Breakdown of Saya kenal kelemahan saya dalam subjek sains, dan saya mahu baikinya perlahan-lahan.
Questions & Answers about Saya kenal kelemahan saya dalam subjek sains, dan saya mahu baikinya perlahan-lahan.
In everyday Malay, both kenal and tahu can be translated as “to know,” but they’re used a bit differently:
- kenal is usually “to know (a person)” / “to be familiar with”
- e.g. Saya kenal dia = I know him/her (I’m acquainted with them).
- tahu is “to know (a fact)” / “to know about something”
- e.g. Saya tahu jawapan itu = I know the answer.
In your sentence:
- Saya kenal kelemahan saya literally = I know/am familiar with my weaknesses.
This is understandable and not “wrong,” but more natural / standard options would be:
- Saya tahu kelemahan saya.
- Saya sedar akan kelemahan saya. = I’m aware of my weaknesses.
So: your sentence is okay in casual use, but tahu or sedar would sound more typical when talking about weaknesses as “facts” about yourself.
Kelemahan comes from the adjective lemah (weak) plus the circumfix ke-…-an, which often turns adjectives into abstract nouns.
- lemah = weak
- kelemahan = weakness / weaknesses
Malay doesn’t mark plural in the same way English does, so:
- kelemahan saya can mean my weakness (one) or my weaknesses (more than one), depending on context.
If you really want to emphasize plurality, you could say:
- kelemahan-kelemahan saya = my weaknesses (many)
but in normal speech/writing, kelemahan saya is enough.
In this context:
- dalam subjek sains literally = in the subject of science or in science (as a school subject).
This is natural because dalam expresses “within a field/area”:
- kelemahan saya *dalam Matematik* = my weakness in Mathematics
- pengalaman saya *dalam perniagaan* = my experience in business.
You could also say:
- dalam mata pelajaran Sains – more formal/school-like.
- dalam pelajaran Sains – also good.
Pada subjek sains is understandable but sounds less natural here; pada is more for a point/target (pada hari Isnin, pada masa itu). For “weakness in a subject,” dalam is the usual choice.
Yes, you can drop the second saya and it will still be correct and natural:
- Saya kenal kelemahan saya dalam subjek sains, dan mahu baikinya perlahan-lahan.
In Malay, once the subject is clear, it’s common to omit it in the following clause, especially in speech. Repeating saya is not wrong; it just feels slightly more formal/emphatic:
- With repetition: dan saya mahu… → emphasises “I” again.
- Without: dan mahu… → smoother, less repetitive.
Mahu is the basic verb “to want”.
Mahukan is mahu + -kan, often used when taking a direct object.
Patterns:
mahu + verb
- Saya mahu tidur. = I want to sleep.
- Saya mahu baikinya. = I want to fix/improve it.
Here, baiki is the verb, so mahu is followed by a verb.
mahukan + noun
- Saya mahukan buku itu. = I want that book.
- Dia mahukan bantuan. = He/She wants help.
In your sentence, baiki is a verb, so we use mahu:
- ✅ saya mahu baikinya
- ❌ saya mahukan baikinya (this sounds wrong/very unnatural).
Baikinya is made up of:
- baiki = to fix / to repair / to improve
- -nya = a pronoun suffix, roughly “it/its” (referring to something mentioned before).
So:
- baikinya ≈ to fix/improve it (where “it” = kelemahan saya).
You could also say:
- saya mahu baiki kelemahan saya
- saya mahu memperbaiki kelemahan saya (more formal).
The -nya is used here to avoid repeating the noun:
- Saya kenal kelemahan saya… dan saya mahu baikinya…
= …and I want to fix it…
Note: baiki is more neutral/general, while memperbaiki is more formal and often used in writing.
Malay often uses reduplication (repeating a word) to give special nuances.
- perlahan = slow(ly)
- perlahan-lahan = slowly / little by little, often with a sense of gradualness.
In your sentence:
- perlahan-lahan emphasizes doing it gradually, not rushing:
- …dan saya mahu baikinya perlahan-lahan.
= …and I want to improve it slowly/step by step.
- …dan saya mahu baikinya perlahan-lahan.
You could also say:
- secara perlahan-lahan (more formal: “in a slow manner”).
- Using just perlahan is understandable, but perlahan-lahan sounds more natural for “gradually.”
Subjek sains is understandable and used, especially in casual speech and in some schools. But there are slightly more standard/typical ways:
- mata pelajaran Sains – very common in school context (timetables, exams).
- pelajaran Sains – also normal.
So you could say:
- kelemahan saya dalam mata pelajaran Sains
- kelemahan saya dalam pelajaran Sains
Your original dalam subjek sains is fine for everyday use; the alternatives are just a bit more “textbook” or formal.
Malay generally does not mark tense (past/present/future) on the verb itself. Instead, context and sometimes time words show tense.
In your sentence:
- Saya kenal kelemahan saya…, dan saya mahu baikinya perlahan-lahan.
This could, in theory, be:
- I know my weaknesses… and I want to improve them slowly.
- I knew my weaknesses… and I wanted to improve them slowly.
In real usage, listeners/readers understand from context (what you were talking about, when it happened, etc.).
If you want to mark time explicitly, you add time adverbs:
Dulu, saya kenal kelemahan saya…, dan saya mahu baikinya perlahan-lahan.
= In the past, I knew my weaknesses and I wanted to improve them slowly.Sekarang, saya kenal kelemahan saya…, dan saya mahu baikinya perlahan-lahan.
= Now, I know my weaknesses and I want to improve them slowly.
Both saya and aku mean “I/me”, but they differ in formality:
- saya – polite, neutral, used in most situations (with strangers, at school, at work).
- aku – informal, used with close friends, family, or in casual speech; can sound rude/too direct with strangers or in formal settings.
Your sentence with aku:
- Aku kenal kelemahan aku dalam subjek sains, dan aku mahu baikinya perlahan-lahan.
This sounds like you’re speaking to a close friend or writing something very personal/informal. The original with saya is safer and more generally appropriate.