Saya setia mendengar apa yang ibu nasihatkan dan cuba untuk tidak mengabaikan nasihat itu.

I loyally listen to what my mother advises and try not to ignore that advice.

Breakdown of Saya setia mendengar apa yang ibu nasihatkan dan cuba untuk tidak mengabaikan nasihat itu.

• saya: I
• itu: that
• mendengar: to listen
• untuk: to
• dan: and
• tidak: not
• ibu: the mother
• cuba: to try
• yang: that/which
• apa: what
• setia: loyal
• mengabaikan: to ignore
• nasihatkan: to advise
• nasihat: the advice

Questions & Answers about Saya setia mendengar apa yang ibu nasihatkan dan cuba untuk tidak mengabaikan nasihat itu.

In the phrase saya setia mendengar, how is setia being used? Can an adjective like setia go directly before a verb?

Yes. In Malay, many words that are adjectives can also function as adverbs without any change in form.

• setia = loyal, faithful
• setia mendengar ≈ “faithfully listen”, “steadfastly listen”

Other similar patterns:

• dia cepat berlari – he/she runs quickly
• mereka tekun belajar – they study diligently

You could also say saya mendengar dengan setia, but setia mendengar is natural and compact.

What exactly is the structure apa yang ibu nasihatkan? Why do we need yang here?

apa yang ibu nasihatkan is a relative clause structure:

• apa = what (the thing)
• yang = relativizer, like “that / which”
• ibu = mother (subject of the clause)
• nasihatkan = (she) advises

So it literally means: “what it is that mother advises”.
Without yang, apa ibu nasihatkan is possible in casual speech, but standard Malay strongly prefers apa yang … in this type of clause. yang marks the start of the clause that explains or specifies apa.

If ibu means “mother”, why doesn’t the sentence say ibu saya for “my mother”?

In Malay, kinship terms like ibu, ayah, mak, abang, kakak, etc., often imply “my …” when the context is clearly about the speaker’s own family.

So:

• Saya setia mendengar apa yang ibu nasihatkan
  ≈ “I faithfully listen to what my mother advises.”

If you need to be explicit (e.g. to contrast different mothers), you can say ibu saya. But in normal, personal contexts, ibu alone naturally reads as “my mother”.

What is the difference between nasihat, menasihatkan, menasihati, and nasihatkan? Why is nasihatkan used here?

Basic forms:

• nasihat – noun: advice

  • nasihat ibu – mother’s advice

• menasihati – verb: to advise someone (the person is the object)

  • Ibu menasihati saya. – Mother advises me.

• menasihatkan – verb: often used when the focus is on the content of the advice (the thing advised), though in practice it often overlaps with menasihati.

  • Doktor menasihatkan rehat yang cukup. – The doctor advises sufficient rest.

• nasihatkan (without meN-) – in everyday Malay, the meN- prefix is often dropped in writing and speech after a clear noun subject, so nasihatkan here is essentially a shortened form of menasihatkan:

  • apa yang ibu nasihatkan ≈ apa yang ibu menasihatkan

In this sentence, apa (what) is the “thing advised”, so the -kan form (focusing on the advised content) fits naturally: apa yang ibu nasihatkan = “what my mother advises (me to do / about something)”.

Is apa yang ibu menasihati or apa yang ibu nasihati also correct?

Those are not natural in this context.

With -i, the object tends to be the person being advised:

• Ibu menasihati saya. – Mother advises me.
• Ibu menasihati anak-anaknya. – She advises her children.

But in apa yang ibu nasihatkan, the focus is on apa (the content of the advice), not the person. So speakers prefer the -kan form.

More natural alternatives keeping that meaning would be:

• apa yang ibu nasihatkan (as given, informal but fine)
• apa yang ibu menasihatkan (more formal, less common in everyday speech)
• apa yang dinasihatkan oleh ibu (formal passive).

Why does the sentence use cuba untuk tidak mengabaikan? Is untuk necessary, or could it just be cuba tidak mengabaikan?

Both are acceptable.

