Saya mahu makan nasi malam ini.

I want to eat rice tonight.

Breakdown of Saya mahu makan nasi malam ini.

• saya: I
• makan: to eat
• nasi: the rice
• mahu: to want
• malam ini: tonight

Questions & Answers about Saya mahu makan nasi malam ini.

Why do we use mahu instead of other verbs in this sentence?

In Malay, mahu means "want." It’s a more formal way of saying "want" compared to nak, which is more colloquial. You could also use hendak (even more formal), but mahu is perfectly correct and commonly used in standard Malay.

Can I replace mahu with nak here?

Yes, it’s common in everyday speech to say saya nak makan nasi malam ini. Both mahu and nak are understood by native speakers. Nak just sounds more casual.

Why is makan placed after mahu?

Malay generally follows a subject-verb-object pattern. Here, saya (I) is the subject, mahu (want) is the verb, and makan nasi (eat rice) is the object phrase. We often place the action verb (makan) immediately after the modal verb (mahu).

What if I want to say "I want to eat something else tonight"? How do I replace nasi?

Simply replace nasi (rice) with whatever you want to eat. For instance, saya mahu makan ayam malam ini (I want to eat chicken tonight). The structure remains the same; just change the noun or phrase after makan.

Is malam ini always placed at the end of the sentence?

Not necessarily, but it’s common to place time expressions (like hari ini, esok, or malam ini) at the end. You could also say malam ini saya mahu makan nasi, and it would still be grammatically correct. However, many speakers prefer the flow of saya mahu makan nasi malam ini when speaking naturally.