Learn Hardcore Malay: Dia mengajar sejarah di kelas setiap pagi. - He/She teaches history in class every morning.

Malay personal pronouns do not usually mark gender.
Context (earlier sentences, names, pictures, etc.) tells you whether dia refers to a man or a woman.
If you really need to specify, you can say:
- lelaki itu = that man
- perempuan itu = that woman
- or use the person’s name instead of dia.

So in this sentence, dia just means that person / he / she, depending on context.

What is the difference between ajar, mengajar, and belajar?

All three are related but used differently:

ajar – the root word, to teach. You mainly see it inside other forms:
- mengajar (to teach)
- pengajar (teacher, instructor)
mengajar – to teach (someone else):
- Dia mengajar sejarah. = He/She teaches history.
belajar – to study / to learn (yourself):
- Dia belajar sejarah. = He/She studies history.

So:

mengajar = to teach (you are the teacher)
belajar = to learn/study (you are the student)

Why is it mengajar and not just ajar in this sentence?

Malay verbs often add a prefix to show how the root is used. Here:

Root: ajar (teach)
With prefix meN- → mengajar

meN- + ajar → mengajar is the standard verb form meaning “to teach” in sentences.

You might see ajar by itself:

in informal speech: Saya ajar kamu. (more casual)
in dictionary entries, or compound words.

But in normal, neutral Malay, mengajar is the usual form for “teaches / is teaching / taught”.

How can mengajar mean teaches, is teaching, or taught? Where is the tense?

Malay verbs do not change form for tense (no -s, -ed, -ing, etc.). The same verb form mengajar can mean:

teaches / is teaching (present)
taught (past)
will teach (future)
habitually teaches (like in this sentence)

Tense and time are shown by:

time words: semalam (yesterday), esok (tomorrow), sekarang (now), tadi (earlier), setiap pagi (every morning), etc.
context in the conversation.

In this sentence, setiap pagi (“every morning”) makes it clear this is a habitual action.

What does sejarah mean exactly? Is it like the school subject History?

Yes. sejarah means history, and in this sentence it refers to the school subject History.

Points to note:

It can mean history in general:
sejarah Malaysia = the history of Malaysia
belajar sejarah dunia = study world history
It does not change for plural:
sejarah can mean “history” or “histories”, depending on context.

Here, mengajar sejarah is naturally understood as “teaches (the subject) History”.

Does kelas mean the classroom, the lesson, or the group of students?

kelas can mean several related things, and context tells you which:

Classroom / physical room
- di kelas can mean “in the classroom”.
Class / lesson / period
- Pergi ke kelas. = Go to class.
Class / group of students
- kelas 5A = class 5A (a group of students)

In Dia mengajar sejarah di kelas setiap pagi, most natural readings are:

“teaches history in class every morning”, or
“teaches history in the classroom every morning”.

Malay doesn’t need to be very precise here; di kelas comfortably covers both ideas.

Why do we need di before kelas? Can I say … mengajar sejarah kelas setiap pagi?

You must use the preposition di here.

di = at / in / on (location marker)
di kelas = in class / in the classroom

Without di, kelas would directly follow the object sejarah, and it becomes confusing or ungrammatical:

mengajar sejarah kelas does not sound natural or correct.

So:

✔ Dia mengajar sejarah di kelas setiap pagi.
✘ Dia mengajar sejarah kelas setiap pagi. (wrong / unnatural)

What is the difference between di kelas, dalam kelas, and di dalam kelas?

All are related but slightly different in nuance:

di kelas
- General: “in class / at class / in the classroom”.
- Very common and natural in everyday speech.
dalam kelas
- Literally “inside the class / inside the classroom”.
- Focuses a bit more on the interior, but sounds a little bare; usually we say di dalam kelas instead.
di dalam kelas
- “inside the classroom”, with extra emphasis on being inside.

In many contexts, di kelas and di dalam kelas can both translate as “in the classroom”, but di kelas is shorter and more common unless you really want to stress inside.

Where are the words a or the in this sentence? How do articles work in Malay?

Malay does not use articles like a, an, or the.

dia – he/she (no “the he/she”)
sejarah – history (no “the history / a history”)
kelas – class / the class / a class, depending on context.

If you really need to show “a(n)” for countable nouns, Malay can use:

seorang (for people) – e.g. seorang guru (a teacher)
sebuah, seekor, etc., depending on the noun.

But in this sentence, you just say sejarah and kelas, and English readers supply “history” / “the class” from context.

Can setiap pagi go in a different position, like at the start of the sentence?

Yes. Time expressions are flexible in Malay. All of these are grammatical:

Dia mengajar sejarah di kelas setiap pagi.
Setiap pagi dia mengajar sejarah di kelas.
Dia setiap pagi mengajar sejarah di kelas. (less common but possible)

Most natural are (1) and (2). Putting setiap pagi at the start (sentence 2) emphasizes the time/frequency a bit more: “Every morning, he/she teaches history in class.”

Can I use tiap instead of setiap in setiap pagi?

Yes. setiap and tiap are very close in meaning:

setiap pagi – every morning (slightly more formal/common in standard Malay)
tiap pagi – every morning (very common in speech)
tiap-tiap pagi – also used, a bit more emphatic or old‑fashioned sounding in some areas.

All are understandable. In neutral writing or textbooks, setiap pagi is very typical.

How would I say “He/She studies history in class every morning” instead of “teaches history”?

You only need to change mengajar (teach) to belajar (study/learn):

Dia belajar sejarah di kelas setiap pagi.

So:

mengajar = teach (be the teacher)
belajar = study/learn (be the student)