Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya suka makan sayur hijau setiap makan tengahari. - I like to eat green vegetables at every lunch.

Suka means like. In this sentence, it expresses the speaker’s preference for eating. Malay uses suka directly without any auxiliary words or changes in form.

How is the verb makan functioning in this sentence, and does it differ from English verb usage?

Makan means to eat. In Malay, verbs don’t change form to indicate tense or aspect. Unlike English—where you might say “like eating” or “like to eat”—Malay simply uses makan after suka without any additional markers.

What does the phrase sayur hijau mean, and why is the order of words important?

Sayur hijau translates to green vegetables. In Malay, adjectives (like hijau meaning green) come after the noun (sayur meaning vegetable), which is the reverse of typical English adjective placement.

What does setiap makan tengahari indicate in the sentence?

Setiap makan tengahari means every lunch or every midday meal. The word setiap translates to every and tells us that the action of eating green vegetables happens routinely at lunchtime.

How does the overall sentence structure compare to English sentence order?

The sentence follows a Subject–Verb–Object pattern: Saya (subject) is followed by suka makan (verb phrase) and sayur hijau (object). The time phrase setiap makan tengahari adds extra detail. While the basic structure is similar to English, note that in Malay, adjectives follow nouns rather than preceding them.

How does Malay express the idea of habitual actions or tenses without changing the verb form?

Malay verbs like makan remain unchanged regardless of tense. Instead of using conjugations, Malay relies on context words and time phrases—such as setiap in setiap makan tengahari—to indicate that an action is habitual or occurs at a specific time. This approach simplifies the language compared to the verb conjugations found in English.