Breakdown of Guru berkata bahawa ujian minggu depan tidak terlalu susah.
Questions & Answers about Guru berkata bahawa ujian minggu depan tidak terlalu susah.
A natural translation is:
The teacher said that next week’s test is not too difficult.
More literally:
- Guru – teacher
- berkata – said / spoke
- bahawa – that (introducing a clause)
- ujian – test
- minggu depan – next week
- tidak terlalu susah – not too difficult / not too hard
bahawa is a conjunction meaning that, used to introduce reported/indirect speech:
- Guru berkata bahawa … – The teacher said that …
In everyday spoken Malay, bahawa is often dropped:
- Guru berkata ujian minggu depan tidak terlalu susah.
Both are correct. With bahawa sounds slightly more formal or written; without it is very common in speech.
Malay verbs usually do not change form for tense. berkata can mean say, said, or will say, depending on context and time markers.
In this sentence, the context in English suggests said:
- Guru berkata … – The teacher said / says …
- Context (talking about something that already happened) will tell you whether it’s present or past.
To mark tense more clearly, Malay often adds time words:
- tadi (earlier), semalam (yesterday), akan (will), etc.
But here, the bare berkata is enough; you decide the tense from the situation.
Both relate to tests/exams, but there is a nuance:
- ujian – test, quiz, assessment (often smaller or more general)
- peperiksaan – exam, examination (usually more formal or major exams, e.g. national exams)
In many school contexts:
- ujian = a regular test during the term
- peperiksaan = mid‑year exam, final exam, national exam
In your sentence, ujian suggests an ordinary test next week, not a big formal exam.
minggu depan means next week.
- minggu – week
- depan – front / ahead
Literally, minggu depan is like the week in front (of now) → next week.
This pattern is common:
- tahun depan – next year
- bulan depan – next month
Notice the order: noun + depan (week + next), unlike English (next week).
Malay has two main negators: tidak and bukan.
tidak is used with:
- verbs: tidak tahu (don’t know)
- adjectives: tidak susah (not difficult)
bukan is used with:
- nouns: itu bukan buku saya (that is not my book)
- whole clauses/identities or for contrast
In tidak terlalu susah:
- susah is an adjective (difficult)
- So you must use tidak, not bukan.
Hence: ujian … tidak terlalu susah (the test is not too difficult).
terlalu literally means too / excessively:
- terlalu susah – too difficult
- terlalu mahal – too expensive
In tidak terlalu susah, it works like not too difficult:
- tidak terlalu susah = not too difficult / not that difficult / not very difficult
So:
- terlalu susah – too hard
- tidak terlalu susah – not too hard / not overly hard
The tidak in front softens it.
All can relate to difficult, but with different feel:
susah
- Very common in everyday speech.
- Means difficult / troublesome / hard.
- Also used for hard life: hidup susah (a difficult life).
sukar
- Slightly more formal or written.
- Often used in official or academic style.
- sukar difahami – hard to understand.
payah
- Can mean difficult but often with a sense of effortful / burdensome.
- In some contexts sounds more colloquial or emotional: payah betul kerja ni – this job is really tough.
In your sentence, susah is the most natural, neutral everyday choice.
Malay usually puts adjectives after the noun:
- ujian susah – a difficult test
- buku baru – a new book
- guru baik – a good teacher
Time expressions like minggu depan usually come after the noun, but before the adjective phrase:
- ujian minggu depan – next week’s test
- ujian minggu depan tidak terlalu susah – the test next week is not too difficult
ujian susah minggu depan sounds awkward and unnatural; it could confuse listeners. The natural order is:
[Noun] + [Time] + [Adjective phrase]
→ ujian + minggu depan + tidak terlalu susah
Malay often omits a copula (like English is/are) when linking a noun and an adjective:
- Ujian itu susah. – The test is difficult.
- Guru itu baik. – The teacher is kind.
- Dia sakit. – He/She is sick.
So ujian minggu depan tidak terlalu susah literally is:
- test next week not too difficult
English needs is, but Malay does not put anything there. The relationship is inferred from word order.
Yes:
- Guru – teacher (more formal, used in writing, official contexts, job title)
- Cikgu – teacher (very common in spoken Malay, how students often address a teacher directly)
So:
- Guru berkata … – neutral/formal statement about a teacher
- Cikgu berkata … – sounds more like what students say in everyday speech
Both are correct; the choice depends on formality and context.
For indirect/reported speech, bahawa is common but optional:
- Guru berkata bahawa ujian…
- Guru berkata ujian… (without bahawa, especially in speech)
For direct speech (the teacher’s exact words), you usually just put the sentence after the verb, often with punctuation in writing:
- Guru berkata, “Ujian minggu depan tidak terlalu susah.”
– The teacher said, “Next week’s test is not too difficult.”
In spoken Malay, you’d just change your tone to show you’re quoting; the grammar itself doesn’t change much.