Learn Hardcore Malay: Awak suka pergi mana-mana pada hujung minggu, kan? - You like to go anywhere on the weekend, right?

awak – neutral/informal, used between friends, classmates, colleagues. Can sound too familiar or a bit rude if used to someone much older or of much higher status, unless there is closeness.
kamu – more common in textbooks and in Indonesia; in Malaysia it can sound either distant, literary, or sometimes slightly off in everyday speech.
anda – polite and impersonal, common in advertisements, announcements, instruction manuals (like “you” on a form).
engkau / kau – very informal, often between close friends, can sound rude if used to the wrong person.
Often, people just use the person’s name or title instead of awak (for politeness), e.g. Encik Ali suka pergi mana-mana pada hujung minggu, kan?

So your sentence Awak suka pergi mana-mana pada hujung minggu, kan? sounds like something you’d say to a peer or someone you know fairly well.

Why is there no word like do in Awak suka pergi mana-mana pada hujung minggu, kan??

Malay does not use a separate auxiliary verb like English do to form questions.

Awak suka pergi mana-mana pada hujung minggu.
= You like to go somewhere / anywhere on weekends.

To turn that into a yes–no question, you normally just:

Keep the same word order, and
Use question intonation and/or a particle like kan or tak.

So:

Awak suka pergi mana-mana pada hujung minggu?
(Rising intonation) = Do you like to go anywhere on weekends?

Adding kan turns it into a tag-question style:

Awak suka pergi mana-mana pada hujung minggu, kan?
= You like going anywhere on weekends, right?

No extra do-type word is needed; the question feel comes from intonation and particles, not from a helper verb.

What exactly does suka mean here? How is it different from gemar or sering?

In this sentence, suka means to like, to enjoy:

Awak suka pergi mana-mana…
= You like / enjoy going anywhere…

Comparison:

suka – everyday word for like (emotion or preference).
Saya suka kopi. = I like coffee.
gemar – also like / be fond of, but sounds more formal or written, or sometimes a bit old-fashioned in casual speech.
Saya gemar membaca. = I am fond of reading.
sering – often / frequently, an adverb of frequency, not “to like”.
Saya sering pergi ke sana. = I often go there.

So:

Awak suka pergi mana-mana pada hujung minggu?
= Do you like going anywhere on weekends?
Awak sering pergi mana-mana pada hujung minggu?
= Do you often go anywhere on weekends?

Different meaning: suka = like; sering = often.

How is mana-mana different from mana or di mana-mana?

They are related but not the same:

mana
- Means which / where (question word).
- Used when you want a specific place or choice.
- Example: Awak pergi mana hujung minggu ni?
  = Where are you going this weekend?
mana-mana
- Reduplicated form, used as an indefinite word: anywhere / any place.
- Suggests “any place, not specified”.
- In your sentence:
  Awak suka pergi mana-mana pada hujung minggu…
  ≈ Do you like going anywhere (to any place) on weekends?
di mana-mana
- Means everywhere.
- di = at/in, so literally “at where-where” → everywhere.
- Example: Jenama ini terkenal di mana-mana.
  = This brand is famous everywhere.

So:

mana → where / which (question).
mana-mana → anywhere / any place (indefinite).
di mana-mana → everywhere (all over the place).

Why can you say pergi mana-mana without ke? Should it be pergi ke mana-mana?

With pergi (go), ke is the usual preposition for direction:

pergi ke sekolah = go to school
pergi ke Kuala Lumpur = go to Kuala Lumpur

With mana-mana, both forms are heard:

pergi mana-mana
pergi ke mana-mana

Differences:

pergi mana-mana is very natural in speech and a bit shorter.
pergi ke mana-mana is also correct and can sound a bit more careful or formal, or sometimes used to avoid any feeling of “missing” a preposition.

In your sentence, Awak suka pergi mana-mana pada hujung minggu, kan? is perfectly acceptable and sounds normal in everyday conversation. If you say pergi ke mana-mana, it’s still fine:

Awak suka pergi ke mana-mana pada hujung minggu, kan?
= Do you like going anywhere on weekends?

Why is pada used in pada hujung minggu? Can I use di or leave it out?

pada is a general preposition often used with time expressions:

pada hujung minggu = on weekends
pada waktu pagi = in the morning
pada hari Isnin = on Monday

In standard grammar:

di is more for location in space (at/in/on a place).
pada is commonly used for time, and also for some abstract uses.

