Selain berjoging, senaman kegemaran saya adalah senaman di ruang tamu bersama video dalam talian.

Besides jogging, my favorite exercise is working out in the living room with an online video.

Breakdown of Selain berjoging, senaman kegemaran saya adalah senaman di ruang tamu bersama video dalam talian.

• adalah: to be
• di: in
• bersama: with
• saya: my
• video: the video
• ruang tamu: the living room
• kegemaran: favorite
• selain: besides
• senaman: the exercise
• berjoging: to jog
• dalam talian: online

Questions & Answers about Selain berjoging, senaman kegemaran saya adalah senaman di ruang tamu bersama video dalam talian.

What does Selain mean here, and does it always come at the start with a comma?

Selain means roughly “besides / apart from / in addition to” in this sentence.

Usage points:

• It commonly appears at the start of the clause when you’re introducing an additional item:
  • Selain berjoging, saya suka berenang.
    = Besides jogging, I like swimming.
• A comma after that introductory phrase is normal in writing, but in everyday texts people may or may not type it. It doesn’t change the meaning; it just reflects a natural pause in speech.
• Selain can also appear mid‑sentence:
  • Saya, selain berjoging, suka berenang juga.
    (more written/literary, less common in casual speech)

So in normal, natural sentences like yours, Selain at the beginning + comma is the most typical pattern.

What’s the difference between Selain, Selain daripada, and kecuali?

All three relate to “besides/except,” but their emphasis and register differ.

1. Selain

   • Neutral “besides / in addition to / apart from”.
   • Very common in both spoken and written Malay.
   • Example:
     Selain kopi, saya minum teh setiap pagi.
     = Besides coffee, I drink tea every morning.

2. Selain daripada

   • Slightly more formal or explicit version of Selain.
   • Often used in writing, official notices, or when the phrase after it is longer.
   • In your sentence, you could also say:
     Selain daripada berjoging, senaman kegemaran saya...
     Meaning is essentially the same, just a bit more formal/specific.

3. kecuali

   • More like “except / except for”.
   • Often used to exclude something, not to add.
   • Example:
     Semua orang hadir kecuali Ali.
     = Everyone was present except Ali.

In your sentence, Selain (or Selain daripada) is correct because you’re adding another favorite kind of exercise, not excluding jogging.

Why is it berjoging and not just joging?

In Malay, many verbs start with a prefix, and many loanwords from English are turned into verbs by adding ber- or meN-.

• joging by itself is more like a noun (“jogging” as an activity).
• berjoging is a verb (“to jog / jogging (as an activity being done)”).

Compare:

• Saya suka berjoging.
  = I like jogging (I like to jog).
• Saya suka joging.
  = I like jogging (more noun‑like; still understood, but less standard in careful Malay).

In your sentence, berjoging works well because it’s functioning as an activity you do, parallel to “doing exercise in the living room.” Using the ber- form makes it clearly a verb phrase and feels more natural in standard Malay.

How does the noun phrase senaman kegemaran saya work? Why is the order different from English?

Malay noun phrases generally follow this order:

Head noun + describing words + possessor

So:

• senaman = exercise (head noun)
• kegemaran = favourite (adjectival noun)
• saya = my (possessor)

Together: senaman kegemaran saya
Literally: exercise favourite my → “my favourite exercise”.

In Malay you normally don’t say:

• kegemaran senaman saya (sounds wrong/unnatural)
• or move saya in front like saya punya senaman kegemaran (very colloquial and awkward here).

So the natural pattern is:

• buku baru saya = my new book
• rumah besar mereka = their big house
• senaman kegemaran saya = my favorite exercise

Why is senaman repeated: senaman kegemaran saya adalah senaman di ruang tamu …? Is that necessary?

The repetition is grammatically OK but stylistically a bit heavy. It’s not wrong; it just sounds slightly wordy.

Original:

• Senaman kegemaran saya adalah senaman di ruang tamu bersama video dalam talian.

More natural variants:

1. Senaman kegemaran saya ialah senaman di ruang tamu bersama video dalam talian.
   (keeps the repetition but changes adalah to ialah, which many consider better here)

2. Senaman kegemaran saya ialah bersenam di ruang tamu bersama video dalam talian.

   • Here, the second senaman is replaced by bersenam (“to exercise”), which sounds smoother:
   • Literally: “My favorite exercise is exercising in the living room with online videos.”

3. Kegemaran saya ialah senaman di ruang tamu bersama video dalam talian.

   • Drop senaman the first time; still clear from context that you’re talking about exercise.

So:

• The repetition is not required.
• In natural speech/writing, Malays often avoid repeating senaman if the meaning is clear.

What’s the difference between adalah and ialah here? Which one is more correct?

Both adalah and ialah are often translated as “is/are”, but they have different typical uses, especially in more formal or careful Malay.

A common rule of thumb (in standard Malay):

• ialah

  • Used when the complement is usually a noun phrase.
  • Example:
    Hobi saya ialah membaca.
    My hobby is reading.
  • In your sentence:
    Senaman kegemaran saya ialah senaman di ruang tamu…
    sounds very good.

