Learn Hardcore Malay: Penceramah memberi contoh pembentangan yang baik supaya kami tahu apa yang perlu diperbaiki. - The speaker gives an example of a good presentation so that we know what needs to be improved.

Penceramah comes from ceramah (a talk/lecture) + the prefix peN- (person who does the action), so it literally means “someone who gives a talk / a public speaker.”

Typical nuances:

penceramah – a speaker who gives a talk, lecture, sermon, or motivational speech. Often used for guest speakers, religious preachers, or motivational speakers.
guru – a school teacher, especially at primary/secondary level.
pensyarah – a lecturer at a college or university.

So in this sentence, penceramah suggests a guest speaker / lecturer giving a talk, not necessarily your regular classroom teacher.

What is the difference between beri, memberi, and memberikan in memberi contoh pembentangan?

All three relate to “to give,” but differ slightly in formality and structure.

beri
- Base verb, more informal/common in speech.
- Example: Dia beri saya buku. – He/She gave me a book.
memberi
- MeN- prefix added to beri, slightly more formal and very common in writing.
- Often used with a direct object immediately after it.
- Example: Penceramah memberi contoh. – The speaker gave an example.
memberikan
- memberi
  - suffix -kan.
- Often used when you want to highlight the thing being given, or before a recipient phrase with kepada.
- Examples:
  - Penceramah memberikan contoh pembentangan. – The speaker gave an example of a presentation.
  - Penceramah memberikan contoh kepada kami. – The speaker gave an example to us.

In your sentence, memberi contoh pembentangan is natural and correct. You could also say memberikan contoh pembentangan, which is slightly more formal but similar in meaning.

What does pembentangan mean, and how is it formed?

Pembentangan means “a presentation” (for example, a slide presentation, project presentation, or formal report given in front of others).

It is formed as:

Root verb: bentang – to spread out, to lay out, or to present.
With meN- prefix: membentang – to present (e.g. to present a report).
With peN- + -an: pembentangan – the act or event of presenting, i.e. the presentation.

Related words:

pembentang – the presenter (the person who presents).
membentangkan – to present something (often with an object): Dia membentangkan laporan. – He/She presented the report.

So contoh pembentangan = an example of a presentation.

What is the function of yang in pembentangan yang baik?

Yang is a relative marker or linker that connects a noun to a describing part (often like “that is / which is” in English).

In pembentangan yang baik:

pembentangan – the presentation
yang – that / which
baik – good

So it can be understood as: “a presentation that is good” → “a good presentation.”

yang is especially useful when:

The description is more than one word.
You want to emphasize the description as a separate clause.

You could, in many cases, drop yang and say pembentangan baik, but pembentangan yang baik sounds more natural and smooth, especially in slightly formal contexts.

Is there any difference in meaning or tone between pembentangan yang baik and pembentangan baik?

Both can mean “a good presentation,” but:

pembentangan yang baik
- Very natural and common.
- Slightly more careful or formal sounding.
- Reads like “a presentation that is good.”
pembentangan baik
- Grammatically possible, but may sound a bit more clipped or less typical in this context.
- More common when baik directly classifies a single word and there’s no extra nuance.

In practice, Malay speakers strongly prefer pembentangan yang baik here.

What does supaya mean in this sentence, and how is it different from agar or untuk?

Supaya introduces a purpose or intended result, similar to “so that” or “in order that” in English.

In the sentence:

… memberi contoh pembentangan yang baik supaya kami tahu …
“… gave an example of a good presentation so that we know …”

Comparison:

supaya – common and natural, slightly neutral/formal.
agar – very similar, a bit more formal/literary. You could say agar kami tahu with nearly the same nuance.
untuk – literally “for / to,” used for purposes but usually before a noun or verb phrase, not normally a full clause:
- untuk tahu – to know
- untuk kami tahu is possible in some contexts but sounds less natural than supaya kami tahu in standard usage.

So supaya is the most typical choice here to link the purpose clause.

Why is kami used instead of kita? What is the difference?