So the “textbook” version is:

Awak suka pergi mana-mana pada hujung minggu…

In actual Malaysian speech:

Many people also say di hujung minggu and it’s widely understood and commonly heard.
You can sometimes drop the preposition in informal speech by changing the order:
- Hujung minggu awak suka pergi mana-mana, kan?
  (Literally: Weekend, you like to go anywhere, right?)

Summary:

pada hujung minggu – safest and most standard for “on weekends”.
di hujung minggu – common in speech, acceptable in many contexts.
No preposition & fronting hujung minggu – informal but natural in conversation.

Does hujung minggu always mean “weekend”? Are there other ways to say “weekend”?

Hujung minggu literally means end of the week and is the normal way to say weekend in Malaysia.

Other related expressions:

akhir minggu – also “end of the week”; more formal or used in writing.
hari minggu – often used to mean Sunday, but in some contexts can refer to weekend/holiday days.
cuti hujung minggu – weekend break, weekend holiday.

Indonesian note (in case you see it):

Indonesian usually says akhir pekan for “weekend”.

In everyday Malaysian usage, hujung minggu is your go-to phrase for “weekend”:

Awak suka pergi mana-mana pada hujung minggu, kan?
= You like going anywhere on weekends, right?

What does kan do at the end of the sentence? Is it necessary?

kan here is a tag particle that works like English right?, isn’t it?, yeah?.

Awak suka pergi mana-mana pada hujung minggu.
= You like going anywhere on weekends. (statement)
Awak suka pergi mana-mana pada hujung minggu, kan?
= You like going anywhere on weekends, right?

Nuance of kan:

Shows that the speaker expects agreement or is fairly sure.
Softens the question and makes it more confirming than probing.
Often comes from shortening bukan (“not / isn’t it”) in this tag use.

Is it necessary?

No. You can drop it to make a plain yes–no question:
- Awak suka pergi mana-mana pada hujung minggu?
  (Do you like going anywhere on weekends?)
With kan?, it’s more like you’re checking something you think is true.

So kan isn’t grammatically required, but it changes the tone to a friendly, confirming question.

How would I answer this question in Malay, both “yes” and “no”?

The question:

Awak suka pergi mana-mana pada hujung minggu, kan?

Possible yes answers:

Ya, saya suka. = Yes, I do (like it).
Ya, suka. = Yes, (I) like (it).
Very casual: Ha’ah, suka. (spoken, informal “yeah, I do”)

You can also add detail:

Ya, saya suka pergi ke pantai pada hujung minggu.
= Yes, I like going to the beach on weekends.

Possible no answers:

Tak, saya tak suka. = No, I don’t (like it).
Tak, saya tak suka pergi mana-mana pada hujung minggu.
= No, I don’t like going anywhere on weekends.
You might naturally add a reason:
- Tak, saya lebih suka duduk di rumah.
  = No, I prefer to stay at home.

Note on negation:

tak / tidak negates verbs and adjectives: tak suka = don’t like.
bukan negates nouns or corrects statements (different use).

Is this sentence formal or informal? How would I make it more formal or more casual?

Awak suka pergi mana-mana pada hujung minggu, kan? is:

Neutral to informal.
Fine between friends, classmates, younger people, or equals.

To make it more formal / polite:

Use a more formal pronoun or title and drop kan:
- Encik suka pergi ke mana-mana pada hujung minggu?
  (to a man, politely)
- Puan suka pergi ke mana-mana pada hujung minggu?
  (to a woman, politely)
- Tuan/Puan suka pergi ke mana-mana pada hujung minggu?
  (very polite)
You can also use anda in written or semi-formal contexts:
- Anda suka pergi ke mana-mana pada hujung minggu?
Very formal, written-style question:
- Adakah anda suka pergi ke mana-mana pada hujung minggu?

To make it more casual:

Change awak to a very informal pronoun with friends:
- Kau suka pergi mana-mana hujung minggu, kan?
Drop pada in casual speech:
- Awak suka pergi mana-mana hujung minggu, kan?
Sometimes drop the subject if it’s obvious from context:
- Suka pergi mana-mana hujung minggu, kan?

For learners, the original sentence is a good neutral template; you can then adjust the pronoun and small details depending on how formal or casual you need to be.