nuance:

• agar/supaya tidak menelan emphasizes purpose: he/she rinses so as not to swallow it
• dan tidak menelan simply states another action: he/she rinses and does not swallow it

So the original sentence is good if the intended meaning is about intention or purpose.

It can cover both ideas depending on context.

In everyday use, berkumur often means:

• to rinse the mouth
• to gargle

If the context is mouthwash, many English speakers might translate it as rinse with mouthwash. If the context is salt water or throat care, gargle may sound more natural.

So the exact English choice depends on the situation, even though the Malay verb stays the same.