Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya suka mendengar aliran sungai di tepi sawah setiap pagi. - I like listening to the flow of the river by the rice field every morning.

dengar is the bare root “hear.”
mendengar is the fully-formed verb “to hear” or “to listen.”
Colloquially you might hear saya suka dengar …, but in writing or polite speech mendengar is preferred.

What does the prefix me- do in mendengar?

The me- (or more precisely meN- with nasal assimilation) prefix:

Turns a root into an active verb.
Marks that the subject is performing the action.
Example: tulis (write) → menulis (to write); dengar (hear) → mendengar (to hear/listen).

Does mendengar mean “to listen” or “to hear”?

mendengar covers both senses in Malay:

“to hear” (passively perceiving sound)
“to listen to” (actively paying attention)
If you need a causative form (“to make someone hear”), you’d use mendengarkan.

Why isn’t there a word for “sound” like bunyi or suara before aliran sungai?

Because mendengar already implies you are hearing a sound, Malay speakers often omit bunyi or suara. You could add it for emphasis:

mendengar bunyi aliran sungai (“hear the sound of the river’s flow”)
But it’s perfectly natural to say mendengar aliran sungai.

What does aliran sungai literally mean, and how does aliran differ from mengalir?

aliran (noun) = “flow” or “current.”
sungai = “river.”
So aliran sungai = “the flow/current of the river.”
By contrast, mengalir (verb) means “to flow.”

What does sawah mean? Is it the same as padi?

sawah = a rice paddy or rice field (the flooded land where rice grows).
padi = the rice plant or unhulled rice grain itself.
So di tepi sawah means “at the edge of the rice field.”

Why is the preposition di needed in di tepi sawah?

di functions like “at” or “by” in English to mark location.

tepi sawah alone is a noun phrase (“edge of the paddy field”).
di tepi sawah means “at the edge of the paddy field.”

What is the difference between tepi and pinggir?

Both can mean “edge” or “side,” but:

tepi is more common in everyday speech (tepi jalan, tepi laut).
pinggir is a bit more formal or literary.
They’re generally interchangeable in locative expressions.

Why aren’t there articles like “the” or “a” before aliran, sungai, or sawah?

Malay does not use definite or indefinite articles. Nouns stand alone, and context tells you whether it’s “a,” “the,” or plural. If you need to specify, you can add words like itu (that), ini (this), or a classifier like sebuah (a + countable noun).

How is plural expressed for nouns such as sungai or sawah?

Nouns are usually unmarked for number. You understand plurality from context. To emphasize “more than one,” you can:

Reduplicate: sungai-sungai (“rivers”)
Use quantifiers or numerals: banyak sungai, dua sawah
But often no change is needed.

Why is setiap pagi placed at the end? Can it be moved?

Time expressions in Malay are flexible. You can put setiap pagi at the beginning or end:

Saya suka … setiap pagi.
Setiap pagi, saya suka …
Both are perfectly natural; fronting the phrase just highlights the time.

Why is saya used instead of aku?

saya = neutral/polite “I,” used in formal or general contexts.
aku = informal “I,” used among close friends or family.
For a general statement about a personal preference, saya is more appropriate.

How would you express past or future in this sentence since Malay verbs don’t change for tense?

Malay uses time words or aspect markers rather than verb inflections. Examples:

Past: Tadi pagi, saya suka mendengar ..., or add sudah (“already”): Saya sudah suka mendengar ...
Future: Esok pagi, saya akan suka mendengar ..., or simply Esok pagi, context implies future.