Bantal yang saya guna agak keras, jadi saya ingin bertanya kepada kawan saya jika saya boleh pinjam bantalnya.

Yang introduces a relative clause, similar to that / which / who in English.

So:

• bantal = pillow
• yang saya guna = that I use / that I am using

Together, bantal yang saya guna means the pillow that I use or the pillow I’m using.

A key difference from English is word order:

• English: the pillow that I use
• Malay: bantal yang saya guna

The noun comes first, and the describing clause comes after it.

In everyday Malay, the short base form guna is very common, especially in speech and informal writing.

So these are all possible:

• bantal yang saya guna = natural, everyday
• bantal yang saya gunakan = acceptable, a bit more careful
• bantal yang saya menggunakan = not correct here

Why not menggunakan? Because after yang saya, Malay often prefers the simpler verb form in conversation. The full meN- form can sound more formal or heavier than needed.

Also, in casual speech, many speakers would even say pakai instead of guna:

• bantal yang saya pakai

That is also very natural.

Malay often does not use a verb equivalent to is when linking a subject to an adjective.

So:

• Bantal itu keras = The pillow is hard
• Bantal itu agak keras = The pillow is rather hard

There is no need for a separate word like is.

This is a very common pattern in Malay:

• Dia penat = He/She is tired
• Makanan itu sedap = That food is delicious
• Bilik ini besar = This room is big

Agak means something like:

• rather
• fairly
• somewhat

So agak keras means:

• rather hard
• a bit hard
• fairly hard

It softens the statement slightly. It sounds less blunt than just keras.

Compare:

• Bantal ini keras = This pillow is hard
• Bantal ini agak keras = This pillow is rather hard

Not in this sentence.

Jadi can mean different things depending on context:

1. become

   • Dia mahu jadi doktor = He/She wants to become a doctor

2. so / therefore / as a result

   • This is the meaning in your sentence

So here:

• ..., jadi saya ingin... = ..., so I want...

It connects the first idea to the result or next action.

This is mostly about register and style.

• ingin = wish to / would like to
• bertanya = to ask
• kepada = to / toward
• kawan saya = my friend

So ingin bertanya kepada kawan saya sounds fairly careful, polite, and a bit formal.

A more everyday version would be:

• jadi saya nak tanya kawan saya...

That means basically the same thing, but sounds much more conversational.

A rough comparison:

• ingin = more formal than nak
• bertanya = more formal than tanya
• kepada = more formal than simply leaving it out in speech

So the original sentence is grammatical, but a native speaker in casual conversation would probably choose a shorter version.

Kepada marks the person receiving the action, especially in more formal Malay.

So:

• bertanya kepada kawan saya = ask my friend

In casual speech, kepada is often omitted:

• tanya kawan saya

Both are understandable, but the version with kepada sounds more formal and complete.

You can think of it as similar to how English can say either:

• ask my friend
• or, in a more literal explanation, ask a question to my friend

Malay often uses kepada to show who the question is directed to.

Jika is grammatical, but it may not be the most natural choice in this exact sentence.

Jika usually means if, and it often sounds a bit formal. In your sentence, the meaning is closer to English whether:

• I want to ask my friend whether I may borrow the pillow

Because of that, many speakers would prefer:

• sama ada = whether
• kalau = if, in everyday speech

So these are possible:

• ... bertanya kepada kawan saya jika saya boleh pinjam bantalnya
  Grammatical, but slightly less natural to some speakers

• ... bertanya kepada kawan saya sama ada saya boleh pinjam bantalnya
  Very good for whether

• ... tanya kawan saya kalau saya boleh pinjam bantal dia
  Very natural in casual speech

So jika is not wrong, but sama ada may fit the meaning better.

After modal words like boleh in everyday Malay, the base verb is often used.

So:

• boleh pinjam = very natural in speech
• boleh meminjam = also correct, more formal

This same pattern happens a lot:

• saya mahu makan = I want to eat
• dia boleh datang = he/she can come
• kami hendak pergi = we want to go

Using the base verb after boleh, mahu, nak, hendak, and similar words is extremely common.

Also, pinjam in conversation is often used for borrow. A more formal version is meminjam.

Bantalnya = his/her/their pillow or the pillow belonging to him/her/them, depending on context.

It is made of:

• bantal = pillow
• -nya = his/her/their/its

In this sentence, since the speaker is asking a friend, bantalnya most likely means my friend’s pillow.

Important point: -nya does not tell you the person’s gender. Malay does not force you to distinguish his and her here.

So bantalnya could mean:

• his pillow
• her pillow
• their pillow

Context tells you which one.

Because repetition is more acceptable in Malay than in English, and it often keeps the sentence clear.

In your sentence, saya appears several times because the speaker is the subject of several different actions:

• saya guna
• saya ingin
• saya boleh pinjam

English often tries harder to avoid repetition, but Malay does not always need to.

That said, a speaker might shorten it in casual speech. For example:

• Bantal yang saya guna agak keras, jadi saya nak tanya kawan kalau boleh pinjam bantal dia.

This sounds more relaxed and avoids some repetition.

So the repetition is not a grammar mistake. It is just a stylistic choice.

Malay does not have articles like a, an, and the.

So bantal can mean:

• a pillow
• the pillow
• pillow

The exact meaning comes from context.

In bantal yang saya guna, the clause yang saya guna makes it specific, so English naturally translates it as the pillow that I use or the pillow I’m using.

Also, Malay does not always mark possession unless needed. The first bantal is not explicitly my pillow. It just means the pillow I use / am using. That pillow may or may not belong to the speaker.

It is understandable and mostly fine, but many native speakers would probably make it sound more natural in one of these ways.

A more polished version:

• Bantal yang saya guna agak keras, jadi saya ingin bertanya kepada kawan saya sama ada saya boleh meminjam bantalnya.

A more natural everyday version:

• Bantal yang saya guna agak keras, jadi saya nak tanya kawan saya kalau saya boleh pinjam bantal dia.

A very natural spoken version:

• Bantal ni agak keras, jadi saya nak tanya kawan saya kalau boleh pinjam bantal dia.

Why these feel more natural:

• sama ada fits whether better than jika
• meminjam is more formal than pinjam
• bantal dia is very common in speech instead of bantalnya
• spoken Malay often shortens things a lot

So the original sentence is good for study, but a real speaker might choose a simpler version depending on the situation.