Learn Hardcore Malay: Guru kata saya patut lebih berdisiplin dengan tidur awal setiap malam. - The teacher says I should be more disciplined by sleeping early every night.

Guru kata …
- Very common in everyday, spoken Malay.
- kata here works like “say/said” in English.
- Slightly informal / conversational, but widely understood.
Guru berkata …
- More formal or standard, especially in writing or news.
- berkata is the “proper” verb to say.
- Example: Guru berkata saya patut lebih berdisiplin…
Guru mengatakan bahawa …
- Also formal.
- mengatakan needs something following it (what was said), often introduced by bahawa (“that”).
- Example: Guru mengatakan bahawa saya patut lebih berdisiplin…

So your sentence is fine and natural in everyday usage. In a formal essay, you would more likely see Guru berkata or Guru mengatakan bahawa.

What exactly does patut mean here? How is it different from mesti, harus, or perlu?

In this sentence, patut means “should / ought to” in a fairly soft, advisory way.

Rough comparison:

patut – should, ought to
- Suggests something is advisable or appropriate.
- Saya patut tidur awal. – I should sleep early (good idea, recommended).
harus – should, ought to (a bit stronger / more formal)
- Often used in written Malay or formal advice.
- Saya harus tidur awal.
perlu – need to, have to (need/necessity)
- Saya perlu tidur awal. – I need to sleep early.
mesti – must (strong obligation)
- Saya mesti tidur awal. – I must sleep early (no choice).

So patut gives the idea of a recommendation or expectation, not a strict requirement.

Is patut a verb like “should,” or an adjective like “appropriate”? How do I use it in a sentence?

Patut can function like a modal (similar to “should”) and also has an adjective-like sense of “appropriate/deserving,” depending on context.

As a modal (like “should”):
- Pattern: subject + patut + verb phrase
- Example:
  - Saya patut tidur awal. – I should sleep early.
  - Dia patut belajar lebih rajin. – He/She should study more diligently.
With a sense of “deserve / appropriate”:
- Dia patut mendapat ganjaran. – He/She deserves to receive a reward.
- Harga itu tidak patut. – That price is not appropriate / is unreasonable.

In your sentence, patut is functioning like a modal “should” followed by lebih berdisiplin (“be more disciplined”).

What does lebih do in lebih berdisiplin? Could I put it after the word, like berdisiplin lebih?

Lebih means more and here it modifies berdisiplin (“disciplined”).

lebih berdisiplin = more disciplined

Word order:

In Malay, lebih normally comes before the adjective/quality it modifies:
- lebih rajin – more diligent
- lebih besar – bigger
- lebih berdisiplin – more disciplined

Putting it after (berdisiplin lebih) is not natural in standard Malay. You might see berdisiplin lebih tinggi (“a higher discipline”) but then lebih is modifying tinggi, not berdisiplin.

So stick to lebih + adjective/quality.

What is berdisiplin exactly? Is it a verb or an adjective, and why does it have ber-?

Berdisiplin is formed from:

root: disiplin – discipline
prefix: ber- – often means “to have / to possess / to be in a state of”

So berdisiplin literally means “to have discipline / to be disciplined.”

Functionally:

It can act like a stative verb (“to be disciplined”) or an adjective (“disciplined”), depending on the sentence.

Examples:

Dia sangat berdisiplin. – He/She is very disciplined.
Pelajar yang berdisiplin akan berjaya. – Disciplined students will succeed.
Saya patut lebih berdisiplin. – I should be more disciplined.

You don’t need a separate “to be” verb in Malay; berdisiplin already carries that idea.

How is dengan working in dengan tidur awal setiap malam? Doesn’t dengan just mean “with”?

Dengan most commonly means “with”, but it also has the sense of “by / by means of / using”, which is what is happening here.

In your sentence:

dengan tidur awal setiap malam
≈ “by sleeping early every night”

So the structure is:

lebih berdisiplin – more disciplined
dengan … – by (doing something)

Other similar patterns:

Dia sihat dengan bersenam setiap hari. – He/She is healthy by exercising every day.
Saya berjimat dengan memasak di rumah. – I save money by cooking at home.

You could make it more explicit with dengan cara (“by the method of”), but it’s not necessary:

… lebih berdisiplin dengan cara tidur awal setiap malam.

In dengan tidur awal, is tidur being used as a verb or a noun (like “sleeping”)? How do I know?

Malay doesn’t clearly separate “to sleep” and “sleeping” the way English does; tidur can be both, depending on context.

Here, dengan tidur awal is equivalent to “by sleeping early”, so tidur is functioning like a verbal noun / gerund in English.

Common patterns:

dengan + verb → “by (verb‑ing)”
- dengan belajar setiap hari – by studying every day
- dengan makan lebih sihat – by eating more healthily
- dengan tidur awal – by sleeping early

There is no special ending like -ing; Malay just uses the base verb after dengan.

Why doesn’t the second part say dengan saya tidur awal? Where did the subject “I” go?

Malay often omits repeated subjects when the subject is clear from context.

Your sentence:

Guru kata saya patut lebih berdisiplin dengan tidur awal setiap malam.

Subject: saya (I)
The phrase dengan tidur awal setiap malam is understood as “by me sleeping early every night”, but Malay doesn’t need to repeat saya.

If you add it:

… dengan saya tidur awal setiap malam.

This is grammatically possible, but sounds awkward and unnecessarily heavy in most contexts. Native speakers prefer the shorter form when the subject is obvious.

So the subject “I” is still understood, just not repeated.

How do I know that kata is past tense (“said”) and not present (“says”) or future (“will say”), since there is no tense marking?

Malay verbs do not change form for tense. Kata can mean “say / says / said / will say”, depending on context.

You infer the time from:

Time expressions (e.g. semalam – yesterday, nanti – later)
The wider context of the conversation
Sometimes optional markers like sudah / telah (already), akan (will)

Examples:

Guru kata saya patut…
→ Usually understood as “The teacher said I should…” if we’re reporting something that already happened.
Tadi guru kata saya patut… – Earlier the teacher said I should…
Nanti guru kata kita akan berbincang. – Later the teacher says / will say that we will discuss it.

So the same kata form covers all tenses; you interpret the time from context. In isolation, your sentence is most naturally understood as past (“said”).

Is setiap malam different from tiap malam or setiap hari malam? Which is most natural?

setiap malam – every night
tiap malam – every night (slightly more informal / shorter)
setiap hari malam – not natural; you normally don’t say it this way.

Most natural options:

setiap malam – neutral, good for both spoken and written Malay.
tiap malam – common in speech, a bit more casual.

So your phrase tidur awal setiap malam is perfectly natural: “sleep early every night.”