Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya bimbang orang lain ketawa, tetapi guru mengingatkan bahawa semua orang ada kelemahan. - I worry that other people will laugh, but the teacher reminds us that everyone has weaknesses.

bimbang – worried, anxious, uneasy about something that might happen
- Saya bimbang keputusan peperiksaan.
  I’m worried about the exam results.
risau – very close to bimbang, everyday and slightly more informal; often interchangeable
- Saya risau orang lain ketawa.
takut – scared/afraid (stronger, more emotional, often fear rather than “just” worry)
- Saya takut orang lain ketawa.
  → can mean “I’m afraid other people will laugh,” with a stronger emotional tone.

In this sentence, bimbang suggests a more “normal” worry, not intense fear.

Why is there no will word (like akan) before ketawa? How is the future tense shown?

Malay usually does not need a separate word for future tense. The tense is understood from context.

Saya bimbang orang lain ketawa.
Literally: I worried other people laugh,
Natural English: I’m worried (that) other people will laugh.

You can add akan to make the future meaning more explicit:

Saya bimbang orang lain akan ketawa.
(Still natural and correct; slightly more explicit/formal.)

So:

Without akan: still often understood as future because of the meaning of bimbang.
With akan: clearly future, but not compulsory.

Who is the subject of ketawa? Why isn’t there a pronoun like “they”?

In orang lain ketawa, the subject is orang lain (“other people”).

Malay word order here is:

orang lain – subject
ketawa – verb (“laugh”)

So orang lain ketawa literally = other people laugh / other people are laughing / other people will laugh.
No extra pronoun is needed, because orang lain already plays the role of “they” in this clause.

English: I’m worried that they will laugh.
Malay keeps orang lain instead of replacing it with mereka:

Saya bimbang orang lain (akan) ketawa.
(I’m worried (that) other people/they will laugh.)

What’s the difference between orang lain and orang lain-lain or orang yang lain?

All relate to “other people,” but with slightly different nuances:

orang lain
- Most common for “other people.”
- Saya bimbang orang lain ketawa.
  I’m worried other people will laugh.
orang lain-lain
- Grammatically possible but sounds awkward/rare in Malay.
- Learners sometimes copy the Indonesian orang lain-lain or use reduplication incorrectly.
- Avoid it in standard Malay for this meaning.
orang yang lain
- Literally “the people who are other / different people.”
- Used when contrasting with a specific group or individual:
  - Bukan dia, tapi orang yang lain.
    Not him, but (some) other person.
- In the sentence given, orang yang lain would sound too specific and clunky.

For “other people” in general, orang lain is the natural choice here.

What’s the difference between tetapi and tapi? Could I say tapi guru mengingatkan… instead?

Yes, you could say tapi guru mengingatkan…, but the nuance changes slightly:

tetapi
- More formal/standard.
- Common in writing, speeches, essays.
- Fits well in neutral or formal sentences.
tapi
- Informal, like “but” in casual conversation.
- Very common in speech and casual writing (texts, chats).

So:

…ketawa, tetapi guru mengingatkan…
→ Neutral to slightly formal.
…ketawa, tapi guru mengingatkan…
→ More casual, spoken style.

Both are correct grammatically.

Why is it just guru and not guru saya (“my teacher”)? Does guru automatically mean “my teacher”?

Guru literally just means teacher. It doesn’t automatically mean “my teacher,” but Malay often leaves out possessive words when context makes it obvious.

In a typical classroom context, guru will usually be interpreted as “the teacher (of this class)” → “my teacher” or “our teacher.”

You can say:

…tetapi guru saya mengingatkan…
→ …but my teacher reminded (me/us)…

This explicitly marks possession.
Dropping saya:

Sounds natural in many real situations: school stories, shared context among classmates.
Leaves “whose teacher?” slightly open, but usually understood from context.

So guru here is like saying “the teacher” where English might naturally say “my teacher.”

What does mengingatkan mean exactly, and how is it formed?

Mengingatkan means “to remind (someone)”.

It comes from the root ingat (to remember):

ingat – remember
meng- + ingat + -kan → mengingatkan

With -kan, ingat becomes a causative: “to cause someone to remember,” i.e. “to remind.”

Structure in the sentence:

guru – subject (the teacher)
mengingatkan – verb (reminded)
bahawa semua orang ada kelemahan – clause functioning as the thing you are reminded of

So:
guru mengingatkan bahawa semua orang ada kelemahan
→ the teacher reminded (us) that everyone has weaknesses.

Is bahawa necessary? Can I say guru mengingatkan semua orang ada kelemahan without it?

Bahawa is optional in many spoken and even written contexts.

With bahawa:
- guru mengingatkan bahawa semua orang ada kelemahan
  → More formal/explicit, like “reminded (us) that everyone has weaknesses.”
Without bahawa:
- guru mengingatkan semua orang ada kelemahan
  → Still understandable in speech; can sound slightly more informal or compressed.

In careful or formal writing (essays, exams, official texts), bahawa is often preferred when introducing a full clause after verbs like:

mengingatkan (bahawa) – remind (that)
mengatakan (bahawa) – say (that)
menjelaskan (bahawa) – explain (that)

So yes, you can drop it, especially in spoken Malay, but including bahawa is safe and sounds well-structured.

What does ada mean in semua orang ada kelemahan? Why not use mempunyai or punya?

Ada here works like “have / there is” depending on context. In this sentence it means “have”:

semua orang ada kelemahan
→ everyone has weaknesses.

Compare:

mempunyai kelemahan – more formal, clearly “to have”
- semua orang mempunyai kelemahan (quite formal).
punya kelemahan – more colloquial/informal
- semua orang punya kelemahan (very common in speech).

Nuance:

ada is very commonly used as a possessive in everyday Malay:
- Dia ada kereta. – He/She has a car.
- Saya tak ada masa. – I don’t have time.

So here, ada = “have,” and the sentence is natural and neutral in tone.

Is there any difference between semua orang ada kelemahan and setiap orang ada kelemahan?

Both mean “everyone has weaknesses,” but there’s a small nuance difference:

semua orang ada kelemahan
- literally: “all people have weaknesses.”
- Focuses on the group as a whole: all people, no exceptions.
setiap orang ada kelemahan
- literally: “each person has weaknesses.”
- Emphasises each individual person.

In most situations they’re interchangeable, and both are correct.
Your sentence with semua is very natural and common.

Could the word order be Saya bimbang bahawa orang lain akan ketawa? Is that also correct?

Yes, that word order is correct and very natural:

Saya bimbang bahawa orang lain akan ketawa, tetapi guru mengingatkan bahawa semua orang ada kelemahan.

Changes:

Adding bahawa after bimbang makes the structure clearer/formal: “I’m worried that…”
Adding akan before ketawa makes the future sense explicit.

Nuances:

Original: Saya bimbang orang lain ketawa…
→ Natural, slightly more conversational.
With bahawa and akan:
→ Feels more formal and explicit, maybe suitable for writing or careful speech.

Both are grammatically fine; it’s a style choice.

Is ketawa the same as tertawa? Which should I use?

In Malay:

ketawa is the usual, everyday word for “laugh.”
- Orang lain ketawa. – Other people laugh.
tertawa also exists, but:
- More common in Indonesian.
- In Malay, ketawa is more natural in daily use.
- tertawa can sound somewhat bookish, old-fashioned, or Indonesian-influenced in modern Malaysian usage.

For standard, natural Malay (especially Malaysian Malay):

Prefer ketawa.
Use tertawa only if adopting a more Indonesian style or in certain literary contexts.