Saya berasa sedikit letih.

I feel a little tired.

Breakdown of Saya berasa sedikit letih.

• saya: I
• letih: tired
• berasa: to feel
• sedikit: a bit

Questions & Answers about Saya berasa sedikit letih.

What does each word in Saya berasa sedikit letih mean word by word?

• Saya – I / me (polite, neutral pronoun)
• berasa – to feel (emotion or physical sensation)
• sedikit – a little / a bit
• letih – tired / exhausted

So the structure is literally: I – feel – a little – tired.

Why is there no word for am in this Malay sentence?

Malay usually does not use a separate verb like English am / is / are between the subject and the adjective.

• English: I am tired.
• Malay: Saya letih. (literally I tired)

In this sentence, berasa already functions as the verb (feel), so you do not need anything like am.
Saya berasa letih = I feel tired, not I am feel tired.

What is the difference between berasa and rasa?

Both are related to feeling, but there are some nuances:

• berasa

  • More formal / standard.
  • Common in writing, news, formal speech.
  • Often used with adjectives: berasa letih, berasa sedih.

• rasa

  • Very common in everyday speech.
  • Can mean to feel (emotion/physical), to think, or to taste.
  • Example: Saya rasa letih. (I feel tired.)

In conversation, Saya rasa sedikit letih will sound more natural than Saya berasa sedikit letih, but both are correct.

Does berasa mean the same as English to feel for both emotions and physical sensations?

Yes. berasa is used for:

• Physical sensations:

  • Saya berasa letih. – I feel tired.
  • Saya berasa sakit. – I feel pain / I feel sick.

• Emotions:

  • Saya berasa sedih. – I feel sad.
  • Saya berasa gembira. – I feel happy.

In everyday speech, people will usually say rasa instead of berasa.

Is Saya berasa sedikit letih formal or informal? How would people actually say this?

The sentence is polite and slightly formal because of berasa.

Common spoken alternatives:

• Saya rasa letih sikit. – I feel a bit tired.
• Saya penat sikit. – I am a bit tired.
• Among close friends, you might hear: Aku penat sikit.

So your original sentence is perfectly correct, just a bit more formal or written in flavour.

What is the difference between sedikit and sikit?

They mean the same thing (a little / a bit), but differ in style:

• sedikit

  • More standard / formal.
  • Used in writing, formal speech, and also accepted in normal conversation.

• sikit

  • Colloquial / informal.
  • Very common in everyday speech.

Examples:

• Formal-ish: Saya berasa sedikit letih.
• Informal: Saya rasa letih sikit.

Can I say letih sedikit instead of sedikit letih? Is the word order important?

Both word orders are understandable, but they sound a bit different:

• sedikit letih

  • More neutral.
  • Sounds like a little tired (standard word order, especially with sedikit).

• letih sedikit

  • Very common in speech, especially with sikit: letih sikit.
  • Feels a bit more like tired, but only a little.

For a textbook-style sentence, sedikit letih is fine. In natural conversation, you will often hear letih sikit or penat sikit.

What is the difference between letih, penat, and other words for tiredness?

Commonly used words:

• letih – tired, weary; can sound a bit heavier or more worn-out.
• penat – tired, fatigued; probably the most common everyday word.
• lelah – tired/exhausted (more literary / used in some regional or poetic styles).
• mengantuk – sleepy (specifically wanting to sleep, not just physically tired).

In daily speech, penat is extremely common:

• Saya penat sikit. – I am a bit tired.
• Saya berasa sedikit letih. – I feel a little tired. (more formal tone)

How would I make this sentence negative, like I don’t feel tired?

You add tidak (or tak in informal speech) before the verb or adjective.

Using your pattern:

• Formal/neutral: Saya tidak berasa letih. – I do not feel tired.
• More natural spoken:
  
  • Saya tak rasa letih. – I don’t feel tired.
  • Saya tak berasa letih. – also possible, slightly more formal due to berasa.

You can also soften it:

• Saya tidak berasa begitu letih. – I don’t feel that tired.

How do I talk about past or future with this sentence? Malay verbs don’t change, so what do I do?

In Malay, the verb stays the same. You add time words or particles to show tense.

Past:

• Tadi saya berasa sedikit letih. – Just now I felt a little tired.
• Semalam saya berasa sedikit letih. – Yesterday I felt a little tired.

Future:

• Nanti saya mungkin berasa sedikit letih. – Later I might feel a little tired.
• You can also use akan for a clear future:
  Saya akan berasa sedikit letih. – I will feel a little tired. (grammatically fine, though context-dependent)

So you do not change berasa; you add time markers around it.

Can I change Saya to something else, or drop it completely?

You can change the pronoun depending on who is speaking and to whom:

• Saya berasa sedikit letih. – polite/neutral I feel a little tired.
• Aku berasa sedikit letih. – informal/intimate I feel a little tired (with close friends, family, etc.).

Dropping the subject entirely (just Berasa sedikit letih.) is possible in context (for example, in a diary or when it is very clear who is speaking), but for learners it is safer to keep the pronoun.

In Malay people often say Saya rasa… to mean I think…. Can Saya berasa sedikit letih also mean I think I’m a bit tired?

With berasa here, it is understood as a physical/mental feeling, not an opinion. So it is really I feel a little tired.

With rasa, you can get two common uses:

• Saya rasa letih. – I feel tired. (sensation)
• Saya rasa dia betul. – I think he is right. (opinion)

In Saya berasa sedikit letih, native speakers will interpret it as a felt state, not I think I am a bit tired in the opinion sense.

How do I pronounce Saya berasa sedikit letih?

Rough pronunciation (each vowel is clear and separate):

• Saya – sa-ya (two syllables; a like in father)
• berasa – bə-ra-sa
  
  • be- is a short, relaxed e, like the a in sofa
• sedikit – sə-di-kit (again, short relaxed e in se-)
• letih – lə-tih (short relaxed e in le-, and tih with a clear h at the end)

Stress is usually on the second-to-last syllable: be-RA-sa, se-DI-kit, LE-tih.