Learn Hardcore Malay: Sebelum mesyuarat, saya semak senarai semak itu sekali lagi. - Before the meeting, I check that checklist once again.

semak (bare root)
- Common in everyday spoken Malay and in many written contexts.
- Neutral and perfectly grammatical: saya semak = “I check / I checked”.
menyemak (with meN- prefix)
- Sounds a bit more formal or bookish.
- Common in formal writing, official letters, reports:
  - Sebelum mesyuarat, saya menyemak senarai semak itu sekali lagi.

So the sentence could also be:

Sebelum mesyuarat, saya menyemak senarai semak itu sekali lagi.

It means the same thing; the original just uses the more colloquial-sounding semak.

The word semak appears twice: saya semak and senarai semak. Is that strange or redundant?

It looks repetitive to an English speaker, but in Malay it’s not strange.

In saya semak, semak is a verb: “to check / review”.
In senarai semak, semak functions like a modifier after a noun:
- senarai = list
- semak = checking
- senarai semak ≈ “checking list” → “checklist”.

Malay often forms noun phrases as Noun + (modifying) Noun/Verb root, e.g.:

rumah makan – eating house (restaurant)
bilik mesyuarat – meeting room
senarai semak – checklist

If you find the repetition stylistically ugly, you could say, for example:

Sebelum mesyuarat, saya semak senarai tugas itu sekali lagi.
(Before the meeting, I checked that task list again.)

But the original sentence is natural and correct.

What exactly does senarai semak mean, and is it always two words?

Senarai semak is the standard Malay term for “checklist”.

Breakdown:

senarai – list
semak – check / review
Together: senarai semak – a “list for checking”, i.e. a checklist.

Spelling:

In standard Malay it’s written as two separate words: senarai semak.
You may occasionally see a hyphen or even one-word forms in casual use, but senarai semak (two words) is the standard, dictionary form.

In many workplaces, people also casually say checklist (an English loanword), but senarai semak is the proper Malay equivalent.

What is the function of itu in senarai semak itu? Can I leave it out?

Itu here marks the noun as definite – roughly “that checklist / the checklist”.

senarai semak – “a checklist / checklists (in general)”
senarai semak itu – “that checklist / the checklist (we both know about)”

So:

Sebelum mesyuarat, saya semak senarai semak itu sekali lagi.
→ Before the meeting, I checked that particular checklist again.

If you remove itu:

Sebelum mesyuarat, saya semak senarai semak sekali lagi.

This is still grammatical, but it now sounds like you are talking about some checklist or checklists in general, not a specific, already-known one.

How do we know this sentence is in the past (checked before the meeting) when semak itself has no tense?

Malay verbs do not change form for tense. Time is understood from:

Time expressions / context
- Sebelum mesyuarat – before the meeting
  This implies the checking happened earlier than the meeting, so we interpret it as past.
Optional aspect markers:
- sudah / telah – already (completed in the past)
  - Sebelum mesyuarat, saya sudah semak senarai semak itu sekali lagi.
  - Sebelum mesyuarat, saya telah semak senarai semak itu sekali lagi.

So the original sentence is understood as past because of the phrase “before the meeting”, even though semak itself is unmarked.

What does sekali lagi literally mean, and how is it different from lagi sekali?

Both sekali lagi and lagi sekali are commonly used and both mean “again / once more”.

Literally:

sekali – once (from satu kali)
lagi – more / again

So:

sekali lagi – once more
lagi sekali – one more time (everyday speech)

In practice:

sekali lagi feels slightly more neutral or formal.
lagi sekali is very common in informal speech.

Examples:

Sebelum mesyuarat, saya semak senarai semak itu sekali lagi.
Sebelum mesyuarat, saya semak senarai semak itu lagi sekali. (more casual)

Both are acceptable; the choice is mostly about style.

Why is it Sebelum mesyuarat, … and not something like Sebelum mesyuarat itu bermula, …? Is mesyuarat here a noun?

Yes, mesyuarat in this sentence is a noun: “meeting”.

Sebelum mesyuarat – before (the) meeting
(The article “the” is simply understood; Malay doesn’t need “itu” here.)

You can expand it to be more explicit:

Sebelum mesyuarat itu bermula, saya semak senarai semak itu sekali lagi.
– Before that meeting started, I checked that checklist again.

Other variants:

Sebelum mesyuarat hari ini, … – Before today’s meeting, …
Sebelum bermesyuarat, … – Before having a meeting / before meeting (verb form bermesyuarat)

But the simple Sebelum mesyuarat, … is natural and concise.

Is the comma after Sebelum mesyuarat necessary? Can I move the sebelum phrase to the end?

In speech, the comma reflects a natural pause. In writing:

When a time phrase like Sebelum mesyuarat comes at the beginning, a comma is recommended:
- Sebelum mesyuarat, saya semak senarai semak itu sekali lagi.

You can definitely move the phrase to the end:

Saya semak senarai semak itu sekali lagi sebelum mesyuarat.

Both are correct. Differences:

Fronted phrase (Sebelum mesyuarat, …):
- Emphasis on the time: “As for before the meeting, I (did this) …”
Final phrase (… sebelum mesyuarat.):
- Slightly more neutral; information unfolds in normal order.

There is no change in basic meaning.

Could I drop saya and just say Sebelum mesyuarat, semak senarai semak itu sekali lagi?

You can drop saya, but the meaning changes:

Sebelum mesyuarat, semak senarai semak itu sekali lagi.

Without saya, this now sounds like an instruction / command addressed to someone:

“Before the meeting, check that checklist again.”

Malay often omits pronouns when the subject is clear from context, but:

When you say semak without a subject in this kind of sentence, it’s usually understood as an imperative (you, do it).
If you want to clearly express what you did, keeping saya is better:
- Sebelum mesyuarat, saya semak …

Is there any difference in formality between this sentence and using more “formal” words like memeriksa instead of semak, or mesyuarat vs meeting?

Yes, word choice affects formality.

semak vs memeriksa / menyemak
- semak – everyday neutral; perfectly fine in office contexts.
- memeriksa / menyemak – more formal / written style.
mesyuarat vs meeting
- mesyuarat – standard Malay, suitable for formal and official use.
- meeting – English loanword, very common in conversation and informal texts, but less formal.

So, for different registers:

Neutral / standard (like your sentence):
- Sebelum mesyuarat, saya semak senarai semak itu sekali lagi.
More formal:
- Sebelum mesyuarat, saya menyemak / memeriksa senarai semak itu sekali lagi.
More casual, mixing English:
- Sebelum meeting, saya semak checklist itu lagi sekali.

Where can sekali lagi go in the sentence? Is saya semak senarai semak itu sekali lagi the only correct word order?

Malay adverbials like sekali lagi are fairly flexible, but some positions sound more natural.

Most natural options here:

After the object (as in the original):
- Saya semak senarai semak itu sekali lagi.
After the verb:
- Saya semak sekali lagi senarai semak itu.
  (Also acceptable; emphasis a bit more on the act of “once again”.)
After the subject (emphasis on repetition):
- Saya sekali lagi semak senarai semak itu.
  (Sounds slightly more marked / emphatic.)

All three can be heard or read. The original word order (… senarai semak itu sekali lagi) is very natural and common.