Learn Hardcore Malay: Jurulatih kami kata yang penting bukan menang atau kalah, tetapi usaha. - Our coach says what matters is not winning or losing, but the effort.

kata
- Here: Jurulatih kami kata ...
- Fairly informal / neutral, very common in speech.
- Works like say:
  - Dia kata dia letih. – He/She said (that) he/she was tired.
berkata
- More formal / literary.
- Usually used in writing, storytelling, news:
  - Jurulatih kami berkata bahawa ... – Our coach said that ...
cakap
- More colloquial, everyday speech, close to talk or say:
  - Jurulatih kami cakap ... – Our coach said ...

In everyday spoken Malay, Jurulatih kami kata ... or Jurulatih kami cakap ... sound very natural.
In more formal writing, you’d often see Jurulatih kami berkata bahawa ... instead.

What is the function of yang in yang penting? Can I just say penting?

Yang here turns penting (important) into the important (thing/part).

penting = important (adjective)
yang penting ≈ that which is important / what is important / the important thing

In the sentence:

... kata yang penting bukan menang atau kalah, tetapi usaha.
→ literally: said (that) the important (thing) is not winning or losing, but effort.

If you remove yang, and just say penting, it sounds incomplete or ungrammatical in this structure:

✗ kata penting bukan menang atau kalah ... – wrong here

You can say perkara penting (important matter/thing), but yang penting is very common to introduce a key point:

Yang penting, kita cuba. – The important thing is, we try.
Yang paling penting, jangan putus asa. – Most importantly, don’t give up.

So: yang is needed here to nominalize penting (turn it into a noun phrase).

Why is there no word for that like bahawa after kata?

Malay can use bahawa as that, but it’s optional and often omitted in everyday speech.

With bahawa (more formal):
- Jurulatih kami kata bahawa yang penting bukan menang atau kalah, tetapi usaha.
Without bahawa (natural in speech):
- Jurulatih kami kata yang penting bukan menang atau kalah, tetapi usaha.

In spoken Malay, people frequently drop bahawa after verbs like:

kata (say)
cakap (say/talk)
beritahu (tell)
percaya (believe)

So the structure [verb of saying] + (bahawa) + clause → (bahawa) is usually optional, especially in informal contexts.

Why is bukan used instead of tidak in bukan menang atau kalah?

Malay has two common not words: bukan and tidak, and they’re used differently.

bukan negates:
- nouns:
  - Ini bukan buku saya. – This is not my book.
- pronouns:
  - Dia bukan saya. – He/She is not me.
- noun-like phrases / choices, including gerund-like forms.
tidak negates:
- verbs (actions, states):
  - Saya tidak makan. – I do not eat / I’m not eating.
- adjectives (descriptive):
  - Saya tidak letih. – I’m not tired.

In bukan menang atau kalah:

menang (to win) and kalah (to lose) are being treated more like options / things (winning vs losing), almost like nouns winning/losing, not as full verbs in a sentence.
So Malay uses bukan to negate “winning or losing” as a concept/choice.

Compare:

Yang penting bukan duit. – What’s important is not money.
Yang penting bukan menang atau kalah. – What’s important is not (the question of) winning or losing.

Why is there no word for is in yang penting bukan menang atau kalah?

Malay often drops the copula (the is/are/am verb) in equational sentences.

English:

What is important is not winning or losing, but effort.

Malay equivalent pattern:

Yang penting (ialah) bukan menang atau kalah, tetapi usaha.

Here ialah (or adalah) can be added:

Yang penting ialah usaha. – The important thing is effort.
Yang penting bukan menang atau kalah, tetapi usaha.

But in everyday Malay, ialah/adalah is often omitted when linking:

noun ↔ noun
noun ↔ adjective
yang-phrase ↔ noun

So:

Dia guru. – He/She is a teacher. (no explicit is)
Yang penting usaha. – What’s important is effort.
Yang penting bukan menang atau kalah, tetapi usaha. – The important thing is not winning or losing, but effort.

The “is” is understood from the structure; it doesn’t need to be written.

Are menang and kalah verbs or nouns here? How do they compare to winning/losing?

Menang and kalah are verbs in Malay meaning:

menang – to win
kalah – to lose / be defeated

However, Malay verbs can often function like gerunds in English (winning, losing) without any change in form.

In this sentence:

bukan menang atau kalah
→ not (to) win or (to) lose
→ conceptually: not winning or losing (as ideas)

So they act like verbal nouns / activities, similar to:

Saya suka membaca. – I like reading. (membaca is technically a verb, but functions like reading.)
Dia takut gagal. – He/She is afraid of failing.

Here, menang and kalah behave like English winning and losing, but Malay doesn’t change the word form.

What is the difference between tetapi and tapi? Which is better here?

Both mean but, but they differ in formality:

tetapi
- More formal / standard.
- Common in writing, speeches, essays, news.
- Used here: ... bukan menang atau kalah, tetapi usaha.
tapi
- Informal, conversational.
- Very common in speech and casual writing (texts, chats).
- Spoken version: ... bukan menang atau kalah, tapi usaha.

In your sentence:

tetapi usaha is fine and slightly more formal.
In everyday conversation, many people would naturally say:
Jurulatih kami kata yang penting bukan menang atau kalah, tapi usaha.

What exactly does usaha mean? Is it a verb or a noun?

Usaha is primarily a noun meaning:

effort, attempt, endeavour, hard work

In the sentence:

... bukan menang atau kalah, tetapi usaha.
→ ... not winning or losing, but effort.

Examples:

Dia berjaya kerana usaha yang kuat. – He/She succeeded because of strong effort.
Teruskan usaha. – Keep up the effort.

There is also a verb berusaha:

Dia berusaha setiap hari. – He/She makes an effort / tries every day.

But in this sentence, usaha is clearly a noun (effort).

Could you also say Yang penting ialah usaha, bukan menang atau kalah? How is that different?

Yes, that’s a very natural alternative:

Yang penting ialah usaha, bukan menang atau kalah.

Structure comparison:

Original:
- Yang penting bukan menang atau kalah, tetapi usaha.
  → Focuses on negating winning/losing first, then contrasting it with effort.
Alternative:
- Yang penting ialah usaha, bukan menang atau kalah.
  → States clearly that effort is what’s important, then downplays winning/losing.

Both mean roughly the same overall message.
The second one, with ialah usaha, is often a bit clearer for learners because:

ialah makes the “is” relationship explicit.
The sentence pattern Yang penting ialah X, bukan Y is quite easy to recognize and reuse.

Is Jurulatih kami kata... formal or informal? How would it sound in a more formal context?

Jurulatih kami kata... is neutral to informal and very natural in speech.

In more formal or written Malay, you’d likely see:

Jurulatih kami berkata bahawa yang penting bukan menang atau kalah, tetapi usaha.

Changes for formality:

kata → berkata
optionally add bahawa to introduce the clause

Levels:

Very informal (spoken):
- Coach kami cakap yang penting bukan menang atau kalah, tapi usaha.
Neutral (common):
- Jurulatih kami kata yang penting bukan menang atau kalah, tetapi usaha.
Formal (writing/speeches):
- Jurulatih kami berkata bahawa yang penting bukan menang atau kalah, tetapi usaha.