Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya rasa soalan peperiksaan esok agak susah. - I feel the exam questions tomorrow are rather difficult.

Saya rasa … = I think / I feel that … (quite natural and common in everyday Malay)
Saya fikir … = I think that … (more about deliberate, logical thinking; slightly more formal or “in your head”)

So:

Saya rasa soalan peperiksaan esok agak susah.
→ I think / I feel tomorrow’s exam questions will be rather difficult.

You can usually use saya rasa and saya fikir interchangeably when giving opinions, but saya rasa sounds a bit more casual and is extremely common in speech.

Note that rasa by itself can also mean “to feel” (emotionally or physically) and even “taste”:

Saya rasa penat. – I feel tired.
Saya rasa nasi ini sedap. – I think / I feel this rice is tasty.
Rasa manis. – (It) tastes sweet.

How is the whole sentence structured grammatically? Which part is the subject, and which part is the “that‑clause”?

Break it down like this:

Saya – subject (“I”)
rasa – verb (“feel / think”)
soalan peperiksaan esok agak susah – the thing you think/feel (a clause acting like a “that‑clause” in English)

Inside that clause:

soalan peperiksaan esok – subject noun phrase (“tomorrow’s exam questions”)
agak susah – predicate (“rather difficult”)

So the structure is:

Saya (subject)
rasa (verb)
[soalan peperiksaan esok] (embedded subject)
[agak susah] (embedded predicate / complement)

Equivalent to:

I think [that the exam questions tomorrow are rather difficult].

What does soalan peperiksaan literally mean, and why is the order “soalan peperiksaan” and not “peperiksaan soalan”?

soalan = question
peperiksaan = exam

soalan peperiksaan literally feels like “questions of the exam” → “exam questions”.

In Malay, when you have a noun modified by another noun, the typical order is:

Head noun + modifying noun

So:

soalan peperiksaan – questions (of) the exam → “exam questions”
kertas peperiksaan – paper (of) the exam → “exam paper”
jadual peperiksaan – schedule (of) the exam → “exam schedule”

Putting it as peperiksaan soalan would sound wrong/ungrammatical in this context. The main thing being talked about is the questions, so soalan comes first.

What exactly is esok modifying here? Does it mean “tomorrow’s exam questions” or “I think tomorrow that …”?

Esok means “tomorrow” and here it is modifying the exam, not the verb rasa.

So soalan peperiksaan esok is best understood as:

“the exam questions for tomorrow’s exam”
or more naturally:
“tomorrow’s exam questions”

It does not mean:

I think tomorrow that …
(that would require a different structure, like Esok saya rasa … = Tomorrow I think …)

You could also move esok:

Saya rasa esok soalan peperiksaan agak susah. – “I think tomorrow the exam questions will be rather difficult.” (still understandable, but a bit less natural)
Esok, saya rasa soalan peperiksaan agak susah. – “Tomorrow, I think the exam questions will be rather difficult.” (stylistic emphasis on “tomorrow”)

In the original sentence, the most natural reading is clearly “tomorrow’s exam questions”.

What does agak add to the meaning? How strong is it compared to words like sangat or terlalu?

agak is a degree word that means something like:

“rather”, “quite”, “somewhat”, “fairly”

So:

agak susah ≈ rather difficult / quite hard / somewhat difficult

It’s softer than very strong words like:

sangat susah – very difficult
amat susah – very/extremely difficult (formal or strong)
terlalu susah – too difficult

Rough scale (from weak to strong):

sedikit / agak → agak / cukup → sangat / amat → terlalu

You place agak before the adjective:

agak susah, agak senang, agak mahal, etc.

You do not say susah agak.

What does susah mean here, and how is it different from sukar, payah, or sulit?

In this sentence, susah means “difficult / hard”.

Common synonyms and nuances:

susah – very common, everyday word for “difficult / hard / troublesome”.
sukar – “difficult”; slightly more formal or “bookish” than susah.
sulit – “difficult / complicated”; used more in formal or written language.
payah – “hard / burdensome / troublesome”; can sound a bit stronger or more emotional.

You could say:

soalan peperiksaan esok agak susah – tomorrow’s exam questions are rather difficult.
soalan peperiksaan esok agak sukar – same basic meaning; a bit more formal.

