Dia rasa gugup sebelum temu duga, tetapi dia tarik nafas dalam-dalam.

He/She feels nervous before the interview, but he/she takes deep breaths.

Breakdown of Dia rasa gugup sebelum temu duga, tetapi dia tarik nafas dalam-dalam.

• dia: he/she
• sebelum: before
• rasa: to feel
• tetapi: but
• tarik nafas: to take a breath
• temu duga: the interview
• gugup: nervous
• dalam-dalam: deeply

Questions & Answers about Dia rasa gugup sebelum temu duga, tetapi dia tarik nafas dalam-dalam.

In Malay, does dia mean he or she? How do you show gender in this sentence?

Dia is gender‑neutral and can mean he, she, him, or her, depending on context.
Malay normally does not mark gender in pronouns.

In Dia rasa gugup sebelum temu duga, tetapi dia tarik nafas dalam-dalam, you only know whether it’s he or she from context or from earlier sentences. If you really need to specify gender, you would usually add a noun like:

• lelaki itu – that man
• perempuan itu – that woman

but you still keep dia as the pronoun in the sentence itself.

Why is it dia rasa gugup and not dia merasa gugup or dia berasa gugup? Are these different?

All three exist, but they differ in style and frequency:

• dia rasa gugup – very common in everyday spoken Malay; informal but widely used, also acceptable in many written contexts.
• dia berasa gugup – a bit more formal/literary; often used in writing or careful speech.
• dia merasa gugup – grammatically possible but sounds heavier; merasa is more often used with objects you taste/feel physically, e.g. merasa makanan (to taste food).

So for natural, conversational Malay, dia rasa gugup is perfectly normal and probably the most common.

What exactly does gugup mean? Is it the same as nervous or shy?

Gugup is close to nervous, especially in the sense of:

• tense, jittery, not calm
• sometimes stuttering or having trouble speaking smoothly because of nerves

It is not the same as shy (= pemalu).
Some rough comparisons:

• gugup – nervous, flustered (e.g. before an interview, presentation)
• cemas / gelisah – anxious, worried
• takut – afraid
• malu – shy / embarrassed

In this sentence, gugup fits well for nervous before an interview.

Why is it sebelum temu duga and not sebelum temu-duga or sebelum temuduga? Which spelling is correct?

Official modern Malay (as used in Malaysia’s standard BM) prefers temu duga as two words:

• temu – meeting
• duga – to test / to assess

So temu duga literally means assessment meeting → interview.

You will still see temuduga written as one word, especially in older texts or casual writing, and it is widely understood. However, if you want to follow current standard spelling, use:

• sebelum temu duga – before the interview

No hyphen (temu-duga) is used here.

Malay doesn’t mark tense like English. How do we know whether this sentence is in the past or present?

Grammatically, Dia rasa gugup sebelum temu duga, tetapi dia tarik nafas dalam-dalam can mean:

• He/She feels nervous before the interview, but he/she takes a deep breath. (present)
• He/She felt nervous before the interview, but he/she took a deep breath. (past)

Malay usually relies on:

1. Time words:
   
   • tadi (a while ago)
   • semalam (last night)
   • esok (tomorrow)
2. Context from previous sentences.

For example, to make it clearly past, you might say:

• Tadi dia rasa gugup sebelum temu duga, tetapi dia tarik nafas dalam-dalam.
  (Earlier, he/she felt nervous…)

What’s the difference between tetapi and tapi here? Could I use tapi instead?

Both mean but:

• tetapi – more formal; common in writing, presentations, and careful speech
• tapi – informal/colloquial; very common in everyday conversation

In spoken Malay, you would almost always hear:

• … sebelum temu duga, tapi dia tarik nafas dalam-dalam.

In formal writing (essays, exams, official documents), tetapi is safer. Grammatically, either is fine; it’s a matter of register (formality).

Why is it tarik nafas? Literally it’s pull breath—is this a standard expression?

Yes, tarik nafas is a standard idiomatic expression meaning to inhale / to take a breath. Literally:

• tarik – pull
• nafas – breath

So tarik nafas dalam-dalam = take a deep breath.

You may also see:

• menghela nafas – to breathe out / to let out a breath (often with a nuance of relief, sadness, etc.)

But for take a deep breath (in) before doing something, tarik nafas dalam-dalam is very natural.

What does the reduplication in dalam-dalam do? Could we just say tarik nafas dalam?

Reduplication in Malay often adds intensity or emphasis. Here:

• dalam – deep
• dalam-dalam – very deep / deeply / a big deep breath

Tarik nafas dalam is understandable, but tarik nafas dalam-dalam sounds more natural and idiomatic for take a deep breath.

Other similar patterns:

• pelan-pelan – very slowly
• laju-laju – very fast

So dalam-dalam strengthens the idea of depth.

Is it necessary to repeat dia in the second clause, or can we say … tetapi tarik nafas dalam-dalam?

In Malay, it is often natural to drop the pronoun when it’s clear from context. So both are possible:

• Dia rasa gugup sebelum temu duga, tetapi dia tarik nafas dalam-dalam.
• Dia rasa gugup sebelum temu duga, tetapi tarik nafas dalam-dalam.

The second version is common in speech and informal writing.
However, keeping dia:

• avoids any possible ambiguity
• sounds slightly more complete and is safer for learners and formal writing

Is the comma before tetapi required in Malay?

In standard writing, a comma before coordinating conjunctions like tetapi is common and recommended when joining two full clauses:

• Dia rasa gugup sebelum temu duga, tetapi dia tarik nafas dalam-dalam.

You might see it without a comma in casual texts:

• Dia rasa gugup sebelum temu duga tetapi dia tarik nafas dalam-dalam.

It’s still understandable, but for clear, standard punctuation, keeping the comma before tetapi is a good habit.