Malay distinguishes between two types of “we”:

kami – we (not including the listener)
kita – we (including the listener)

In this sentence, kami suggests that the group who needs to know what to improve does not include the person being spoken to. For example, the speaker might be talking to someone outside the group (a colleague, organizer, etc.) about “our group” of participants.

If the speaker is talking directly to the participants themselves (and the listeners are part of that “we”), then kita could also appear in a slightly different context:

… supaya kita tahu apa yang perlu diperbaiki. – “… so that we (you and I, all of us) know what needs to be improved.”

In your sentence as written, kami excludes the listener.

How is apa yang perlu diperbaiki structured, and why is yang used again here?

Apa yang perlu diperbaiki means “what needs to be improved.”

Breakdown:

apa – what
yang – relative marker/linker
perlu – need to / must / necessary
diperbaiki – to be improved (passive form)

Structure:

apa yang … forms a “what that …” or “the thing(s) that …” type structure.
yang links apa to the rest of the clause, similar to “that / which”:
- Literally: “what that needs to be improved” → idiomatically: “what needs to be improved.”

This apa yang + clause pattern is very common:

apa yang berlaku – what happened
apa yang dia kata – what he/she said

What is the difference between diperbaiki, membaiki, and memperbaiki?

All are related to “to repair / to improve,” but differ in voice and nuance.

diperbaiki
- Passive form (di- prefix).
- Means “to be repaired / to be improved.”
- Focus on the thing being improved.
- Example: Kesalahan itu sedang diperbaiki. – The mistakes are being corrected.
membaiki
- Active form with meN- prefix.
- Means “to repair / to fix.”
- Often used for fixing physical things:
  - Dia membaiki kereta. – He/She repairs the car.
memperbaiki
- Also active form with memper-, often implying improving / making something better (not just fixing something broken).
- Common with more abstract things: skills, performance, system, etc.
- Example: Kami ingin memperbaiki prestasi. – We want to improve performance.

In apa yang perlu diperbaiki, the passive diperbaiki fits because it’s talking about what (things) need to be improved, without saying who will do the improving.

Could we say apa yang perlu kami perbaiki instead of apa yang perlu diperbaiki?

Yes, but the nuance changes slightly.

apa yang perlu diperbaiki
- Passive, neutral about who does the improving.
- Means “what needs to be improved.”
apa yang perlu kami perbaiki
- Active, with kami as the subject (we are the ones who improve).
- Means “what we need to improve.”

Both are grammatically correct.
The original sentence uses the passive, which is very common and natural in Malay, especially when the doer is obvious from context (here, likely the same “we”).

Could we also say supaya kami dapat tahu apa yang perlu diperbaiki? Does adding dapat change the meaning?

Yes, supaya kami dapat tahu apa yang perlu diperbaiki is also correct and natural.

dapat means “can / able to / get to.”
So supaya kami dapat tahu = “so that we can know” / “so that we are able to know.”

The difference is subtle:

supaya kami tahu – focuses simply on the result: so that we know.
supaya kami dapat tahu – slightly emphasizes the possibility/ability: so that we get the chance / are able to know.

In everyday use, both sound fine; the original version is just a bit more concise.

Is contoh pembentangan like “example of a presentation”? Why is there no tentang or daripada?

Yes, contoh pembentangan means “an example of a presentation.”

In Malay, you often form “example of X” by simply putting contoh before the noun:

contoh ayat – example sentence
contoh karangan – example essay
contoh pembentangan – example presentation

You do not need a preposition like tentang (about) or daripada (from) in this structure. Contoh + noun is treated as a noun phrase, similar to “presentation example” in English, which naturally means “example of a presentation.”

Is the overall sentence formal, informal, or neutral? Where would this style typically be used?

The sentence is fairly neutral but leans slightly formal, suitable for:

Classrooms or training sessions
Seminars and workshops
Written explanations (e.g. teaching materials, reports)

Reasons:

Use of penceramah, pembentangan, and supaya – all common in academic/training contexts.
No slang, contractions, or casual particles.

You could comfortably use this sentence when describing a training session, lecture, or course in both spoken and written Malay.