Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya lipat baju sukan saya dan simpan di dalam beg. - I fold my sports shirt and keep it in the bag.

Bare verb (lipat, simpan)
- Very common in everyday spoken Malay.
- Neutral, simple, not “wrong”; just more informal in some contexts.
meN- verbs (melipat, menyimpan)
- More standard in careful speech and formal writing.
- Often sounds more complete or “proper” in written Malay.

So your original sentence is fine in casual/neutral contexts. For a formal text, many writers would prefer melipat and menyimpan.

How do I know if this sentence is past, present, or future?

Saya lipat baju sukan saya dan simpan di dalam beg.

Malay verbs do not change form for tense. Lipat and simpan stay the same for past, present, and future. The time meaning comes from context or from extra words:

Past:
- Tadi saya lipat baju sukan saya dan simpan di dalam beg.
  (tadi = earlier / just now)
- Saya sudah lipat baju sukan saya dan simpan di dalam beg.
  (sudah / telah = already)
Present (habitual or current action):
- Setiap hari, saya lipat baju sukan saya dan simpan di dalam beg.
  (setiap hari = every day)
- Sekarang saya lipat baju sukan saya dan simpan di dalam beg.
  (sekarang = now)
Future:
- Nanti saya akan lipat baju sukan saya dan simpan di dalam beg.
  (akan = will)

So without extra context, Saya lipat baju sukan saya dan simpan di dalam beg is time‑ambiguous.

Why is saya repeated after baju sukan? Can I remove the second saya?

Saya lipat baju sukan saya dan simpan di dalam beg.

The second saya is showing possession:

baju sukan saya = my sports clothes
(baju = clothes/top, sukan = sports, saya = my)

If you remove the second saya:

Saya lipat baju sukan dan simpan di dalam beg.

This still means “I fold the sports clothes and put (them) in the bag,” but now baju sukan just means “the sports clothes” in general. It no longer clearly says they are my clothes.

So:

Keep the second saya when you want to say my sports clothes.
Leave it out if you only mean the sports clothes (not necessarily yours).

Why is it baju sukan saya instead of saya baju sukan? How does possession work here?

In Malay, possessive pronouns like saya come after the noun they possess:

baju saya = my clothes / my shirt
beg saya = my bag
baju sukan saya = my sports clothes
telefon bimbit saya = my mobile phone

You cannot say saya baju sukan to mean my sports clothes; that sounds ungrammatical.

The usual pattern is:

[Noun] + [describer(s)] + [possessive pronoun]
baju sukan saya
rumah besar saya (my big house)
kereta baru saya (my new car)

Does baju sukan mean one item of clothing or all my sports clothes? Do I need a plural form?

Malay usually does not mark plural on the noun, so baju sukan can mean:

one item: a sports shirt / a sports top
more than one: sports clothes in general

The exact meaning comes from context.

If you want to emphasise plurality, you can say:

baju-baju sukan saya = my sports clothes (clearly plural)
semua baju sukan saya = all my sports clothes

But in everyday speech, people often just say baju sukan saya, and context tells you whether it is one shirt or several items.

What is the difference between baju sukan and pakaian sukan?

Both are related to “sports clothing,” but there is a nuance:

baju sukan
- Literally “sports shirt/top,” but in practice can mean sports clothing, especially tops/jerseys.
- Very common in everyday conversation.
- Often refers to a typical T‑shirt, jersey, or training top.
pakaian sukan
- More general: “sports attire / sportswear” (a whole outfit).
- Slightly more formal or generic.
- Might include shirt, shorts, shoes, etc.

In your sentence, baju sukan saya suggests specific sports clothes (often the top), not necessarily the entire set of sports gear.

Why is it baju sukan and not sukan baju? What is the word order for “sports clothes”?

In Malay, the main noun usually comes first, and the word that describes it comes after:

baju sukan = sports clothes (literally: clothes + sports)
kasut sukan = sports shoes
kereta polis = police car
telefon bimbit = mobile phone (bimbit = handheld)

So:

baju (clothes) is the head noun.
sukan (sports) specifies what kind of clothes.

Sukan baju does not follow the normal pattern and is not used.

Why can dan join two verbs without repeating the subject? Is that normal?

