Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya cuba mengawal tekanan dengan berjoging di taman. - I try to control the stress by jogging in the park.

kawal = the basic root meaning “control/guard”
mengawal = meN- + kawal, which turns it into a standard transitive verb: “to control / to manage”

So in a neutral/standard sentence, you normally say:

Saya cuba mengawal tekanan. = I try to manage/control the stress.

You might hear kawal without the prefix in casual speech (e.g. Nak kawal emosi susah), but mengawal is the grammatically standard form here.

Can I say “Saya cuba kawal tekanan” instead?

Yes, you can, but it sounds more casual/colloquial.

Saya cuba mengawal tekanan – standard/neutral, suitable in writing, formal situations, or polite speech.
Saya cuba kawal tekanan – sounds more spoken and relaxed, like how friends might talk.

Both are understandable. For careful, textbook Malay, stick with mengawal.

Does tekanan mean “stress” or “pressure”? Is it the same as stres?

Tekanan literally means “pressure”, and by extension it is often used for “stress” (especially life/work pressure).

tekanan darah – blood pressure
tekanan kerja – work pressure
tekanan perasaan – emotional pressure / emotional stress

Stres is a loanword from English “stress” and is used mainly for psychological stress:

Saya sedang mengalami stres. – I am experiencing stress.

In your sentence:

mengawal tekanan can be understood as “managing stress/pressure”, and in normal context people will take it as mental or emotional stress.

You could also say:

Saya cuba mengawal stres dengan berjoging di taman.

That sounds a bit more explicitly like modern “mental stress”, but tekanan is already very natural.

What does dengan do in “dengan berjoging di taman”? Is it “with” or “by”?

Here, dengan means “by / by means of”, not “with (someone)”:

Saya cuba mengawal tekanan dengan berjoging di taman.
= I try to manage stress *by jogging in the park.*

So:

dengan + verb (in ber-/meN- form) often gives the meaning “by doing X”:
- dengan membaca – by reading
- dengan berehat – by resting
- dengan berjoging – by jogging

If you wanted “with someone,” you would usually specify:

dengan kawan-kawan – with friends
dengan isteri saya – with my wife

Here it clearly means the method: by jogging.

Why is it berjoging and not menjoging or just joging?

In Malay, the prefix ber- is often used for activities you do, especially intransitive actions (no direct object) and hobbies:

berlari – to run
berenang – to swim
berjalan – to walk
berjoging – to go jogging

Joging is the borrowed root (from “jogging”), and ber- + joging → berjoging.

berjoging sounds like “to go jogging” as an activity.
joging alone can appear in casual speech, e.g. Saya suka joging pagi-pagi, but berjoging is the safer, more standard verb form.
menjoging is not standard; native speakers don’t use it.

Could I say “dengan joging di taman” instead of “dengan berjoging di taman”?

You might hear dengan joging in casual speech, but the standard and more natural form is:

dengan berjoging di taman

Because:

dengan + ber-verb nicely expresses “by doing [activity]”.
- dengan berjoging – by jogging
- dengan berenang – by swimming

So for correct Malay, keep berjoging here.

Is the word order fixed? Can I move di taman earlier in the sentence?

Malay word order is relatively flexible, but your version is the most natural:

Saya cuba mengawal tekanan dengan berjoging di taman.

Other possible orders:

Saya cuba mengawal tekanan di taman dengan berjoging.
– Grammatically okay, but slightly odd: it sounds like “manage stress in the park by jogging,” as if the location is linked more to “mengawal tekanan” than to “berjoging”.
Di taman, saya cuba mengawal tekanan dengan berjoging.
– Also correct; this is more like “In the park, I try to manage stress by jogging.” It emphasises the location.

In everyday speech, your original sentence order is the most natural and neutral.

How would I say “I’m trying / I tried / I will try” with this sentence, since Malay doesn’t have tenses?

Malay doesn’t change the verb form for tense. You add time words or aspect markers:

I am trying
- Saya sedang cuba mengawal tekanan dengan berjoging di taman.
- sedang = in the middle of / currently doing
I tried
- Saya sudah cuba mengawal tekanan dengan berjoging di taman.
- Saya pernah cuba mengawal tekanan dengan berjoging di taman.
- sudah = already; pernah = have (ever) done before.
I will try
- Saya akan cuba mengawal tekanan dengan berjoging di taman.
- akan = will

Without those words:

Saya cuba mengawal tekanan…
could be understood from context as present, habitual (I try), or general (I try / I’m trying).

Can I say “Saya berjoging di taman untuk mengawal tekanan” instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, that’s a very natural alternative:

Saya berjoging di taman untuk mengawal tekanan.

Difference in nuance:

Original:
Saya cuba mengawal tekanan dengan berjoging di taman.
→ Focus on the effort to control stress, method = by jogging.
Alternative:
Saya berjoging di taman untuk mengawal tekanan.
→ Focus on the activity of jogging, purpose = to control stress.

Both are correct; choose depending on what you want to emphasize:

effort to manage stress → original
jogging as an activity with a purpose → alternative

How do I pronounce “tekanan” and “berjoging”?

Rough pronunciation (using English-like hints):

tekanan: tuh-KAH-nan
- te – like “te” in “teacher” but shorter
- ka – “kah” (open ‘a’ sound)
- nan – “nun” with ‘a’ (nahn)
- Stress usually on the second syllable: te-KA-nan
berjoging: bər-JO-geng
- ber – like “ber” in “Berlin”, but very short, almost br with a schwa /ə/ sound
- jo – like “jo” in “Joe”
- ging – like “ging” in “sing”, but with a hard g: “ging”

Malay vowels are generally short and clear, and each syllable is pronounced.

Is this sentence formal, neutral, or informal? How would a friend say it casually?

The sentence is neutral and standard. You could say it in writing, in a presentation, or in everyday polite conversation.

More casual versions a friend might use:

Aku cuba kawal tekanan dengan joging kat taman.
- aku instead of saya – informal “I”
- kawal instead of mengawal – more colloquial
- joging instead of berjoging – casual
- kat instead of di – colloquial “at/in”

Or:

Aku joging kat taman nak kurangkan stres.
- nak = hendak (want to), commonly used as “to” in speech
- kurangkan stres = reduce stress

Your original sentence is the safe, polite-standard version.

How would I say “my stress” or “work stress” in this sentence?

You can modify tekanan with other nouns:

My stress
- Saya cuba mengawal tekanan saya dengan berjoging di taman.
  – literally “control my pressure/stress”.
Work stress
- Saya cuba mengawal tekanan kerja dengan berjoging di taman.
  – “manage work stress by jogging in the park.”
Life pressure / life stress
- tekanan hidup – life pressures

Example:

Saya cuba mengawal tekanan kerja dengan berjoging di taman.
= I try to manage work stress by jogging in the park.

Could I use untuk instead of dengan, like “untuk berjoging di taman”?

You can use untuk, but the meaning changes:

dengan berjoging di taman = by jogging in the park (method)
untuk berjoging di taman = in order to jog in the park (purpose)

So:

Saya pergi ke taman untuk berjoging.
= I go to the park to jog. (purpose)

In your original sentence, the idea is how you manage stress, so dengan (by means of) is the correct and natural choice:

Saya cuba mengawal tekanan dengan berjoging di taman. ✔
(I try to manage stress by jogging in the park.)