Learn Hardcore Malay: Seorang lelaki muda duduk di sebelah wanita tua di bas. - A young man sits next to an old woman on the bus.

Seorang lelaki muda = a/one young man
Without it: Lelaki muda duduk di sebelah… is still understandable and often fine, especially in casual speech.
Use seorang when:
- You want to be clear that it’s one person.
- You are introducing a new person into the story.

So it isn’t grammatically mandatory, but it is very natural and common.

Why is it lelaki muda and not muda lelaki?

In Malay, adjectives usually come after the noun:

lelaki muda = young man
wanita tua = old woman
bas besar = big bus
rumah baru = new house

Putting the adjective before the noun (e.g. muda lelaki) is wrong in normal Malay. There are a few fixed exceptions (like orang kaya – rich person), but the general pattern is:

Noun + Adjective

Can I say laki-laki or pria instead of lelaki?

For Malay (as used in Malaysia/Brunei/Singapore):

lelaki – standard word for man/male.
laki-laki – understood, but sounds more Indonesian; not the usual choice in Malay.
pria – also Indonesian; not standard in Malay.

So in Bahasa Melayu, stick with lelaki for man. In Indonesian, laki-laki and pria are normal, but that’s a different standard.

Is wanita tua rude? Would people say that in real life?

Wanita tua is not a swear word, but it can sound a bit blunt or impolite in everyday conversation, because tua literally means old (aged).

More polite or softer options in many contexts:

wanita berusia – an older/aged woman (more respectful)
wanita lebih tua – an older woman
makcik – aunty (everyday, familiar; can be polite if used appropriately)

In a neutral written description (like in a textbook or story), wanita tua is acceptable. In real life, speakers often choose softer or more respectful terms depending on context.

Where is the verb “is” in this sentence? Why isn’t there something like “is sitting”?

Malay does not use a linking verb like English is/are in this kind of sentence.

Seorang lelaki muda duduk di sebelah wanita tua di bas.
Literally: A young man sit beside an old woman on the bus.

Context tells us that it means is sitting, not sits in a habitual sense. Malay does not mark tense the same way as English. Time and aspect are usually understood from context or added with extra words (like sedang, tengah, telah, akan).

How do I say “is sitting” more explicitly, if I want to emphasize that it’s happening right now?

You can add aspect markers such as sedang or tengah:

Seorang lelaki muda sedang duduk di sebelah wanita tua di bas.
Seorang lelaki muda tengah duduk di sebelah wanita tua di bas. (more informal)

Both mean A young man is sitting beside an old woman on the bus, with stronger emphasis that it is happening at this moment.

What does di sebelah mean exactly? Is it the same as next to or beside?

Yes. Di sebelah means next to / beside / by the side of.

duduk di sebelah wanita tua = sit next to the old woman

You may also hear:

di sisi – by the side of (a bit more formal or literary)
di tepi – at the side/edge (focus can be more on physical edge)

In everyday speech, di sebelah is the most common for next to a person or object.

Why is it di bas and not di dalam bas?

Both are possible, but there’s a nuance:

di bas – on the bus / in the bus (common, shorter)
di dalam bas – inside the bus (more explicit about being inside)

In many everyday sentences, di bas is enough and sounds natural. Di dalam bas is used when you specifically want to stress the inside location.

Does Malay have words for a and the like in English?

Malay does not have direct equivalents of English a/an and the. Instead, it uses:

Classifiers like seorang, seekor, sebuah to show one/a/an.
- seorang lelaki – a/one man
- sebuah bas – a/one bus
Demonstratives ini (this) and itu (that) to make things more specific, often like the:
- lelaki muda itu – that young man / the young man
- wanita tua itu – that old woman / the old woman

In your sentence, Seorang lelaki muda… is best translated with a young man… but you could make it more definite:

Lelaki muda itu duduk di sebelah wanita tua itu di bas.
= The/that young man sat next to the/that old woman on the bus.

What is the role of di in this sentence? I learned that di- can also mark passive verbs.

Good observation. In Malay:

di (separate word) = preposition at / in / on
- di bas – on/in the bus
- di sebelah – at/by the side of
di- (attached to a verb) = passive prefix
Example (not in this sentence):
- buka – open
- dibuka – is opened / was opened

In your sentence, both di are prepositions, not passive markers:

di sebelah – beside
di bas – on the bus

Could I move di bas to the front, like Di bas, seorang lelaki muda duduk di sebelah wanita tua?

Yes, that’s grammatically fine:

Di bas, seorang lelaki muda duduk di sebelah wanita tua.

This version emphasizes the location (on the bus) first. It’s like English:

On the bus, a young man is sitting next to an old woman.

Word order in Malay is fairly flexible for information structure, as long as the internal order of noun phrases (e.g. lelaki muda, wanita tua) is kept.

If I want to say “Young men sat next to old women on the bus”, how would I make it plural?

Malay doesn’t always mark plural explicitly, but you can if you want:

Beberapa lelaki muda duduk di sebelah beberapa wanita tua di bas.
= Some young men sat next to some old women on the bus.

Other options:

Para lelaki muda duduk di sebelah para wanita tua di bas.
(para is a plural marker, more formal, often used for people.)

Often, context alone can indicate plural:

Lelaki muda duduk di sebelah wanita tua di bas.
Could mean young men sat next to old women if context is clearly plural.

Is bas the only word for bus in Malay? Can I say bus instead?

In standard Malay (especially in Malaysia):

bas is the standard spelling and pronunciation for bus.
bus (with u) is understood (because of English), but the correct Malay form in writing is bas.

So in proper Malay sentences, you should write and say bas.