Learn Hardcore Malay: Dia belajar keras setahun untuk lulus peperiksaan biasiswa. - He studied hard for a year to pass the scholarship examination.

In Malay, dia is a third-person singular pronoun that can mean either he or she. Context usually tells you which one. There is no separate word for “he” and “she” as in English.

Why is keras used after belajar, and what does belajar keras mean?

Keras is an adverb here meaning “hard” or “intensely.” In Malay, adverbs often follow the verb:

belajar = to study
belajar keras = to study hard

This is similar to kerja keras (“work hard”).

What does setahun mean, and how is it different from satu tahun or selama setahun?

setahun literally means “one year.” The prefix se- replaces satu (one).
satu tahun also means “one year,” but is slightly more emphatic.
selama setahun means “for a duration of one year,” with selama indicating the entire span of that period.

In this sentence, setahun implies “for a year” without needing selama because context (duration of study) is clear.

Why is untuk used before lulus, and could you use supaya or agar instead?

Untuk introduces a purpose, similar to “in order to.”

untuk lulus = “in order to pass”

You can also say supaya lulus or agar lulus, but these are more formal and sometimes require a subject:

supaya dia lulus
agar dia lulus

With untuk, you generally omit the repeated subject, making the sentence more concise.

In lulus peperiksaan biasiswa, what does biasiswa modify, and why is the word order this way?

This is a compound noun meaning “scholarship exam.”

peperiksaan = exam
biasiswa = scholarship

In Malay, descriptive nouns follow the main noun, so peperiksaan biasiswa literally reads “exam of scholarship.”

Why is there no repeated subject before lulus? Can you add one?

Malay allows you to omit the subject in a subordinate clause if it’s the same as the main clause’s subject. Since dia is already the subject of belajar, you don’t need to say dia lulus again. You could add it for clarity or emphasis:

Dia belajar keras setahun untuk dia lulus peperiksaan biasiswa.
But this is redundant in everyday speech.