Dia menyesal kerana tidak guna kebebasan untuk berkata apa yang dia fikir semasa mesyuarat.

He/She regrets not using the freedom to say what he/she thought during the meeting.

Breakdown of Dia menyesal kerana tidak guna kebebasan untuk berkata apa yang dia fikir semasa mesyuarat.

• dia: he/she
• untuk: to
• tidak: not
• guna: to use
• kerana: because
• mesyuarat: the meeting
• fikir: to think
• yang: that/which
• berkata: to say
• apa: what
• kebebasan: the freedom
• menyesal: to regret
• semasa: during

Questions & Answers about Dia menyesal kerana tidak guna kebebasan untuk berkata apa yang dia fikir semasa mesyuarat.

What does dia mean here? Is it he or she?

Dia is a third‑person singular pronoun that means he, she, or they (one person).

Malay does not mark gender in pronouns, so you only know whether dia is male or female from context, not from the word itself.

Why is there no his or her before kebebasan? How do you say his freedom?

Malay often omits possessive pronouns when the ownership is obvious from context.

• kebebasan = freedom (general or implied “his/her freedom”)
• To make it explicit, you can say:
  • kebebasannya = his/her freedom (more compact, slightly more formal)
  • kebebasan dia = his/her freedom (more colloquial/speech-like)

So your sentence could also be:

• Dia menyesal kerana tidak guna kebebasannya untuk berkata…
  or
• Dia menyesal kerana tidak guna kebebasan dia untuk berkata…

The original sentence is still natural because we already know whose freedom is being talked about.

How do we know this sentence is about the past if there is no past tense form?

Malay verbs do not change form for tense (no difference like use / used).

Time is usually shown by:

• Time words: semalam (yesterday), tadi (earlier), nanti (later), etc.
• Context: a past situation is understood from what is being described.

In this sentence, menyesal (regrets/is regretful) plus the context (during the meeting) naturally suggests a past situation: the meeting already happened, and now the person regrets what they did not do.

If you want to make it explicitly past, you could add a time word, e.g.:

• Dia menyesal kerana semalam dia tidak guna kebebasan…
  (He/She regrets it because yesterday he/she didn’t use the freedom…)

What is the function of menyesal kerana? Could we also say menyesal tentang?

• menyesal = to regret / to be sorry about something
• kerana = because

menyesal kerana… introduces the reason for the regret, something like “(He/She) regrets (it) because…”

You could also find:

• menyesal tentang = regret about (a noun phrase)
  
  • Dia menyesal tentang keputusannya.
    (He/She regrets his/her decision.)

But in your sentence the following part is a whole action (“not using the freedom to speak”), so using kerana (“because”) is more natural:

• Dia menyesal kerana tidak guna kebebasan…
  He/She regrets (it) because (he/she) didn’t use (his/her) freedom…

What is the difference between kerana and sebab?

Both mean because, and they are often interchangeable.

• kerana: slightly more formal or neutral; common in writing and speech.
• sebab: also common; can sound a bit more conversational in some contexts.

Examples:

• Dia menyesal kerana tidak guna kebebasan…
• Dia menyesal sebab tidak guna kebebasan…

Both are acceptable. In careful writing, kerana is often preferred.

Is guna correct here, or should it be menggunakan?

Both are possible, but they differ in formality:

• guna = root verb use (informal / everyday speech)
  
  • tidak guna kebebasan = did not use (his/her) freedom
• menggunakan = to use with the meN- prefix (more formal / standard)
  
  • tidak menggunakan kebebasan = did not use (his/her) freedom

Your sentence mixes slightly more formal words (menyesal, kerana, kebebasan) with a more informal verb (guna). That is very common in spoken Malay.

For a more formal version, you could say:

• Dia menyesal kerana tidak menggunakan kebebasannya untuk berkata…

Why is tidak used here, not bukan? And what about tak?

Malay has two main negators:

• tidak: used before verbs and adjectives
  
  • tidak guna, tidak cantik, tidak faham
• bukan: used before nouns and pronouns, or for equating / identifying
  
  • Dia bukan doktor. (He/She is not a doctor.)
  • Ini bukan saya. (This is not me.)

