Learn Hardcore Malay: Setiap minggu, guru tuisyen memberi ulangan pendek supaya kami ingat formula. - Every week, the tuition teacher gives a short review so that we remember the formulas.

Setiap minggu, guru tuisyen memberi ulangan pendek...
Focuses a bit on the regularity (every week), so it’s slightly emphasised.
Guru tuisyen memberi ulangan pendek setiap minggu...
Is also completely correct and very natural; the focus feels more on what the teacher does, and then when it happens.

Both orders are grammatical. Time phrases like setiap minggu, semalam, pada waktu pagi often appear either at the beginning or at the end of the sentence.

What exactly does Setiap minggu mean, and how is it different from tiap minggu or tiap-tiap minggu?

All of these mean every week, but they differ slightly in style:

Setiap minggu – very common, neutral, and slightly more formal.
Tiap minggu – more informal, often used in speech.
Tiap-tiap minggu – emphasises repetition: every single week.

They would all work in this sentence:

Setiap minggu, guru tuisyen...
Tiap minggu, guru tuisyen...
Tiap-tiap minggu, guru tuisyen...

Grammar-wise, they function the same.

What does guru tuisyen mean exactly? Is it the same as “tutor”?

Yes, guru tuisyen is essentially a tuition teacher / private tutor.

guru = teacher (general, neutral word)
tuisyen = tuition (extra classes, often outside normal school, especially for exam subjects)

So guru tuisyen is the teacher who handles paid extra classes, often after school or on weekends.
In very casual speech you might also hear:

cikgu tuisyen – using cikgu (more colloquial, friendly word for teacher)
Just tutor – some people use the English word directly, especially in ads.

But guru tuisyen is standard and clear.

Why memberi and not just beri? Are memberi, beri, and bagi different?

All are related to the idea of giving, but they differ in formality and usage.

memberi – more formal, often used in writing and careful speech.
- guru tuisyen memberi ulangan pendek – sounds a bit formal/neutral.
beri – base form; common in everyday speech and informal writing.
- guru tuisyen beri ulangan pendek – very natural in spoken Malay.
bagi – in many dialects it also means “to give,” but it’s more informal/colloquial.
- guru tuisyen bagi ulangan pendek – very conversational.

In this sentence, you could replace memberi with beri or bagi without changing the meaning, but memberi suits a more standard or written style.

What does ulangan mean? Is ulangan pendek a “short test” or a “short review”?

Literally:

ulang = repeat
ulangan = a repetition; something repeated

Depending on context, ulangan can be:

a review / recap of material that has been taught, or
a re-test / retake, especially in school (like a makeup test)

In ulangan pendek, likely interpretations:

a short review/revision session (e.g. the teacher quickly goes over last week’s lesson), or
a short quiz/test (many teachers call quick weekly tests ulangan).

If the speaker means a written quiz, they might also say:

kuiz pendek (short quiz)
ujian pendek (short test)
ulang kaji ringkas (brief revision)

But ulangan pendek is natural and leaves it a bit general: some kind of short repeated exercise or review.

Why is it supaya kami ingat formula and not untuk kami ingat formula?

Both supaya and untuk can relate to purpose, but they behave differently:

supaya introduces a full clause and often has the sense so that / in order that:
- supaya kami ingat formula = so that we (will) remember the formula
untuk is usually followed by:
- a verb phrase: untuk mengingat formula (to remember the formula)
- or a noun: untuk formula ini (for this formula)

So:

memberi ulangan pendek supaya kami ingat formula – correct and natural.
memberi ulangan pendek untuk kami ingat formula – feels awkward or wrong to most native speakers.

Correct ways with untuk:

memberi ulangan pendek untuk mengingat formula
memberi ulangan pendek untuk kami (gives a short review for us)

In this sentence, supaya + clause is exactly the right structure.

What nuance does supaya add? Is it just “so that”?

Supaya means so that / in order that, but it also carries an idea of intended result or desired outcome.

guru tuisyen memberi ulangan pendek supaya kami ingat formula
= the teacher gives the short review with the intention that we will remember the formula.

So the focus is not just on purpose in general, but on achieving a specific result (remembering).

Does ingat mean “remember” or “memorize”? Could we use hafal instead?

Ingat is flexible and can mean:

remember
- Saya ingat formula itu. = I remember that formula.
keep in mind / not forget
In some contexts, think (incorrectly)
- Saya ingat kamu dah balik. = I thought you had already gone home.

In this sentence:

supaya kami ingat formula
means so that we remember the formula / don’t forget the formula.

If the focus is on memorising by heart, you could say:

supaya kami dapat menghafal formula
supaya kami hafal formula

Hafal is more specifically “commit to memory / learn by heart.”
Ingat is broader and more general, which fits many classroom contexts.

Is the object formula okay by itself? Do we need something like semua formula or a plural form?

In Malay, many loanwords like formula don’t change form for plural:

satu formula = one formula
banyak formula = many formulas

Plurality is usually shown by context or by adding words like:

semua formula = all the formulas
beberapa formula = several formulas
banyak formula = many formulas

In the sentence, supaya kami ingat formula can mean:

so that we remember the formula (a particular one)
so that we remember the formulas (all the relevant ones), depending on context.

No extra plural marking is needed unless you want to be explicit.

Why is there no tense marker like “will” or “did”? How do we know when this happens?

Malay normally doesn’t mark tense with verb endings like English does. Instead, tense/aspect is shown by:

time expressions: setiap minggu (every week), semalam (yesterday), esok (tomorrow)
context, or
optional markers like sudah (already), akan (will), sedang (in the middle of doing)

Here:

Setiap minggu clearly shows this is a habitual action (every week), so no extra tense word is needed.

If you really wanted to emphasise future or completion, you could say:

Setiap minggu, guru tuisyen akan memberi ulangan pendek... (will give – more strongly future-focused, e.g. describing a schedule)
Guru tuisyen sudah memberi ulangan pendek... (has already given – completed action)

Why is it kami and not kita? What’s the difference in this sentence?

Both kami and kita translate as we, but:

kami = we excluding the listener
kita = we including the listener

In this sentence:

supaya kami ingat formula
implies that the speaker + some others are the students, and the listener (maybe someone else) is not part of that group.

If the teacher is speaking to the students and includes themself in the group that needs to remember, they might say:

supaya kita ingat formula
= so that we (you and I, all of us here) remember the formula.

So kami is appropriate when the “we” is just the students, and the listener is not included.

Could we say supaya kami dapat mengingat formula instead of supaya kami ingat formula? Does mengingat sound better or more formal?

You can say:

supaya kami dapat mengingat formula
supaya kami boleh mengingat formula

These are grammatically correct and sound more formal / heavier, with a structure like “so that we are able to remember the formula”.

However, ingat without the prefix is:

shorter, very natural, and common in everyday language
often preferred unless you need a very formal tone or want to highlight the ability aspect.

So:

supaya kami ingat formula – natural, neutral
supaya kami dapat mengingat formula – more formal, slightly more distant/academic in feel

In normal conversation or narrative, the original version is usually better.