Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya tidak faham maksud soalan itu. - I do not understand the meaning of that question.

Saya – I / me (polite, neutral).
tidak – not / do not / does not (used before verbs and adjectives).
faham – understand / understood.
maksud – meaning / intention / sense.
soalan – question.
itu – that (demonstrative, refers to something already known or previously mentioned).

Very literally, the sentence is:
I not understand meaning question that.
Natural English: I don’t understand the meaning of that question.

Why is tidak used here, and not bukan? What’s the difference?

Malay has two main words for not: tidak and bukan.

tidak negates:
- verbs: Saya tidak faham – I don’t understand
- adjectives: Dia tidak marah – He/She is not angry
bukan negates:
- nouns: Dia bukan doktor – He/She is not a doctor
- pronouns: Itu bukan saya – That’s not me
- entire statements for emphasis/contrast: Bukan saya yang buat – It’s not me who did it.

In Saya tidak faham maksud soalan itu, faham is a verb (“understand”), so tidak is the correct negator.
Using bukan here (Saya bukan faham…) would be ungrammatical in normal Malay.

Is faham a verb or an adjective? Could I also say memahami?

faham is a bit flexible:

It most often behaves like a verb:
- Saya faham. – I understand.
- Saya tidak faham. – I don’t understand.
It can also function like an adjective (“understood”):
- Adakah arahan itu sudah faham? – Are the instructions already understood?

You can also say:

Saya tidak memahami maksud soalan itu.

Differences in nuance:

faham – more common, neutral, everyday.
memahami – slightly more formal or “bookish”, can sound a bit more deliberate or thorough.

Both sentences are correct; Saya tidak faham maksud soalan itu is the most natural in everyday speech.

What exactly does maksud add? Why not just Saya tidak faham soalan itu?

maksud = meaning, sense, intention.

Compare:

Saya tidak faham soalan itu.
= I don’t understand that question (in general: maybe the vocabulary, the structure, or what is being asked).
Saya tidak faham maksud soalan itu.
= I don’t understand the meaning / point of that question (you hear the words but don’t grasp what the question is really getting at).

So maksud focuses specifically on the meaning/intention of the question, not just the question as a sentence.

Why is it soalan itu and not itu soalan for “that question”?

In Malay, demonstratives like ini (this) and itu (that) usually come after the noun:

buku itu – that book
rumah ini – this house
soalan itu – that question

Putting itu before the noun (itu soalan) is not the normal way to say “that question.”

You might see itu soalan… in some structures like:

Itu soalan yang susah. – That is a difficult question.

Here, itu is functioning more like a pronoun (“that”) at the start of a sentence, followed by soalan as a complement. But as a simple noun phrase “that question,” the standard order is soalan itu.

How does maksud soalan itu work grammatically? Why is there no word for “of” like in English?

Malay often shows possession or “of”-relationships by simply putting nouns next to each other, with the “possessed” or main thing first:

baju saya – my shirt (shirt I)
guru sekolah – school teacher (teacher of the school)
maksud soalan itu – the meaning of that question (meaning question that)

So:

maksud – meaning
soalan itu – that question

Placed together: maksud soalan itu = the meaning of that question, without any separate word for “of”.

How do I know whether this means “I don’t understand” (now) or “I didn’t understand” (past)? There’s no tense marker.

Malay generally does not mark tense on the verb the way English does. faham stays the same; the time is understood from:

Context
Time words (adverbs) if needed.

For example:

Sekarang saya tidak faham maksud soalan itu.
Now I don’t understand the meaning of that question.
Tadi saya tidak faham maksud soalan itu.
Earlier I didn’t understand the meaning of that question.

Without extra words, Saya tidak faham maksud soalan itu could be translated as either:

I don’t understand the meaning of that question (present), or
I didn’t understand the meaning of that question (past),

depending on the situation.

Can I omit Saya and just say Tidak faham maksud soalan itu?

Yes, especially in informal spoken Malay, dropping the subject pronoun is common if it’s clear from context:

(Saya) tidak faham maksud soalan itu.

This sounds like:

“(I) don’t understand the meaning of that question.”

However:

In writing, especially formal writing, it’s better style to keep Saya.
In conversation, omitting Saya is natural if everyone already knows you are talking about yourself.

What’s the difference between Saya tidak faham… and Saya tak faham…?

tidak and tak mean the same thing (“not / don’t”), but differ in formality and region:

tidak
- Full form.
- Standard, neutral, safe in both formal and informal contexts.
tak
- Shortened, more casual/colloquial.
- Very common in everyday speech, especially in Malaysia.
- Used in informal writing (texts, chats), but normally avoided in formal documents.

So:

Saya tidak faham maksud soalan itu. – Neutral, correct in any context.
Saya tak faham maksud soalan itu. – Natural in casual speech.

Meaning is the same.

What’s the difference between Saya and Aku in this kind of sentence?

Both mean I / me, but they differ in register and relationship:

Saya
- Polite, neutral, standard.
- Used with strangers, colleagues, older people, in formal situations.
- Safe default pronoun for learners.
Aku
- Informal, intimate.
- Used with close friends, siblings, or in some dialects more widely.
- Can sound rude if used with someone you should respect (teachers, bosses, older people).

So:

Saya tidak faham maksud soalan itu. – Polite and neutral.
Aku tak faham maksud soalan itu. – Casual; okay with close friends, but not in formal situations.

Is this a polite way to say I don’t understand a question? Are there softer versions?

Saya tidak faham maksud soalan itu is polite and acceptable, especially if said with a friendly tone. To make it even softer or more polite, you can add:

Maaf, saya tidak faham maksud soalan itu.
Sorry, I don’t understand the meaning of that question.
Boleh jelaskan lagi? Saya tidak faham maksud soalan itu.
Could you explain again? I don’t understand the meaning of that question.

If you don’t need to emphasise “meaning,” a very common polite line is:

Maaf, saya tidak faham soalan itu.
Sorry, I don’t understand that question.