Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya periksa bil di atas meja.

Both are acceptable. In standard/formal Malay you would usually use the meN- form: Saya memeriksa bil…. In everyday speech, Malay often drops the meN- prefix, so Saya periksa… sounds natural and colloquial. Morphology note: meN- + periksa → memeriksa (the initial p assimilates to m).

What’s the nuance difference between periksa, semak, cek, and tengok?

periksa: examine/inspect carefully (neutral; slightly formal in writing).
semak: check/verify against a reference or for correctness (very common in Malaysia).
cek: casual loan from English “check”; informal.
tengok: to look at/have a look (often just a quick look, not a rigorous check). All four can fit this context; choice depends on formality and how thorough the “checking” is.

What exactly does bil refer to, and how is it different from resit or invois?

bil: a bill you have to pay (restaurant bill, utilities bill, phone bill).
resit: a receipt (proof of payment).
invois: an invoice (commercial billing document). In Indonesian, you’ll often see tagihan for “bill.”

Is bil here definite (“the bill”) or indefinite (“a bill”)? How do I make it explicit?

Malay does not mark definiteness by articles. Context decides. To make it definite, add a demonstrative:

bil itu = that/the bill
bil ini = this bill You can also use a relative clause: bil yang di atas meja itu.

How do I show past, present, or future? There’s no tense on periksa.

Malay uses time/aspect words:

Completed: Saya sudah/dah/telah memeriksa…
In progress: Saya sedang/tengah memeriksa…
Future: Saya akan memeriksa… / Nanti saya periksa.
Just now: Saya baru (sahaja) memeriksa…

How do I negate this sentence correctly?

Use tidak/tak before the verb:

Standard: Saya tidak memeriksa bil di atas meja.
Colloquial: Saya tak periksa bil atas meja. Use bukan to negate a noun or for contrastive focus:
Bukan saya yang periksa bil itu.

What’s the difference between di atas meja and di meja?

di atas meja = on top of the table (location on the surface).
di meja = at the table (general location, not necessarily on the surface). In speech, people often shorten to atas meja; in writing, di atas meja is preferred.

Can di atas also mean “above” rather than “on”?

Yes. di atas can mean “on (top of)” or “above,” and context disambiguates. With items like meja (table), the natural reading is “on the table.”

Is the word order fixed? Can I move the location phrase?

Default SVO + location:

Saya (S) periksa (V) bil (O) di atas meja (Loc). You can front the location for emphasis/topic:
Di atas meja, saya periksa bil. You can also front the object (more formal/emphatic with a determiner):
Bil di atas meja itu sudah saya periksa.

How do I make a passive version naturally?

Two common options:

Short passive with agent pronoun after the verb: Bil di atas meja itu sudah saya periksa.
Passive with di-: Bil di atas meja itu telah diperiksa (oleh saya). Both are good in formal writing; the short passive is very idiomatic in Malay.

How would I ask “Did you check the bill on the table?” in formal vs colloquial Malay?

Formal: Adakah anda telah memeriksa bil di atas meja?
Colloquial: Awak dah periksa bil atas meja ke? (final ke is a yes/no particle in speech)

What about pronouns? Is saya the only choice?

saya: polite/neutral “I” (safe everywhere).
aku: informal/intimate.
Second person: awak (neutral/informal), anda (polite/formal but can feel distant), plus titles (Encik/Puan/Cik).
Plural “we”: kami (we, not including you), kita (we, including you).

How do I talk about multiple bills or quantities?

Plural isn’t marked; use context or quantifiers:

beberapa bil (several bills), banyak bil (many bills), dua bil (two bills), semua bil (all the bills). Reduplication (e.g., bil-bil) is possible but not necessary here and can sound bookish. With human nouns, classifiers like orang are required; with bil, classifiers are optional.

Do I need a classifier with numbers, like dua helai bil?

Not required. dua bil is natural. If you want to use a classifier, flat/sheet-like classifiers such as keping or helai are possible (dua keping/helai bil), but most speakers would simply say dua bil.

Any spelling tips? I’ve seen di attached sometimes.

As a location preposition, di is separate: di atas, di meja.
As a passive prefix, it attaches to the verb: diperiksa. So: di atas meja, but diperiksa.

How do I pronounce the words here?

Approximate guide:

Saya: SA-ya (two syllables; a as in “father”).
periksa: pə-RIK-sa (initial e is a schwa; trill or tap the r).
bil: like English “bill” without the final “l-darkness.”
meja: ME-ja (e like “may”). Stress is light, often on the penultimate syllable.

Does periksa also mean “exam”? Could that confuse things?

As a verb, periksa means “to examine/check.” The formal noun for an exam is peperiksaan, but in everyday speech people sometimes say periksa to mean “exam” (e.g., minggu periksa). In your sentence, the verb position after Saya makes the “check/examine” meaning clear.

Is there any difference in Indonesian?

Yes. Indonesian equivalents you’ll often hear are:

Saya memeriksa… (same verb),
tagihan for “bill” (e.g., tagihan listrik),
Colloquial cek is also used. The prepositional phrase di atas meja works in both languages.