Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya mahu berehat di rumah, padahal saya perlu mengulang kaji pelajaran. - I want to rest at home, whereas I need to revise my lessons.

Saya mahu berehat di rumah = “I want to rest at home.”
It can imply a future action (“I’m going to rest at home”) if the context is about plans, but the core meaning is desire, not future tense.
Malay doesn’t mark tense with verb changes, so time is usually understood from context or extra words like nanti (later), tadi (earlier), esok (tomorrow), etc.

So here, mahu = “want to”, with a possible future sense depending on context.

What’s the difference between mahu, hendak, and nak? Could I replace mahu here?

All three express wanting or intention, but they differ in formality and usage:

mahu – neutral, common in Malaysia, fine in both speech and writing.
hendak – slightly more formal / bookish, often found in writing, older speakers, or set phrases.
nak – very informal, spoken Malay, especially among friends and family.

In this sentence:

Saya mahu berehat di rumah… (neutral, standard)
Saya hendak berehat di rumah… (more formal/written, still correct)
Saya nak berehat di rumah… (very casual/spoken)

All are grammatically correct; choose based on how formal you want to sound.

Why is it berehat and not just rehat? What does the prefix ber- do here?

Rehat is the noun “rest”, while berehat is the verb “to rest”.

Prefix ber- often turns a base word into an intransitive verb (an action without a direct object).
So:
- rehat = “rest” (as a thing, a state)
- berehat = “to rest / to take a rest”

That’s why in Saya mahu berehat di rumah, the verb form berehat is used. You can’t say Saya mahu rehat di rumah in formal Malay, though in casual spoken Malay you will hear people drop ber- and say nak rehat, which is colloquial.

Why is it di rumah and not ke rumah? What’s the difference?

Both di and ke are prepositions of place, but they show different things:

di = “at / in / on” → location
- di rumah = “at home”
ke = “to” → movement towards a place
- ke rumah = “to (go) home”

In this sentence, the meaning is resting at home, not going home. So di rumah is correct:

Saya mahu berehat di rumah = “I want to rest at home.”
If you said Saya mahu berehat ke rumah, it would sound wrong, because “rest” is not a movement towards home.

What exactly does padahal mean? Is it the same as “but” (tetapi)?

Padahal introduces a contrast that highlights a conflict between reality and what should happen / what is expected.

Rough English equivalents:

“even though”, “whereas”, “when actually”, “while in fact”.

Compare:

tetapi = a general “but / however”
padahal = “but (the problem is that…) / even though (in fact…)”

Your sentence:

Saya mahu berehat di rumah, padahal saya perlu mengulang kaji pelajaran.
→ “I want to rest at home, even though I actually need to revise my lessons.”

Padahal adds a nuance of “this is a bit wrong / problematic / contrary to what I should do”. It’s more emotionally loaded than a neutral tetapi.

Is the comma before padahal necessary? Where does padahal usually go in the sentence?

Yes, in writing we normally put a comma before conjunctions like padahal, tetapi, kerana, etc., when they join two full clauses.

Typical structure:

Clause 1, padahal Clause 2.

Examples:

Saya mahu berehat di rumah, padahal saya perlu mengulang kaji pelajaran.
Dia kelihatan gembira, padahal dia sedang sedih.

You don’t normally move padahal to the middle or end of the clause; it sits at the start of the contrasting clause, just like “but” or “even though” in English.

How is mengulang kaji pelajaran built up? Is mengulang kaji one verb, or are these separate words?

Mengulang kaji functions as a compound verb, meaning “to revise / review (studies)”.

Breakdown:

ulang = repeat
kaji = examine / study / analyse
mengulang = to repeat
mengulang kaji = to review / revise material already learned
pelajaran = lessons / studies

So:

mengulang kaji pelajaran ≈ “to revise (my) lessons / to review the material”.

Grammatically, you can think of mengulang kaji as one unit (like an English phrasal verb), and pelajaran is its object.

Could I just say mengulang kaji or kaji pelajaran, or even just belajar? What’s the difference?