Because guna is a verb, tidak is correct:

• tidak guna kebebasan = did not use (the) freedom

tak is just the colloquial form of tidak, common in speech:

• Dia menyesal sebab dia tak guna kebebasan…

Note: tak guna can also be an idiom meaning useless (“That guy is useless”), but here the direct object kebebasan makes it clear it means did not use.

What does untuk do in untuk berkata? Could we leave it out?

untuk roughly means to / in order to when it introduces a purpose.

• untuk berkata = to say / in order to say

In this sentence:

• tidak guna kebebasan untuk berkata…
  did not use (his/her) freedom to say…

You normally keep untuk here; without it, the sentence would sound unfinished or less clear:

• Natural: …guna kebebasan untuk berkata apa yang dia fikir…
• Odd: …guna kebebasan berkata apa yang dia fikir… (understandable, but not the usual pattern)

So untuk clearly links the purpose of using that freedom.

What is the difference between berkata and cakap / berkata-kata / kata?

All relate to speaking, but with different usage:

• berkata: to say, to speak (slightly more formal/neutral)
  
  • Dia tidak berani berkata apa-apa. = He/She did not dare say anything.
• cakap: to talk/speak (very common in speech, more colloquial)
  
  • Dia tak berani cakap apa-apa.
• berkata-kata: to speak (more literary/less common in casual use)
• kata: root word “say”; it appears in phrases like kata dia (he/she said), perkataan (word).

In your sentence, berkata is fine and feels neutral/acceptable in both speech and writing. A more colloquial version could be:

• …guna kebebasan untuk cakap apa yang dia fikir…

How does apa yang dia fikir work grammatically? Why do we need yang?

apa yang dia fikir literally breaks down as:

• apa = what
• yang = a relativizer/marker that links apa to a clause
• dia fikir = he/she thinks / thought

Together: apa yang dia fikir = what he/she thought or what he/she thinks.

yang is needed to attach the clause dia fikir to the interrogative apa, turning it into “the thing that he/she thought”.

Very similar structures:

• apa yang dia cakap = what he/she said
• apa yang berlaku = what happened
• apa yang kamu mahu = what you want

Is there a difference between fikir, berfikir, and fikirkan / memikirkan?

Yes, they share the same root but have different nuances:

• fikir (bare root, often with a subject): think (informal)
  
  • Dia fikir begitu. = He/She thinks so.
• berfikir: to think (as an activity/process), slightly more formal
  
  • Dia sedang berfikir. = He/She is thinking.
• fikirkan / memikirkan: to think about / consider something
  
  • Dia memikirkan masa depannya. = He/She is thinking about his/her future.
  • Fikirkan akibatnya. = Think about the consequences.

In apa yang dia fikir, fikir is used in an informal/neutral way. A more formal style might use:

• apa yang dia fikirkan = what he/she thought (about)

What does semasa mean, and how is it different from masa, ketika, or waktu?

All can express when / during (a time), with small differences in feel:

• semasa = during/when (quite neutral, common in writing)
  
  • semasa mesyuarat = during the meeting
• masa = when/during (very common in speech)
  
  • Masa mesyuarat, dia diam saja.
• ketika = when (a bit more formal or literary)
  
  • Ketika mesyuarat, dia diam sahaja.
• waktu = at the time / during (often with a similar use to masa)
  
  • Waktu mesyuarat, dia senyap saja.

In your sentence, you could replace semasa with masa or ketika without changing the meaning much:

• …apa yang dia fikir semasa mesyuarat.
• …apa yang dia fikir masa mesyuarat.
• …apa yang dia fikir ketika mesyuarat.

Can we move semasa mesyuarat to another place in the sentence?

Yes. Malay word order is quite flexible for time expressions. All of these are acceptable, with small emphasis differences:

1. Original:

   • Dia menyesal kerana tidak guna kebebasan untuk berkata apa yang dia fikir semasa mesyuarat.

2. Time phrase earlier:

   • Semasa mesyuarat, dia tidak guna kebebasan untuk berkata apa yang dia fikir, dan sekarang dia menyesal.

3. Between clauses:

   • Dia menyesal kerana semasa mesyuarat dia tidak guna kebebasan untuk berkata apa yang dia fikir.

All are natural; moving semasa mesyuarat mostly changes what you’re highlighting, not the basic meaning.