Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya cuba capai semua sasaran harian itu walaupun jadual saya padat. - I try to reach all those daily targets even though my schedule is packed.

but these sound more formal or heavier. In everyday spoken Malay, people usually drop untuk and the meN- prefix and just say cuba + base verb.

So:

cuba capai = natural, neutral, very common.
cuba untuk capai / mencuba untuk mencapai = more formal, often seen in writing, speeches, or careful language.

All three are grammatical; the sentence you have uses the most natural conversational pattern.

What is the difference between capai and mencapai?

Both come from the same root and basically mean “to reach / to achieve,” but they differ mainly in formality and style.

capai – base form, common in speech and informal writing
mencapai – meN--prefixed form, more formal/standard

Examples:

Saya mahu capai sasaran itu.
I want to reach that target. (everyday tone)
Syarikat kami telah mencapai sasaran jualan.
Our company has achieved the sales target. (more formal/official)

In your sentence, cuba capai sounds natural and conversational. cuba mencapai would be slightly more formal, and mencuba untuk mencapai would be more formal and elaborate still, with no change in basic meaning.

How is the noun phrase “semua sasaran harian itu” structured, and can I change the order?

Malay noun phrases follow a typical order:

Quantifier + Noun + Adjective + Demonstrative (ini/itu)

Your phrase:

semua = all (quantifier)
sasaran = targets (noun)
harian = daily (adjective)
itu = that/those (demonstrative)

So semua sasaran harian itu literally is “all those daily targets.”

You generally cannot rearrange these freely. For example:

❌ sasaran semua harian itu – wrong
❌ itu semua sasaran harian – wrong in this context

However, you can sometimes shift semua:

semua sasaran harian itu (most natural here)
kesemua sasaran harian itu (adds emphasis: absolutely all)
sasaran harian itu semua (possible in some contexts, more spoken/colloquial, with a slightly different emphasis on “all of them”)

For learners, stick with semua sasaran harian itu as the basic, safe pattern.

What exactly does “sasaran harian” mean, and how is it different from other words for “goal” or “target”?

sasaran = target, aim (often something you want to hit/meet)
harian = daily (from hari = day + suffix -an)

So sasaran harian = daily targets or daily goals.

Other related words:

matlamat – goal/aim (often bigger, long-term or more abstract)
objektif – objective (more formal/technical)
target – the English loanword; used in business/everyday speech, often pronounced like English but with Malay accent

Examples:

sasaran harian = daily step count, daily sales, daily tasks to complete.
matlamat hidup = life goals.
objektif projek = the objectives of the project.

So in your sentence, sasaran harian fits very well: you’re talking about a set of daily targets/tasks you want to achieve each day.

Why is “itu” at the end of “semua sasaran harian itu” and what nuance does it add?

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

buku ini = this book
rumah besar itu = that big house
semua sasaran harian itu = all those daily targets

itu here points to something that is:

already known in the context, or
previously mentioned, or
conceptually given/shared between speaker and listener.

So semua sasaran harian itu feels like:

“all those daily targets (that we’ve been talking about / that we both know about).”

If you said:

semua sasaran harian ini
→ “all these daily targets (close to me / freshly introduced / being presented now).”

In many cases, the difference between ini and itu is subtle and context-based, but grammatically the position at the end is standard.

What does “walaupun” mean, and how is it different from “walau” or “meskipun”?

walaupun is a conjunction meaning “even though / although”:

… walaupun jadual saya padat.
… even though my schedule is packed.

Related forms:

walau – shorter, slightly more informal; often used in speech or in phrases like walau apa pun (no matter what).
meskipun – similar meaning to walaupun, often slightly more formal or literary in feel.
biarpun – also “even though,” somewhat literary or expressive.

In many everyday sentences, walaupun and meskipun are interchangeable:

Saya akan pergi walaupun saya penat.
Saya akan pergi meskipun saya penat.

Both mean: “I will go even though I’m tired.”

Your sentence would also work with meskipun:

Saya cuba capai semua sasaran harian itu meskipun jadual saya padat.

No big change in meaning; walaupun is just the more commonly used everyday choice.

Why is it “jadual saya padat” and not “saya punya jadual padat” or “jadual padat saya”?

The basic structure here is:

Noun + Possessor + Adjective
jadual saya padat = my schedule (is) packed.

jadual = schedule
saya = my / I
padat = dense/packed

The possessive saya usually follows the noun:

jadual saya = my schedule
rumah saya = my house
kawan saya = my friend

Then adjectives like padat follow the whole phrase:

jadual saya padat = my schedule is packed.
rumah saya besar = my house is big.

You can say:

saya punya jadual padat – very colloquial, literally “I have a packed schedule”; common in casual speech but considered non-standard in formal writing.
jadual padat saya – possible, but the emphasis shifts to “my packed schedule” as a specific item (e.g. contrasting it with someone else’s). It sounds less neutral and is not the default way to state “my schedule is packed.”

For a simple descriptive sentence, jadual saya padat is the most natural and standard pattern.

What does “padat” mean exactly, and how is it different from “sibuk” or “penuh”?

padat literally means “dense/compact/full,” and when used with jadual (schedule) it corresponds well to English “packed (schedule).”

Comparisons:

padat – dense, tightly packed, full of items.
- jadual padat = packed schedule
- kandungan buku ini padat = the content of this book is dense/compact
sibuk – busy (usually describes a person, or sometimes a place).
- Saya sangat sibuk. = I am very busy.
- Hari ini saya sibuk. = I’m busy today.
penuh – full (physically or metaphorically).
- beg itu penuh. = that bag is full.
- dewan itu penuh dengan orang. = the hall is full of people.
- jadual saya penuh = my schedule is full (similar meaning to padat)

So:

jadual saya padat = my schedule is packed (implies many tightly arranged activities).
saya sibuk = I am busy.
jadual saya penuh = my schedule is full (very close in meaning to jadual saya padat).

Why is the subject “Saya” included? Can you drop “I” in Malay like in some other languages?

In Malay, subject pronouns like saya are generally not dropped the way they are in some pro-drop languages (e.g., Spanish, Japanese).

You normally say:

Saya cuba capai… = I try to achieve…
Dia cuba capai… = He/She tries to achieve…
Kami cuba capai… = We (excluding you) try to achieve…

In very casual text messages or conversations, people sometimes omit pronouns if the context is extremely clear, but the standard, clear sentence uses Saya:

Saya cuba capai semua sasaran harian itu…

If you drop Saya, it can sound incomplete or ambiguous in more formal or neutral contexts, because Malay relies on pronouns to show who is doing the action.

How do we know the tense in “Saya cuba capai…”? Does it mean “I try,” “I’m trying,” or “I tried”?

Malay verbs do not change form for tense. cuba capai by itself is tenseless; the time is understood from context or added time words.

Your sentence could be understood as:

I try to achieve all those daily targets…
I am trying to achieve all those daily targets…

To make the time explicit, you’d add time markers:

Saya sedang cuba capai… = I am currently trying to achieve…
Tadi saya cuba capai… = Earlier I tried to achieve…
Esok saya akan cuba capai… = Tomorrow I will try to achieve…

In the original sentence, with no time word, it’s most naturally read as a general present habit:

I (generally) try to achieve all those daily targets even though my schedule is packed.