• adalah

  • Often used before adjectives or longer explanations, or in more abstract / formal written language:
    • Keputusan itu adalah muktamad.
      That decision is final.
    • Kebaikan bersenam adalah kesihatan yang lebih baik.

In everyday, informal use, people do mix them, and adalah in your sentence is not “wrong” in conversation. But many style guides would recommend ialah there, because you’re linking one noun phrase (senaman kegemaran saya) to another noun phrase (senaman di ruang tamu…).

Could we just leave out adalah / ialah and say Senaman kegemaran saya senaman di ruang tamu…?

You can sometimes drop the copula (“is/are”) in Malay, but not always so freely.

Acceptable pattern (no ialah/adalah):

• Hobi saya memasak dan membaca.
  (literally: Hobby my cooking and reading.)

This works because it’s a common pattern and short.

But your sentence:

• Senaman kegemaran saya senaman di ruang tamu bersama video dalam talian.

sounds awkward and incomplete in standard Malay. Because both sides are fairly long noun phrases, ialah helps the sentence feel balanced and clear.

Much more natural:

• Senaman kegemaran saya ialah senaman di ruang tamu bersama video dalam talian.
• Or: Senaman kegemaran saya ialah bersenam di ruang tamu bersama video dalam talian.

Why is it di ruang tamu and not something like pada ruang tamu or ke ruang tamu?

The prepositions:

• di = at / in / on (location; where something is)
• ke = to / towards (direction; movement to a place)
• pada = at / on but mostly for time, or more abstract location/attachment.

In your sentence:

• di ruang tamu = in the living room (location of the exercise).

Other examples:

• Saya duduk di ruang tamu. = I’m sitting in the living room.
• Saya pergi ke ruang tamu. = I go to the living room.
• Mesyuarat itu pada hari Isnin. = The meeting is on Monday.

So di is the correct choice for where the action happens.

What does bersama mean here, and how is it different from dengan?

Both bersama and dengan can mean “with”, but they have slightly different flavours:

• bersama

  • Often feels a bit more formal or a bit more “together with / accompanied by”.
  • Sounds nice in written sentences and ads:
    Makan malam bersama keluarga. = Dinner with the family.

• dengan

  • The most common, neutral “with” in conversation:
    • Saya belajar dengan buku ini. = I study with this book.
    • Saya pergi dengan kawan saya. = I go with my friend.

In your sentence:

• … senaman di ruang tamu bersama video dalam talian.
  = exercising in the living room with online videos.

You could replace bersama with dengan without changing the basic meaning:

• … senaman di ruang tamu dengan video dalam talian.

Both are fine; bersama just sounds a touch more “nicely phrased” or formal in writing.

Is video dalam talian really how people say “online video”? Can I just say “video online”?

In formal / standard Malay, especially in government or educational materials:

• video dalam talian
  literally “videos in the line” → “online videos”

However, in everyday usage, Malaysians and Singaporeans often:

• Just use the English word online:
  • video online, kelas online, mesyuarat online.
• Or write atas talian, although purists prefer dalam talian.

So, depending on context:

• Formal / exam / official text:
  video dalam talian is safest.
• Casual speech or informal writing (WhatsApp, social media):
  video online is very common and easily understood.

How do you express the plural “videos” in Malay? Does video dalam talian mean one video or many?

Malay usually doesn’t mark plural with an ending like English -s. The noun can be singular or plural, depending on context.

So:

• video dalam talian can mean:
  • an online video
  • online videos
    depending on the overall sentence and what makes sense.

If you really want to emphasize plural, you have a few options:

1. Use a number or quantifier:

   • beberapa video dalam talian = several online videos
   • banyak video dalam talian = many online videos

2. Reduplication (less common with English loanwords, but possible):

   • video‑video dalam talian = videos (online)
     This looks formal/written and is not used much in casual speech for video.

In your sentence, it’s naturally understood as videos (plural) because you typically follow along with multiple workout videos over time.

Could we use bersenam instead of senaman? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can, and it often sounds more natural.

• senaman = exercise (noun)
• bersenam = to exercise / exercising (verb)

Your original sentence is fully noun‑based:

• Senaman kegemaran saya adalah senaman di ruang tamu…
  = My favourite exercise is the exercise in the living room…

A smoother version uses a verb phrase on the right side:

• Senaman kegemaran saya ialah bersenam di ruang tamu bersama video dalam talian.
  = My favorite exercise is exercising in the living room with online videos.

So:

• senaman names the activity as a thing.
• bersenam describes the action of doing it.
• Both are correct, but many native speakers would prefer …ialah bersenam di ruang tamu… in this kind of sentence.

Is this sentence formal or informal? How might a more casual version look?

The original sentence is neutral to slightly formal—perfectly fine for writing, essays, or polite speech.

A more casual version someone might say to a friend:

• Selain jogging, saya paling suka bersenam kat ruang tamu dengan video online.

Changes:

• jogging instead of berjoging (borrowing English directly).
• paling suka = like the most (instead of senaman kegemaran saya).
• kat (colloquial for di) in Malaysian speech.
• video online instead of video dalam talian.

For standard but still quite natural spoken Malay (not too formal):

• Selain berjoging, senaman kegemaran saya ialah bersenam di ruang tamu dengan video online.

This keeps good grammar but sounds less stiff than the original.