Saya lipat baju sukan saya dan simpan di dalam beg.

Yes, this is normal and very common. When two verbs share the same subject, you can state the subject once and then join the verbs with dan:

Saya makan dan minum. – I eat and drink.
Dia baca buku dan tulis nota. – He/She reads books and writes notes.
Kami pergi ke gim dan bersenam. – We go to the gym and exercise.

Your sentence is the same structure:

Subject: Saya
Verb 1: lipat baju sukan saya
Verb 2: simpan di dalam beg

So Saya lipat baju sukan saya dan simpan di dalam beg is perfectly natural.

What is the difference between di dalam beg and dalam beg?

Both are acceptable and often interchangeable:

dalam beg
- Literally “in the bag / inside the bag.”
- Very common in everyday speech.
- Slightly shorter and more casual.
di dalam beg
- di = at/on/in (location preposition)
- dalam = in/inside
- Together they emphasise the location “in the inside of the bag.”
- Often sounds a bit more explicit or slightly more formal.

In many contexts:

simpan dalam beg
simpan di dalam beg

mean effectively the same thing: “put (it) in the bag.”

What is the difference between di dalam beg and ke dalam beg?

This is a subtle but important difference:

di dalam beg – location (where something is)
- “in the bag / inside the bag”
- Used for a state or position.
- Saya simpan baju sukan saya di dalam beg.
  = I keep my sports clothes in the bag (their location is inside the bag).
ke dalam beg – direction / movement into
- “into the bag”
- Focus on the movement into the bag.
- Saya masukkan baju sukan saya ke dalam beg.
  = I put my sports clothes into the bag.

Your sentence with simpan di dalam beg describes the result (the clothes are kept in the bag).
If you want to emphasise the action of moving them into the bag, masukkan … ke dalam beg is more explicit.

Does beg here mean “the bag” or “my bag”? Should I say beg saya?

In simpan di dalam beg, beg by itself just means “bag,” not specifically my bag.

Depending on context, Malay speakers might still understand it as “my bag” (because you are talking about your own things), but grammatically it’s indefinite:

di dalam beg – in a/the bag (unspecified owner)
di dalam beg saya – in my bag (clearly your bag)
di dalam beg itu – in that bag (a specific bag already known from context)

If you want to be explicit that it is your bag, say:

Saya lipat baju sukan saya dan simpan di dalam beg saya.
I fold my sports clothes and keep them in my bag.

Can I drop the first saya and just say Lipat baju sukan saya dan simpan di dalam beg?

Yes, but it changes the feel of the sentence.

Lipat baju sukan saya dan simpan di dalam beg.

Without saya, this sounds like an instruction/command to someone else:

“Fold my sports clothes and put them in the bag.”

This is because Malay often omits the subject pronoun in imperative sentences.

To talk about your own action (I fold…), you normally keep Saya:

Saya lipat baju sukan saya dan simpan di dalam beg.

Could I say Saya melipat baju sukan saya dan menyimpannya di dalam beg? Is that better?

Yes, that sentence is perfectly correct and sounds more formal/complete:

Saya melipat baju sukan saya dan menyimpannya di dalam beg.

Differences:

melipat / menyimpan
- Use the meN- prefix → more standard/formal verb forms.
menyimpannya
- -nya = “it / them” attached to the verb.
- menyimpannya literally “store/keep it/them,” referring back to baju sukan saya.
- This is a common way to refer back to an object more smoothly.

Your original sentence (with lipat and simpan) is fine in informal or neutral speech.
The version with melipat and menyimpannya feels a bit more polished, like something you might see in writing or more careful speech.

What is the difference between saya and aku here? Could I say Aku lipat baju sukan aku…?

Grammatically, you can say:

Aku lipat baju sukan aku dan simpan di dalam beg.

But saya and aku differ in politeness and context:

saya
- Polite, neutral, safe in almost any situation.
- Used with strangers, in formal situations, with people older than you, at work, etc.
aku
- Casual, intimate.
- Used with close friends, siblings, sometimes online among peers.
- Could sound rude or too familiar in formal contexts or with people you should respect.

For learning purposes, Saya lipat baju sukan saya dan simpan di dalam beg is the safest default. You can switch to aku with close friends once you understand the social context better.