Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya berasa keliru tentang soalan sejarah itu. - I feel confused about that history question.

Saya berasa keliru
- More formal or slightly more “complete.”
- berasa is the verb “to feel (an emotion/physical state).”
Saya rasa keliru
- Very common in everyday speech.
- rasa can be:
  - a noun: “feeling, taste”
  - or used like a verb in conversation: “to feel, to think”

In casual spoken Malay, you will hear “Saya rasa keliru” more often. In writing (especially formal writing), “Saya berasa keliru” sounds a bit more polished.

Can I drop “Saya” and just say “Berasa keliru tentang soalan sejarah itu”?

In everyday spoken Malay, you can sometimes omit pronouns when the subject is very clear from context. So in conversation, people might say:

Berasa keliru tentang soalan sejarah itu.
(“[I] feel confused about that history question.”)

However:

In standard / formal Malay, it is better to keep Saya.
In writing, especially for learners or in exams, you should usually write the full sentence:
- Saya berasa keliru tentang soalan sejarah itu.

So: yes, it can be omitted in casual speech, but it’s safer to keep Saya as a learner.

What does “keliru” mean exactly? Is it only “confused”?

Keliru most commonly means “confused, mixed up, not sure what is correct.”

Nuances:

Mental confusion, uncertainty:
- Saya keliru dengan arahan ini.
  “I’m confused by these instructions.”
Can also mean “mistaken / mixed up” in some contexts:
- Nama mereka selalu dikelirukan.
  “Their names are always mixed up / confused.”

Other similar words:

bingung – confused, dazed (often stronger, sometimes emotional or “lost”)
konfius (colloquial, from “confused”) – informal spoken Malay

In your sentence, keliru is the natural, neutral word for “confused.”

Why is it “tentang soalan sejarah itu” and not something like “keliru soalan sejarah itu” without a preposition?

Malay usually needs a preposition to show what you are confused about.
The preposition here is tentang, which means “about / regarding / concerning.”

Structure:

berasa keliru tentang X = “to feel confused about X”

So:

Saya berasa keliru tentang soalan sejarah itu.
= “I feel confused about that history question.”

Without tentang, the Malay would sound incomplete or unnatural:

❌ Saya berasa keliru soalan sejarah itu. (wrong / unnatural)

What is the difference between “tentang” and “mengenai” here? Can I say “mengenai soalan sejarah itu”?

Yes, you can say:

Saya berasa keliru mengenai soalan sejarah itu.

Both tentang and mengenai can mean “about / regarding.”

Differences:

tentang
- Very common in both speech and writing.
- Neutral, widely used.
mengenai
- Slightly more formal or bookish.
- Very common in written Malay (articles, essays, official texts).

In this sentence, both are correct. For everyday use, tentang is perfectly natural.

Why is it “soalan sejarah” and not “sejarah soalan” for “history question”?

Malay uses a “head noun + describing noun” order, which is the opposite of English.

Pattern:

[head noun] + [describing noun]

Examples:

soalan sejarah = question (about) history
buku sejarah = history book
guru sejarah = history teacher

So:

soalan = question (head)
sejarah = history (describing what kind of question)

❌ sejarah soalan would sound like “history of questions,” which is not what you want.

What does “itu” do at the end of “soalan sejarah itu”? Why is it placed there?

Itu means “that” and it comes after the noun phrase it describes.

Structure:

soalan sejarah = history question
soalan sejarah itu = that history question (a specific one, both speaker and listener know which one)

In Malay, demonstratives like ini (this) and itu (that) usually come after the noun phrase:

buku itu = that book
soalan sejarah itu = that history question
guru sejarah itu = that history teacher

So the word order is: > [noun + modifiers] + ini/itu
not
> this/that + noun (like in English)

Is there a difference between “Saya keliru tentang…” and “Saya berasa keliru tentang…”?

Both are acceptable and very close in meaning:

Saya keliru tentang soalan sejarah itu.
- Literally: “I am confused about that history question.”
- keliru is used directly as an adjective (state).
Saya berasa keliru tentang soalan sejarah itu.
- Literally: “I feel confused about that history question.”
- Emphasizes the feeling of confusion a bit more.

In everyday use, you will hear both structures. The version with berasa explicitly highlights the internal feeling, but in many contexts they’re interchangeable.

Could I say “Saya tidak faham soalan sejarah itu” instead? Does it mean the same thing?

You can say:

Saya tidak faham soalan sejarah itu.
= “I don’t understand that history question.”

The meaning is similar but not identical:

Saya berasa keliru tentang soalan sejarah itu.
- Focus on your emotional/mental state: you feel confused, unsure.
Saya tidak faham soalan sejarah itu.
- More direct: you do not understand the question (no idea, or not clear).

Often, if you are confused, you also don’t fully understand, so they overlap in usage. But:

keliru = feeling of confusion
tidak faham = lack of understanding

Is the word order in the whole sentence fixed, or can I move parts around?

For neutral, natural standard Malay, the given order is best:

Saya berasa keliru tentang soalan sejarah itu.

Basic pattern:

[Subject] [Verb/Verb phrase] [Extra information]
Saya (subject)
berasa keliru (verb phrase)
tentang soalan sejarah itu (prepositional phrase: about what?)

You generally cannot freely move things like in some poetic or highly formal writing. For normal speech/writing, keep:

Subject first: Saya
Then feeling: berasa keliru
Then what it is about: tentang soalan sejarah itu