Learn Hardcore Malay: Dia sedang melakukan latihan renang sekarang.

Add a noun: dia lelaki (male), dia perempuan (female), or use the person’s name/title.
Use beliau for a respected third person (e.g., a teacher, an official).
Plural is mereka (they). For inanimate “it,” Malay typically uses itu/ini, not dia.

What does sedang do in this sentence?

Sedang marks the progressive aspect: the action is in progress at a reference time. It’s like English “be + -ing,” but Malay has no grammatical tense, so sedang is an aspect marker, not a tense marker. The reference time can be now (often set by sekarang) or another time given by context.

Isn’t it redundant to use both sedang and sekarang? Do I need both?

Using both is common and not wrong. They do slightly different jobs:

sedang = in the middle of doing (progressive aspect)
sekarang = now (time reference) You can:
Keep both for clarity/emphasis.
Drop sekarang: Dia sedang melakukan latihan renang. (context implies “now”)
Drop sedang: Dia melakukan latihan renang sekarang. (time adverb gives the “now” sense; still natural)

Can I put sekarang at the beginning of the sentence?

Yes. Word order is flexible for time adverbs:

Sekarang dia sedang melakukan latihan renang.
Dia sedang melakukan latihan renang sekarang. Both are fine. Sentence‑final placement is very common in speech.

Is melakukan latihan renang the most natural way to say this?

It’s grammatical and clear, but it sounds a bit formal/heavy in everyday speech. More natural options:

Neutral/natural: Dia sedang berlatih renang (sekarang).
Colloquial (Malaysia/Singapore): Dia tengah berlatih renang (sekarang).
Emphasizing undergoing an organized program: Dia sedang menjalani latihan renang.
Very casual shorthand: Dia sedang latihan renang. (heard in conversation) Use melakukan latihan renang in careful/formal contexts or writing; otherwise berlatih/menjalani often sound smoother.

Why can’t I say melakukan renang?

Melakukan typically collocates with an action/event noun like latihan (training), kajian (research), aktiviti (activity). The bare noun renang (swimming as a sport) isn’t a natural object for melakukan. To express the activity, use:

The verb: berenang (to swim), or
A suitable action noun: latihan renang (swim practice), aktiviti renang (swimming activity)

What’s the difference between renang, berenang, berlatih, and melatih?

renang: the noun “swimming” (the sport/discipline). Example: latihan renang (swimming practice).
berenang: the verb “to swim.” Example: Dia sedang berenang.
berlatih: “to practice/train (oneself).” Example: Dia berlatih renang.
melatih: “to train/coach (someone else).” Example: Dia melatih pasukan renang. (He/She coaches the swim team.)

How is Dia sedang berenang different from the original sentence?

Dia sedang berenang simply means the person is swimming.
Dia sedang melakukan/menjalani/berlatih latihan renang implies purposeful training or practice (drills, a session, a program), not just casually being in the water.

Is latihan renang a fixed phrase? Can I say latihan berenang?

Both are used:

latihan renang treats renang as the sport (very common).
latihan berenang focuses on the skill “swimming” using the verb form (berenang) as a complement (also acceptable). In practice, latihan renang is slightly more common in Malaysia.

How do I negate this sentence properly?

Use tidak to negate verbs/adjectives:

Dia tidak sedang berlatih renang (sekarang).
Dia tidak berlatih renang sekarang. Avoid bukan here; bukan negates nouns/NPs: Dia bukan jurulatih renang (He/She is not a swim coach), not actions in progress.

How do I turn it into a yes/no question?

Several ways:

Formal: Adakah dia sedang berlatih/menjalani latihan renang sekarang?
Neutral: Keep the sentence and use rising intonation.
Colloquial (Malaysia): add ke at the end: Dia tengah berlatih renang sekarang ke?
Tag question: Dia sedang berlatih renang sekarang, kan?

Can I use tengah instead of sedang?

Yes. Tengah is very common in Malaysia/Singapore as a colloquial progressive marker meaning “in the middle of.”
Examples: Dia tengah berlatih renang sekarang. It’s natural in speech; sedang is more neutral/standard.

Can I omit the subject dia if it’s obvious from context?

In careful/standard Malay, subjects are usually expressed. In casual speech, dropping a clear subject is possible:

(Dia) sedang berlatih renang sekarang. Native speakers do this in conversation, but for learners, it’s safer to include dia until you’re comfortable with the context.

What’s going on morphologically in melakukan?

Base: laku (to be valid/applicable; also a root used in derivations).
With suffix -kan: lakukan (“to do/perform”).
With prefix meN-: melakukan (active transitive “to do/perform” + an object).
The meN- prefix signals active voice and adjusts form depending on the first letter of the base; with l, it surfaces as mel-.

Is there a difference between sekarang and kini?

Both mean “now.” Sekarang is the everyday choice. Kini is a bit more formal/literary. Either can replace the other: Dia sedang berlatih renang kini (formal tone).

How would I say still training instead of currently training?

Use masih for “still”:

Dia masih berlatih renang.
You usually don’t combine masih and sedang; masih already implies an ongoing state. If you want both nuances, Dia masih berlatih renang sekarang works fine.

Any pronunciation tips for this sentence?

dia: two syllables, di‑a.
sedang: se‑dang; final ng is a velar nasal [ŋ], not [ng] as in “finger.”
melakukan: me‑la‑ku‑kan (smooth, equal syllables).
latihan: la‑ti‑han (clear h).
renang: re‑nang (final [ŋ]).
sekarang: se‑ka‑rang (final [ŋ]). Malay has fairly even stress across syllables; keep vowels short and clear.