They’re related but not identical:

mengulang kaji pelajaran
- Very natural phrase in Malaysian school/academic contexts.
- Means “to revise/review what you’ve learned”, often for tests/exams.
mengulang kaji (without pelajaran)
- Still understandable: “to revise / review (it)”.
- The object is implied by context (e.g. schoolwork).
kaji pelajaran
- Grammatically possible (“study/examine lessons”), but not the usual way to say “revise for exams” in everyday Malay.
- Sounds more like “analyse lessons”, slightly odd in this context.
belajar
- General “to study / to learn”.
- Not specifically “to revise what you’ve already learned”.

In your sentence, mengulang kaji pelajaran is the most natural if you mean “I need to revise (my schoolwork)”.

If you want something simpler and still natural:

…saya perlu belajar. = “I need to study.”

Why use perlu here? How is perlu different from mesti, harus, or kena?

All of these can express necessity or obligation, but with different shades:

perlu = “need to”
- Neutral, can be internal or external necessity.
- Saya perlu mengulang kaji pelajaran. = “I need to revise my lessons.”
mesti = “must” (stronger obligation / certainty)
- Saya mesti mengulang kaji pelajaran. = “I must revise my lessons.”
harus = “should / ought to” (can sound slightly formal, sometimes softer advice)
- Saya harus mengulang kaji pelajaran. = “I should revise my lessons.”
kena (colloquial) = “have to”
- Saya kena mengulang kaji pelajaran. = “I have to revise my lessons.” (informal speech)

In your sentence, perlu suggests a clear need, but not as forceful as mesti. It fits well with the idea of responsibility (you know you need to study) clashing with your desire to rest.

Do I have to repeat saya in the second clause, or can I drop it?

You can drop the second saya and it will still be grammatical and natural, because the subject is clear from context:

Saya mahu berehat di rumah, padahal perlu mengulang kaji pelajaran.

This is common in Malay: once the subject is established, it doesn’t always have to be repeated.

However, repeating saya:

…padahal saya perlu mengulang kaji pelajaran.

adds clarity and a bit of emphasis that you yourself are the one who needs to study. Both versions are acceptable; this sentence sounds very natural either way.

Can I switch the order of the clauses? Would that change the meaning?

Yes, you can swap them:

Saya perlu mengulang kaji pelajaran, padahal saya mahu berehat di rumah.

Meaning-wise, it’s still:

“I need to revise my lessons, even though I (just) want to rest at home.”

The overall meaning is the same, but the focus changes slightly:

Original: starts with what you want (to rest), then introduces the “problem” (you need to study).
Reordered: starts with your obligation (to study), then contrasts it with your desire to rest.

Both patterns are natural. Use the one that matches what you want to emphasize first.

How formal is this sentence? How would it sound in casual everyday speech?

Your sentence is neutral and acceptable in both speech and writing, especially in a slightly careful or polite context.

Very casual spoken Malaysian Malay might look like this:

Aku nak rehat kat rumah, padahal aku kena study.
- aku instead of saya (informal “I”)
- nak instead of mahu
- rehat instead of berehat
- kat instead of di
- study (English loan) instead of mengulang kaji pelajaran / belajar
- kena instead of perlu

But for learning standard Malay (and for exams, writing, or polite conversation), your original sentence is very good.

How do we know the tense here? Could it mean past, present, or future?

Malay verbs don’t change form for tense, so the bare sentence is time-neutral.

Saya mahu berehat di rumah, padahal saya perlu mengulang kaji pelajaran.
could be understood as:

now / general habit: “I (always) want to rest at home, even though I need to revise.”
future (most natural here): “I want to rest at home (later / tonight), even though I need to revise.”

To make the time clear, Malay usually adds time words:

Tadi saya mahu berehat di rumah… = Earlier I wanted to rest at home…
Nanti saya mahu berehat di rumah… = Later I want to rest at home…
Malam ini saya mahu berehat di rumah… = Tonight I want to rest at home…

So tense is inferred from context or extra time expressions, not from verb changes.

Why is it just di rumah and not di rumah saya (“at my house”)? Is anything lost by leaving out saya?

In Malay, di rumah is usually understood as “at home (my home)” when talking about yourself, unless context clearly suggests someone else’s house.

Saya mahu berehat di rumah.
→ Normally interpreted as “I want to rest at (my) home.”

If you say di rumah saya, you make it explicit that it is your own house, which you might do if:

you’re contrasting it with someone else’s house (di rumah saya, bukan di rumah dia), or
the context is not clear whose house is meant.

In most everyday situations, di rumah is enough and sounds more natural.