Saya suka cerpen yang menggunakan bahasa mudah tetapi idea yang mendalam.

In Malay, suka already functions as a complete verb meaning “to like”. You don’t add anything like to or do.

• Saya suka cerpen.
  = I like short stories.

Structure:

• Saya (subject)
• suka (verb “like”)
• cerpen (object)

You don’t need a preposition (to, for, of, etc.). The object just comes directly after suka.

Cerpen is specifically “short story”.

It’s a contraction of:

• cerita = story
• pendek = short
  → cerita pendek → cerpen

Some notes:

• cerita alone = story/tale (can be any length)
• cerpen = short story as a literary form

Example:

• Saya suka baca cerpen.
  I like reading short stories.

If you talk about a novel, you’d say novel, not cerpen.

Yang here works like the English relative pronouns “that/which/who” and also as a marker to highlight or define a noun.

In your sentence:

1. cerpen yang menggunakan bahasa mudah
   = short stories *that use simple language*

   • yang introduces a relative clause describing cerpen.

2. idea yang mendalam
   = ideas *that are deep / *deep ideas

   • yang links idea with its describing phrase mendalam.

So:

• yang
  • verb/adjective = clause that explains the noun before it.

You cannot just drop yang in the first part:

• ❌ cerpen menggunakan bahasa mudah (sounds like short stories use simple language as a statement, not a description)
• ✅ cerpen yang menggunakan bahasa mudah (short stories that use simple language)

Both are related to “use”, but there are differences in formality and structure.

• guna = root verb, more informal, often used in speech
• menggunakan = formal/standard meN- verb form, common in writing

In this sentence, menggunakan is more natural because:

• The whole sentence has a more formal, written style.
• With an explicit object (bahasa mudah), menggunakan sounds smoother and more standard.

Compare:

• Saya guna telefon ini. (colloquial, spoken)
• Saya menggunakan telefon ini. (more formal/neutral)

In your sentence:

• cerpen yang menggunakan bahasa mudah
  sounds more natural than
• cerpen yang guna bahasa mudah (acceptable in informal speech, less in formal writing).

Yes, in standard Malay, adjectives normally come after the noun they describe.

Pattern: noun + adjective

Examples:

• bahasa mudah = simple language
• rumah besar = big house
• cerita panjang = long story

So:

• bahasa = language
• mudah = easy/simple
  → bahasa mudah = language that is easy/simple

Putting the adjective before the noun (mudah bahasa) is not grammatical in standard Malay (with a few fixed idiomatic exceptions that you can treat as special cases).

Both are possible, but there is a subtle difference in feel:

1. bahasa mudah

   • Simple descriptive phrase: simple language
   • Short, neutral.

2. bahasa yang mudah

   • Literally: language that is easy/simple
   • Slightly more emphatic or specific, focusing on the quality of being easy.

In your sentence:

• … menggunakan bahasa mudah …
  sounds very natural and concise.

You could also say:

• … menggunakan bahasa yang mudah difahami …
  = uses language that is easy to understand (more explicit).

Tetapi means “but” and connects two contrasting ideas.

In your sentence:

• menggunakan bahasa mudah tetapi idea yang mendalam
  = uses simple language *but has deep ideas.*

tapi is a more informal variant of tetapi:

• tetapi → formal/neutral
• tapi → informal, common in speech and casual writing

So:

• Formal/neutral:
  Saya suka cerpen yang menggunakan bahasa mudah tetapi idea yang mendalam.
• More informal:
  Saya suka cerpen yang guna bahasa mudah tapi ideanya mendalam.

Malay often does not mark plural explicitly when it is obvious from context.

• idea can mean idea or ideas depending on context.
  Here, naturally: deep ideas.

Ways to show plural explicitly (if you really want to):

• idea-idea yang mendalam
• pelbagai idea yang mendalam (various deep ideas)

But it’s not necessary. The basic idea yang mendalam is already understood as plural in this context.

As for mendalam-mendalam, reduplication of adjectives is rare and usually sounds unnatural here. Stick with mendalam.

Both relate to “deep”, but they’re used slightly differently.

• dalam

  • basic word: inside / in / deep
  • used as a preposition or adjective:
    • di dalam kotak = inside the box
    • air yang dalam = deep water

• mendalam

  • formed with prefix meN-
    • dalam
  • often used more abstractly: deep (in thought/meaning)
  • e.g. idea yang mendalam = deep/profound ideas
    perasaan yang mendalam = deep feelings

In your sentence, idea yang mendalam (deep/profound ideas) is more natural than idea yang dalam.

Yes, you can make it a bit more colloquial and compact. For example:

• Saya suka cerpen yang guna bahasa mudah tapi ideanya mendalam.
• Saya suka cerpen yang bahasanya mudah tapi idea dia mendalam. (very informal)

Changes:

• menggunakan → guna (more casual)
• tetapi → tapi (informal “but”)
• Sometimes people add -nya (ideanya) or dia (idea dia) to sound more natural in speech.

Your original sentence is perfectly correct and sounds good in written or semi-formal contexts.