Learn Hardcore Malay: Hubungan mereka sebelum berkahwin adalah sangat dekat seperti adik-beradik. - Their relationship before getting married was very close like siblings.

Hubungan mereka sebelum berkahwin adalah sangat dekat seperti adik-beradik.

Their relationship before getting married was very close like siblings.

Breakdown of Hubungan mereka sebelum berkahwin adalah sangat dekat seperti adik-beradik.

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Questions & Answers about Hubungan mereka sebelum berkahwin adalah sangat dekat seperti adik-beradik.

Why is the word order hubungan mereka and not something like mereka hubungan, since in English we say their relationship?

In Malay, the normal noun–possessor order is:

[noun] + [possessor]

So:

hubungan mereka = relationship they → their relationship
rumah saya = house I → my house
kereta Ali = car Ali → Ali’s car

You do not put the possessor before the noun the way English does.
mereka hubungan is ungrammatical.

You can say hubungan mereka berdua (their relationship, the two of them) for extra clarity/emphasis, but the basic structure still keeps hubungan first.
You could also say hubungan di antara mereka (the relationship between them), which sounds a bit more formal or explicit.

What is the role of adalah here, and can I leave it out?

In the sentence, adalah functions like a linking verb/coupler, roughly like “is / was” in English:

Hubungan mereka … adalah sangat dekat…
→ Their relationship … was very close…

However, in normal, simple sentences where the predicate is an adjective or noun, Malay often drops adalah:

Hubungan mereka sebelum berkahwin sangat dekat.
This is completely correct and natural.

When is adalah more likely?

To sound slightly more formal or written.
When the predicate is long or complex.
Sometimes for emphasis or clarity.

So:

With adalah → more formal/emphatic.
Without adalah → very common and completely grammatical in everyday Malay.

The meaning is past (“was very close before they got married”), but there’s no past tense word. How does Malay show past time here?

Malay usually doesn’t mark tense with verb changes like English “is/was”. Instead, it relies on:

Time expressions
- sebelum berkahwin = before getting married
  This already places the situation in the past relative to the marriage.
Context
If we know they are now married, then sebelum berkahwin naturally reads as “before they got married” → so “was very close”.

You could add dulu to emphasize the past:

Hubungan mereka dulu, sebelum berkahwin, sangat dekat…
(Their relationship in the past, before they got married, was very close…)

But grammatically it’s not required; Malay is comfortable leaving tense to context + time phrases.

Why is it sebelum berkahwin and not sebelum mereka berkahwin?

Both are possible:

sebelum berkahwin
sebelum mereka berkahwin

Malay often omits obvious subjects when they’re already clear from context.
Here, mereka (they) has just been mentioned in hubungan mereka, so the listener naturally understands that the people who got married are them.

Adding mereka:

Hubungan mereka sebelum mereka berkahwin…

This is still correct, just a bit heavier and more repetitive. Native speakers usually drop the second mereka unless they need extra clarity or contrast.

What’s the difference between berkahwin and kahwin?

Both come from the same root kahwin (to marry):

berkahwin
- More standard/formal.
- Often used in writing, news, formal speech.
kahwin (without ber-)
- Very common in informal / spoken Malay.
- Perfectly natural in conversation.

So you could also say:

Hubungan mereka sebelum kahwin sangat dekat…
(sounds more casual/colloquial)

Whereas sebelum berkahwin sounds a bit more neutral or formal.

Does dekat here mean physical closeness (“near”) or emotional closeness (“close relationship”)? Would another word be better?

Literally, dekat means near / close (in distance), but it’s also used metaphorically for relationships, especially in speech:

Kami sangat dekat.
→ We’re very close (emotionally).

That said, for relationships, Malay often prefers:

rapat
akrab

So many speakers would naturally say:

Hubungan mereka sebelum berkahwin sangat rapat / akrab, seperti adik-beradik.

Your original sentence with sangat dekat is still understandable and acceptable, but:

sangat rapat / sangat akrab sounds more idiomatic for emotional closeness.

Why is it sangat dekat, not dekat sangat? Can the order change?