Note: susah also has other uses:

hidup susah – to live in hardship / be poor
Dia susah hati. – He/She is worried / troubled.

Context tells you that here it means “difficult”.

Is soalan here singular or plural? How do you know, and do you need soalan‑soalan?

In Malay, nouns usually do not change form for singular vs plural. So soalan can mean:

“a question”
“(the) question(s)”
“questions”

In this sentence:

soalan peperiksaan esok is naturally understood as “the exam questions tomorrow”, because exams normally have multiple questions.

If you really want to emphasize plurality, you can:

Use reduplication: soalan‑soalan peperiksaan – (many) exam questions
Add a quantity word: banyak soalan peperiksaan – many exam questions

But in everyday speech and writing, soalan peperiksaan is perfectly enough to mean “the exam questions”.

How do we know this sentence is about the future (tomorrow) when there is no tense marker on the verb?

Malay verbs usually do not change form for tense (past, present, future). Instead, Malay relies on:

time words: semalam (yesterday), tadi (earlier), sekarang (now), esok (tomorrow), etc.
optionally, aspect/future markers like sudah, telah, akan, sedang, etc.

In this sentence, esok (“tomorrow”) is enough to tell you the action/state is in the future:

Saya rasa soalan peperiksaan esok agak susah.
→ I think tomorrow’s exam questions will be rather difficult.

You could add akan to make the futurity more explicit:

Saya rasa soalan peperiksaan esok akan susah. – I think tomorrow’s exam questions will be difficult.

Both are grammatical; in everyday speech, many people simply rely on esok and omit akan.

Is there a Malay word that works like “that” in “I think that …”? Do we need it here?

Yes. Malay has bahawa, which works like “that” introducing a clause:

Saya rasa bahawa soalan peperiksaan esok agak susah.
→ I think that tomorrow’s exam questions are rather difficult.

However, unlike English, bahawa is often optional in everyday Malay. Most speakers would simply say:

Saya rasa soalan peperiksaan esok agak susah.

Using bahawa makes the sentence feel more formal or careful, often seen in writing, speeches, or formal contexts. In casual conversation, people usually leave it out.

What level of politeness or formality is saya here? Could I use aku instead?

Saya is the neutral polite first‑person pronoun:

Suitable for talking to strangers, teachers, colleagues, older people, in formal situations, etc.
It’s the safest default if you’re unsure.

Alternatives:

aku – informal, used with close friends, peers, younger people, or in song lyrics / social media. It can sound too casual or even rude if used with someone you should respect.
gua / gue – very informal/slang, region‑dependent (e.g. some urban youth speech, some Indonesian varieties).
kami – “we (not including you)”
kita – “we (including you)” and in some dialects can also mean “I” informally.

In a normal learner context, with a teacher or in exams, saya is the correct and safe choice:

Saya rasa soalan peperiksaan esok agak susah. – polite and neutral.
Aku rasa soalan peperiksaan esok agak susah. – casual; okay among friends.

Could I say Saya rasa peperiksaan esok agak susah instead? What’s the difference in meaning?

Yes, you can say:

Saya rasa peperiksaan esok agak susah.

The difference is subtle:

Saya rasa soalan peperiksaan esok agak susah.
→ Focus on the questions of the exam being difficult.
Saya rasa peperiksaan esok agak susah.
→ Focus on the exam as a whole being difficult.

In practice, both often imply the same thing, but:

With soalan peperiksaan, you’re explicitly talking about the exam questions.
With just peperiksaan, you are talking about the exam more generally (format, questions, time, everything).

Both versions are grammatical and natural.

Can I drop Saya rasa and just say Soalan peperiksaan esok agak susah? How does the meaning change?

Yes, you can say:

Soalan peperiksaan esok agak susah.

The change is:

Saya rasa soalan peperiksaan esok agak susah.
→ “I think/feel that tomorrow’s exam questions are rather difficult.” (explicitly an opinion)
Soalan peperiksaan esok agak susah.
→ “Tomorrow’s exam questions are rather difficult.” (stated more like a fact)

The second sentence sounds more like a general statement or “truth”, whereas the first one clearly marks it as your personal view.