Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya simpan bahan bacaan di rak tinggi di ruang tamu. - I keep reading materials on the tall shelf in the living room.

Malay generally has no articles like the, a, or an.
In Saya simpan bahan bacaan di rak tinggi di ruang tamu, bahan bacaan, rak, and ruang tamu can be understood as definite or indefinite from context:

bahan bacaan → reading materials / the reading materials
di rak tinggi → on a high/tall shelf or on the high/tall shelf
di ruang tamu → in the living room / in the living room of my house

If you need to be more specific, you add other words, e.g. bahan bacaan itu (those/the reading materials) or bahan bacaan ini (these reading materials).

What exactly does bahan bacaan mean?

Bahan bacaan literally means reading materials.

bahan = material(s), stuff used for something
bacaan = reading (noun), things to be read

Together they cover books, magazines, articles, worksheets, etc. It’s a general, somewhat neutral/standard expression rather than a specific type of item.

Does simpan mean “keep”, “store”, or “put”? How is it different from letak?

Simpan focuses on keeping/storing something in a place for some time, often neatly or for safekeeping:

Saya simpan bahan bacaan… → I keep/store the reading materials…

Letak (and taruh) are more about the act of placing/putting something somewhere, without the idea of storage:

Saya letak buku di rak. → I put the book on the shelf.

You could say Saya letak bahan bacaan di rak tinggi… to mean “I put the reading materials on the high shelf…”, but simpan suggests a more permanent or organized keeping.

Why is di repeated: di rak tinggi di ruang tamu? Can I say it only once?

Each di introduces a separate location phrase:

di rak tinggi = on the high/tall shelf
di ruang tamu = in the living room

Malay normally repeats di before each location.
Saying di rak tinggi ruang tamu (without the second di) sounds odd and unclear. If you want, you can reorder: di ruang tamu, di rak tinggi – but you still keep di for each phrase.

How does rak tinggi work? Is tinggi an adjective like “high/tall shelf”? Do we need yang?

Yes, tinggi is an adjective modifying rak:

rak tinggi = high/tall shelf

Malay puts adjectives after the noun: rak (shelf) + tinggi (high/tall).
You don’t need yang here. yang is used when you’re specifying or adding a longer description:

rak yang tinggi itu = that high/tall shelf
rak yang tinggi dan kuat = the shelf that is high and strong

For a simple “high shelf”, rak tinggi is natural.

Does rak tinggi mean “tall shelf” (like a big bookcase) or “top shelf” (the uppermost one)?

By itself, rak tinggi is ambiguous; it usually means a shelf that is high up or a tall shelf, depending on context.

If you specifically mean top shelf / highest shelf, people often say:

rak paling atas = the topmost shelf
rak bahagian atas = the upper part shelf

To avoid confusion, for “top shelf in the living room” you could say:
Saya simpan bahan bacaan di rak paling atas di ruang tamu.

What is the function of di in this sentence?

Di is a preposition meaning at / in / on (for locations). In this sentence:

di rak tinggi → on the high/tall shelf
di ruang tamu → in the living room

Malay uses di for physical locations and places. There is no separate word for “on” versus “in” here; di covers them both, and context tells you whether English should use in or on.

How is the basic word order of this sentence structured?

The structure is:

Saya (Subject)
simpan (Verb)
bahan bacaan (Object)
di rak tinggi di ruang tamu (Location phrases)

So the pattern is S – V – O – (Place), which is very typical in Malay.
It would sound strange to move the object after the location, e.g.
✗ Saya simpan di rak tinggi di ruang tamu bahan bacaan. (unnatural in standard Malay)

Why is there no tense marker like “keep” vs “kept” or “will keep”?

Malay verbs usually do not change form for tense. Simpan can mean keep, kept, am keeping, will keep. The time is shown by adverbs or context:

Semalam saya simpan bahan bacaan… = Yesterday I kept…
Esok saya akan simpan bahan bacaan… = Tomorrow I will keep…
Setiap hari saya simpan bahan bacaan… = Every day I keep…

In your sentence, without any time word, it’s most naturally understood as a general habit or a present-time statement: I (usually) keep / I keep.

Is saya formal? Could I use aku instead?

Saya is neutral and polite; it’s safe in almost all situations (speaking to strangers, elders, in formal settings, and also informal ones).

Aku is informal/intimate, used with close friends, siblings, or in very casual contexts. If you change it:

Aku simpan bahan bacaan di rak tinggi di ruang tamu.

That’s fine among close friends, but don’t use aku with people you should be polite to unless they use it with you first.

Does bahan bacaan mean one item or many items? How do you make it clearly plural?

Malay doesn’t require plural forms, so bahan bacaan can mean reading material (uncountable) or reading materials (plural), depending on context.

To be clearly plural, you can say:

bahan-bahan bacaan (reduplication, often sounds a bit formal)
banyak bahan bacaan = many reading materials
beberapa bahan bacaan = several reading materials

But normally, bahan bacaan alone is enough and is understood as plural if the situation implies many things.

Can I drop Saya and just say Simpan bahan bacaan di rak tinggi di ruang tamu?

You can drop saya in certain contexts, for example in:

Instructions: Simpan bahan bacaan di rak tinggi di ruang tamu. → (You) keep/store the reading materials on the high shelf in the living room.
Notes to yourself, a to‑do list, or a label.

In a full normal sentence where you’re describing what you do, it’s better to keep Saya so it’s clear who the subject is.