• cuba tidak mengabaikan nasihat itu
• cuba untuk tidak mengabaikan nasihat itu

cuba + [verb] already means “try to [verb]”, so untuk is not grammatically required. Adding untuk:

• can sound a bit more formal or deliberate in some contexts
• is very common in everyday speech too, even if it’s not strictly needed

So you can safely use cuba tidak… or cuba untuk tidak…; neither is wrong here.

What does mengabaikan mean exactly, and how is it formed?

Root: abai – to neglect / disregard / ignore

With affixes:

• mengabaikan = meN- + abai + -kan

  • active transitive verb: “to ignore / to neglect (something)”
  • Dia mengabaikan tugasnya. – He/she neglects his/her duties.

• abaikan (imperative / bare form)

  • Abaikan dia. – Ignore him/her.

In the sentence, tidak mengabaikan nasihat itu literally means “not to ignore that advice” or “to avoid disregarding that advice”.

Why repeat the word nasihat at the end (nasihat itu)? Could I just use a pronoun like mengabaikannya instead?

Repetition of the noun is very normal in Malay and often clearer:

• …dan cuba untuk tidak mengabaikan nasihat itu.
  – “…and try not to ignore that advice.”

You can replace it with a pronoun, and it is correct:

• …dan cuba untuk tidak mengabaikannya. – “…and try not to ignore it.”

Differences:

• nasihat itu is slightly more explicit and can sound a bit more careful or emphatic.
• mengabaikannya is more compact and sounds very natural in flowing speech.

Both versions are acceptable.

In apa yang ibu nasihatkan, where is the object of nasihatkan? Shouldn’t it be nasihatkan saya?

Here, the direct object of nasihatkan is apa (“what”), not saya.

• apa = the thing advised
• ibu = subject (mother)
• nasihatkan = advises

So apa yang ibu nasihatkan = “what my mother advises (me / us / her children, etc.)”.
The person being advised (saya, “me”) is understood from context and doesn’t have to be stated.

If you really want to include it, you might say:

• apa yang ibu nasihatkan kepada saya – what my mother advises to me

but in your original sentence it is natural and complete as-is.

Where should tidak go in a sentence like this? Why is it tidak mengabaikan nasihat itu and not something like mengabaikan tidak nasihat itu?

In Malay, tidak normally appears before:

• verbs: tidak mengabaikan, tidak pergi
• adjectives: tidak setia, tidak rajin

So:

• cuba untuk tidak mengabaikan nasihat itu – correct
• cuba untuk mengabaikan tidak nasihat itu – incorrect / ungrammatical

The usual word order is:
[cuba] + [untuk (optional)] + [tidak] + [verb phrase]

What is the register and tone of this sentence? Is it formal, or more casual? How would a more casual version look?

The sentence as given is in fairly neutral / standard Malay. It’s polite and suitable for writing, but not super-formal.

A more casual, conversational version might be:

• Saya selalu dengar cakap mak dan cuba untuk tak abaikan nasihat tu.

Changes:

• selalu instead of setia – “always” (plainer)
• dengar cakap mak – “listen to what mom says” (colloquial)
• tak instead of tidak – informal negation
• tu instead of itu – informal demonstrative

How is tense expressed in this sentence? How do we know if it’s talking about the past, present, or future?

Malay doesn’t change the verb form for tense. mendengar, nasihatkan, mengabaikan stay the same.

Time is understood from context or from time words:

• Dulu, saya setia mendengar… – In the past
• Sekarang, saya setia mendengar… – Now / these days
• Mulai sekarang, saya akan setia mendengar… – From now on / future

Your sentence by itself most naturally reads as a general / habitual statement: something the speaker generally does or tries to do.

Could this sentence be simplified without changing the meaning too much?

Yes, you can keep the meaning but simplify the structure a bit. For example:

• Saya sentiasa mendengar nasihat ibu dan cuba untuk tidak mengabaikannya.

Changes:

• sentiasa mendengar nasihat ibu – “always listen to my mother’s advice” (simpler than the clause apa yang ibu nasihatkan)
• mengabaikannya – replaces mengabaikan nasihat itu

The core meaning—listening to mother’s advice and trying not to ignore it—remains the same.