Learn Hardcore Malay: Keputusan untuk bekerja malam itu tiba-tiba berubah selepas hujan lebat. - The decision to work that night suddenly changed after heavy rain.

Keputusan means “decision.” It is a noun formed by taking the root putus (which literally means “to cut” or “to end”) and adding the nominalizing prefix ke- and suffix -an, a common way in Malay to turn verbs or adjectives into abstract nouns.

Why is untuk used before bekerja, and what does it correspond to in English?

Untuk functions like the English “to” when introducing an infinitive. In keputusan untuk bekerja malam itu, it marks the purpose or action of “to work.” Without untuk, the verb would not be explicitly linked as the decision’s object.

Why does the verb bekerja come before the time expression malam itu? Is that the usual word order?

Yes. Malay typically follows the pattern: Verb – Time – Place. So you say bekerja malam itu (“work that night”). You could also front the time for emphasis (Malam itu, keputusan…), but standard neutral order places the action first, then the time.

There’s no past-tense marker on berubah. How do we know the action happened in the past?

Malay verbs are not inflected for tense. Instead, time is inferred from:
1) Contextual cues (e.g., selepas implies “after,” so it’s past)
2) Time adverbs (none here, but you could add semalam).
So tiba-tiba berubah after something tells you it’s already occurred.

What does tiba-tiba mean, and why is it written with a hyphen?

Tiba-tiba means “suddenly.” It’s a fully reduplicated adverb (the root tiba repeated). Malay uses a hyphen to show full reduplication in formal writing. It functions like an English adverb, modifying berubah.

Why is selepas used instead of lepas or setelah? What’s the difference?

All three can mean “after,” but:

Selepas is neutral and common in both spoken and written Malay.
Lepas is a colloquial shortcut mostly in speech.
Setelah is more formal or literary, often found in written texts.
Here selepas hujan lebat is the standard choice.

In hujan lebat, why does the adjective lebat come after the noun hujan?

Malay places adjectives after the noun they modify (Noun + Adjective). So hujan lebat literally “rain heavy” = “heavy rain.” There’s no agreement in gender or number.

If I wanted to say “heavy rains,” can hujan be pluralized?

Generally hujan is uncountable and doesn’t change. To emphasize frequency or quantity, you can use:

banyak hujan lebat (“a lot of heavy rain”)
beberapa hujan lebat (rare; literally “several heavy rains,” but unusual)
Plural “–-kan” or “–-nya” markers aren’t used for mass nouns.

Could you include pada before malam itu, as in selepas hujan lebat pada malam itu? What’s the nuance?

Yes. Pada malam itu is perfectly correct and slightly more formal. Omitting pada is common in everyday speech/writing when the time reference is clear. Adding pada can add emphasis or clarity but isn’t required.