Mereka tinggal di wilayah utara.

Yes. Mereka means they or them, and it is not gender-specific. It can refer to a group of men, women, or a mixed group.

A useful thing to know is that mereka is normally used for people, not usually for things. So for objects, Malay often avoids using a direct equivalent of they in the same way English does.

Here, tinggal means live or reside.

So Mereka tinggal di wilayah utara means They live in the northern region.

But tinggal can also mean stay in some contexts, especially when talking about staying somewhere temporarily. The exact meaning depends on context.

Examples:

• Saya tinggal di Kuala Lumpur. = I live in Kuala Lumpur.
• Saya tinggal di hotel itu selama dua malam. = I stayed at that hotel for two nights.

So the word is flexible, and context tells you whether it is more like live or stay.

Because in this sentence, di is a preposition meaning in / at / on, so it is written as a separate word.

• di wilayah utara = in the northern region

This is different from di- as a prefix used to form passive verbs, which is attached to the verb.

Compare:

• di wilayah = in the region → separate
• ditulis = written → attached

This is a very common point for learners, and also for native speakers in informal writing.

Literally, wilayah means region, territory, or area, and utara means north or northern.

So wilayah utara literally means something like:

• northern region
• the north region (less natural in English)
• the northern area

In natural English, the northern region is usually the best translation.

In Malay, descriptive words often come after the noun.

So:

• wilayah utara = northern region
• literally: region north/northern

This is very common in Malay:

• rumah besar = big house
• kereta baru = new car
• bahagian selatan = southern part

So for an English speaker, the word order may feel reversed at first.

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

So:

• di wilayah utara can mean in a northern region, in the northern region, or just in the north region/area, depending on context.

The exact meaning is understood from the situation. This is normal in Malay.

No. Malay verbs do not change according to the subject.

So:

• Saya tinggal = I live
• Dia tinggal = he/she lives
• Mereka tinggal = they live

The verb tinggal stays the same. This is much simpler than English, where live and lives are different.

Yes, often you can.

Malay frequently drops subjects when they are already understood from context.

So if everyone already knows who you are talking about, you might hear:

• Tinggal di wilayah utara.

This can still be understood as They live in the northern region if the context is clear. But in a full, neutral sentence, Mereka tinggal di wilayah utara is perfectly natural.

A simple approximate pronunciation is:

muh-REH-kah TING-gahl dee wee-LAH-yah oo-TAH-rah

A few notes:

• r in Malay is usually trilled or tapped lightly.
• e in mereka is not like the English ee.
• g in tinggal is always a hard g, like in go.
• di is pronounced dee.

Malay pronunciation is generally quite regular compared with English spelling.

It is neutral and natural. It works well in both spoken and written Malay.

Depending on context, other nouns could also be used:

• kawasan utara = northern area
• bahagian utara = northern part
• daerah utara = northern district/area

But wilayah utara is correct and clear, especially if you are talking about a region or territory.

Yes. Utara can function as:

• north (the direction)
• northern (as a descriptive word)

So in different contexts:

• Utara = north
• wilayah utara = northern region
• di utara = in the north / to the north

Malay often uses the same word where English switches between a noun and an adjective.