Both word orders exist, but they feel a bit different:

sangat dekat
- Neutral, standard order: intensifier + adjective.
- Common in both spoken and written Malay.
- Directly corresponds to “very close”.
dekat sangat
- More colloquial / spoken feeling.
- Often carries a slightly emotional or exclamatory tone:
  - Mereka dekat sangat!
    → They’re really close! (with emphasis)

In a neutral, descriptive sentence like yours, sangat dekat is the more standard and natural choice.

What exactly does adik-beradik mean? Why is it doubled like that?

Adik-beradik is a set phrase meaning siblings (brothers and/or sisters).

Structure:

adik = younger sibling
adik-beradik = siblings (all the brothers and sisters together)

This uses a pattern called reduplication in Malay, where a word (or part of it) is repeated/paired to create a new meaning, often:

plural or collective sense
related or group concept

Other examples:

kawan-kawan = friends
rumah-rumah = houses
anak-beranak = the whole family / parent(s) + children

So seperti adik-beradik literally means like siblings, implying a very close, family-like relationship (but non-romantic).

Does adik-beradik imply more than two siblings? There are only two people in this sentence.

Even if there are only two people, adik-beradik is still used idiomatically to mean “like siblings” in general:

Mereka rapat seperti adik-beradik.
→ They are close like siblings (like a brother and sister / two brothers / two sisters).

It doesn’t strictly mean “many siblings” here; it’s just the natural expression to say:

Their relationship is like that of siblings.

So the plural/collective shape adik-beradik is used even if only two people are being compared.

What’s the function of seperti here? Can I use macam instead?

seperti means “like / as / similar to” and introduces a comparison:

sangat dekat seperti adik-beradik
→ very close like siblings

About macam:

macam also means “like / sort of”, but it’s more informal/colloquial.
In everyday speech, many people would say:
- …sangat rapat, macam adik-beradik.

Formality:

seperti → more standard / neutral / formal
macam → informal, very common in speech

In writing or formal contexts, seperti is safer; in casual conversation, macam is extremely common.

Could I say Hubungan mereka sebelum berkahwin adalah seperti adik-beradik yang sangat dekat? Is that still natural?

Grammatically, it’s not wrong, but it sounds awkward and less natural for a few reasons:

The core idea is simply:
- Their relationship was very close, like siblings.
Your version:
- …adalah seperti adik-beradik yang sangat dekat.
- Now “very close” is modifying “siblings”, not directly the relationship.
- It becomes Their relationship was like siblings who are very close, which is more complicated than needed.

Natural options:

Hubungan mereka sebelum berkahwin sangat rapat, seperti adik-beradik.
Sebelum berkahwin, hubungan mereka sangat rapat, seperti adik-beradik.

These say exactly what you want in a clean, native-like way.

Why is the subject Hubungan mereka (their relationship) instead of just Mereka (they)?

Using Hubungan mereka focuses specifically on the relationship, not just the people:

Mereka sebelum berkahwin sangat dekat.
→ This can be understood, but it sounds a bit vague:
- They were very close before getting married.
Hubungan mereka sebelum berkahwin sangat dekat.
→ Makes it explicit we’re talking about “their relationship”.

Malay often uses abstract nouns like:

hubungan (relationship)
perhubungan (relationship/connection)
ikatan (bond, tie)

to talk about how people relate to each other, similar to English.

So choosing Hubungan mereka is a clear, natural way to make the relationship itself the topic of the sentence.

Is there any difference between Hubungan mereka sebelum berkahwin… and Sebelum berkahwin, hubungan mereka…?

Both are correct and mean the same thing. The difference is only in focus/emphasis and style:

Hubungan mereka sebelum berkahwin adalah sangat dekat…
- Starts with hubungan mereka (their relationship).
- Neutral, straightforward.
Sebelum berkahwin, hubungan mereka adalah sangat dekat…
- Starts with sebelum berkahwin (before getting married).
- Slightly emphasizes the time frame first, then tells you about the relationship.

This kind of fronting (putting the time phrase at the start) is very common in Malay and is mostly a matter of style or what you want to highlight first. Both are natural.