Ibu selalu menasihati adik tentang cara mengurus masa.

Mother always advises my younger sibling about how to manage time.

Breakdown of Ibu selalu menasihati adik tentang cara mengurus masa.

• tentang: about
• selalu: always
• ibu: the mother
• cara: the way
• adik: the younger sibling
• masa: the time
• menasihati: to advise
• mengurus: to manage

Questions & Answers about Ibu selalu menasihati adik tentang cara mengurus masa.

Why does Ibu mean “my mother” even though there is no saya in the sentence?

In Malay, close family terms like ibu (mother), ayah (father), adik (younger sibling), kakak (older sister), etc. are often used without a possessive pronoun, but are understood as “my …” from context.
So Ibu selalu menasihati adik… is naturally understood as “My mother always advises my younger sibling…” in most contexts.
If you need to be explicit (for example in writing or when it might be ambiguous), you can say ibu saya = my mother.

Can Ibu mean anything other than “mother”? Are there more informal alternatives?

Yes. Ibu is both:

• A neutral/polite word for “mother”.
• A polite form of address for an older woman, similar to “Ma’am/Mrs.”

More informal alternatives for “mother” include emak/mak, mama, umi, etc., depending on region and family preference.
In this sentence, with no other context, Ibu is best read as “(my) mother.”

What is the basic word behind menasihati, and why does it have that form?

The base word is nasihat = advice.
menasihati is formed as:

• meN- + nasihat + -i → menasihati = to advise (someone)

So menasihati adik literally means “to give advice to the younger sibling.”
You can rephrase it more explicitly as memberi nasihat kepada adik, which means the same thing.

What’s the difference between menasihati, menasihatkan, and memberi nasihat?

All are related to nasihat (advice), but are used a bit differently:

• menasihati seseorang

  • Focus on the person: to advise someone.
  • Example: Ibu menasihati adik. = Mother advises her younger sibling.

• menasihatkan sesuatu kepada seseorang

  • Focus on the advice/content.
  • Example: Ibu menasihatkan beberapa perkara kepada adik. = Mother advises some matters to her younger sibling.

• memberi nasihat kepada seseorang

  • Literally to give advice to someone.
  • Very common and neutral.
  • Example: Ibu memberi nasihat kepada adik.

In your sentence, menasihati is fully correct and natural.

What exactly does adik mean? Does it specify gender?

Adik means “younger sibling” and does not specify gender.
It can refer to:

• A younger brother
• A younger sister

It is also often used as a friendly form of address for a younger person, like “kid” or “you (younger one)”.
To show gender, you can add a word: adik lelaki (younger brother), adik perempuan (younger sister).

Why doesn’t the sentence say “adik saya”? How do we know whose younger sibling it is?

Malay often omits possessive pronouns when the relationship is obvious from context.
In a typical family context, if you say adik, people will assume “my younger sibling” unless you say otherwise.
If it might be unclear or you want to be precise, you can say:

• adik saya = my younger sibling
• adik dia = his/her younger sibling

The original sentence relies on normal family-context assumptions.

What does selalu do in this sentence, and where can it go?

Selalu means “always” and shows that the action is habitual.

• Ibu selalu menasihati adik… = Mother always advises the younger sibling…

The most natural position is before the verb:

• Ibu selalu menasihati adik… ✅

You can say Ibu menasihati adik selalu…, but it sounds less natural and can feel slightly marked or poetic in everyday speech. Put selalu before the verb for standard usage.

What is the function of tentang here, and are there synonyms?

tentang means “about / regarding / concerning.”
In this sentence:

• menasihati adik tentang cara mengurus masa
  = advise the younger sibling about how to manage time

Common near-synonyms include mengenai, berkenaan (dengan), perihal. For example:

• … menasihati adik mengenai cara mengurus masa.
• … menasihati adik berkenaan cara mengurus masa.

Tentang is very common and sounds natural here.

How does cara mengurus masa work grammatically? Why no untuk?

cara = “way / method”.

The pattern is:
cara + [verb] + [object]

So:

• cara mengurus masa = the way (to) manage time / how to manage time

You could also say cara untuk mengurus masa, inserting untuk (to), and it would still be correct.
However, in Malay, cara + verb without untuk is very common and sounds natural and concise.

What’s the difference between cara mengurus masa and bagaimana mengurus masa?

Both relate to “how to manage time,” but they’re used differently:

• cara mengurus masa

  • Noun phrase: “the way of managing time / method of managing time”
  • Fits after nouns and prepositions: tentang cara mengurus masa.

• bagaimana mengurus masa

  • More like an embedded question phrase: “how to manage time”.
  • Common in direct or indirect questions:
    
    • Bagaimana mengurus masa dengan baik? = How to manage time well?

In your sentence, you need a noun phrase after tentang, so cara mengurus masa is better than bagaimana mengurus masa.

What does mengurus mean exactly, and how is it formed?

The root is urus, meaning to manage / handle / deal with / administer.

mengurus = meN- + urus → to manage / handle / take care of.

In mengurus masa, it means “to manage time / to organise one’s time.”
It’s commonly used with abstract things (masa, kewangan/finances, syarikat/company) and practical matters (dokumen/documents, jenazah/funeral arrangements, etc.), depending on context.

Is there any difference between mengurus and menguruskan in this kind of sentence?

In many everyday contexts, mengurus and menguruskan are both heard, but there are tendencies:

• mengurus [object]

  • Standard, straightforward: to manage [object].
  • mengurus masa = manage time.

• menguruskan [object]

  • Often feels slightly more “to see to / to take care of / to attend to” [object].
  • menguruskan hal keluarga = take care of family matters.

With “time management”, the set phrase is usually mengurus masa (and the noun pengurusan masa = time management).
So cara mengurus masa is more natural than cara menguruskan masa here.

What’s the difference between masa and waktu? Could we say mengurus waktu?

Both masa and waktu relate to “time,” but with slightly different typical uses:

• masa
  
  • More general/abstract or referring to a period/era:
    
    • pengurusan masa = time management
    • pada masa itu = at that time
• waktu
  
  • Often more specific: a point in time / hour / moment:
    
    • pada waktu pagi = in the morning
    • pada waktu itu = at that moment

You could technically say mengurus waktu, and people would understand, but the common and idiomatic phrase for time management is mengurus masa or pengurusan masa.