Learn Hardcore Malay: Sebelum pertandingan, saya tidak yakin kerana kurang tidur. - Before the competition, I was not confident because of lack of sleep.

At the start (as in your sentence):
- Sebelum pertandingan, saya tidak yakin...
Or later in the sentence (more informal / spoken):
- Saya tidak yakin sebelum pertandingan kerana kurang tidur.

Both are grammatical. Putting sebelum pertandingan at the front makes it sound a bit more careful or written, and it emphasizes the time frame.

What exactly does pertandingan mean? Is it “match”, “competition”, or “tournament”?

Pertandingan is a general noun that means competition or contest. It doesn’t specify the type.

Depending on context, it could be translated as:

competition
contest
sometimes tournament (if the event is that kind of competition)

Other related words:

perlawanan – usually a match or game between two sides (e.g. a football match).
kejohanan – a tournament or championship (often larger events).

So in isolation, sebelum pertandingan is best understood as before the competition/contest.

Why is there no word for “the” in sebelum pertandingan? Should it be sebelum pertandingan itu?

Malay generally does not use articles like “the” or “a/an”. Whether English uses “the” is understood from context.

Sebelum pertandingan can mean:
- before the competition
- before a competition

If you really want to specify a particular, known competition, you can add itu (“that”):

Sebelum pertandingan itu, saya tidak yakin...
= Before that competition, I wasn’t confident...

But in normal conversation, sebelum pertandingan is enough if it’s already clear which competition you’re talking about.

What does saya mean, and how is it different from aku?

Saya means I / me.

Difference from aku:

saya – neutral, polite/standard; safe in almost all situations (formal and informal).
aku – more informal/intimate; used with close friends, family, or in songs, poems, etc.

In your sentence:

Sebelum pertandingan, saya tidak yakin... – sounds neutral and polite.
Sebelum pertandingan, aku tak yakin... – sounds more casual and personal.

As a learner, default to saya unless you’re sure aku fits the relationship and setting.

Does tidak yakin mean “not sure” or “not confident”?

Yakin means confident / certain / sure (in mind or feeling).
Tidak yakin therefore means not confident / not sure / not convinced.

Nuance here:

In Sebelum pertandingan, saya tidak yakin kerana kurang tidur,
the most natural English is:
- Before the competition, I wasn’t confident because of lack of sleep.
  It’s about confidence in performance, not about factual certainty.

Compare:

saya tidak yakin – I’m not confident / I don’t feel sure.
saya tidak pasti – I’m not sure (more about not knowing / being uncertain about information).

Could I say saya kurang yakin instead of saya tidak yakin? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can.

saya tidak yakin – I am not confident at all (stronger, more absolute).
saya kurang yakin – I am *less confident / not very confident* (softer, partial).

Your sentence with kurang would be:

Sebelum pertandingan, saya kurang yakin kerana kurang tidur.
= Before the competition, I was not very confident because of lack of sleep.

So tidak yakin = no confidence; kurang yakin = insufficient / low confidence.

What does kerana mean, and is it the same as sebab?

Kerana means because or because of.

In your sentence:

...saya tidak yakin kerana kurang tidur.
= ...I wasn’t confident because of lack of sleep.

Kerana vs sebab:

kerana – slightly more formal/neutral; very common in writing and speech.
sebab – also means because or reason; in speech, many people use it just like kerana.

You could say:

Saya tidak yakin sebab kurang tidur. (more casual)
Both are correct; kerana is safer in neutral/formal contexts.

In kerana kurang tidur, where is the subject “I”? Should it be kerana saya kurang tidur?

Malay often drops the subject when it’s clear from context.

kerana kurang tidur literally: “because (of) not enough sleep”
The subject “I” is already clear from saya tidak yakin, so it doesn’t need to be repeated.

You can say:

kerana saya kurang tidur – because I didn’t sleep enough
This is also correct and just a bit more explicit.

Both are natural; the shorter version sounds smoother in speech.

How should I understand kurang tidur? Is kurang an adjective or adverb here?

Kurang basically means less / lacking / not enough.

In kurang tidur:

tidur = sleep (can function as a noun or a verb)
kurang modifies tidur and gives the idea of insufficient sleep / lack of sleep.

So kurang tidur means:

not enough sleep
lack of sleep
sometimes naturally translated as sleep-deprived in English.

You can use kurang similarly with other words:

kurang makan – not eating enough
kurang latihan – lack of practice
kurang pengalaman – lack of experience

Where is the past tense in this sentence? How do we know it means “wasn’t confident” and not “am not confident”?

Malay normally does not mark tense with verb endings like English.

Instead, time is understood from:

time words (sebelum, yesterday, later, etc.)
context.

Here:

Sebelum pertandingan = “before the competition” (a specific past event in the usual context)
So saya tidak yakin is naturally understood as “I wasn’t confident” in English.

If you want to make the past very explicit, you can add words like:

dulu – before / in the past
masa itu – at that time

Example:

Masa itu, sebelum pertandingan, saya tidak yakin kerana kurang tidur.
= At that time, before the competition, I wasn’t confident because of lack of sleep.

Is the comma after pertandingan necessary in Malay?

In Malay, commas are used in a similar way to English, but the rules are a bit looser in everyday writing.

Sebelum pertandingan, saya tidak yakin kerana kurang tidur.
The comma marks the end of the time clause (Sebelum pertandingan) and the start of the main clause (saya tidak yakin...).

You’ll commonly see:

With comma – more standard, clearer in writing.
Without comma – still understandable, especially in informal writing:
- Sebelum pertandingan saya tidak yakin kerana kurang tidur.

For clear, standard Malay, keeping the comma here is a good habit.

How formal or informal does this whole sentence sound? Can I use it in both speech and writing?

The sentence is neutral and standard, so it’s safe in most contexts.

Vocabulary: sebelum, pertandingan, saya, tidak, yakin, kerana, kurang tidur – all standard, not slang.
Politeness: using saya and tidak makes it appropriately polite.

You can use it:

in spoken Malay (to friends, teachers, colleagues)
in written Malay (essays, messages, social media, reports), maybe with minor style adjustments.

A slightly more formal version might be:

Sebelum pertandingan, saya berasa tidak yakin kerana kurang tidur.
(berasa = to feel)

Can I rearrange the sentence without changing the meaning?

Yes. Some common variations (all natural, with slightly different emphasis):

Saya tidak yakin sebelum pertandingan kerana kurang tidur.
– Keeps the same meaning; time phrase moved after the main clause.
Saya tidak yakin kerana kurang tidur sebelum pertandingan.
– Grammatically okay, but can sound a bit clumsy; it may suggest the lack of sleep was specifically just before the competition.
Kerana kurang tidur, saya tidak yakin sebelum pertandingan.
– Emphasizes the reason first: “Because of lack of sleep, I wasn’t confident before the competition.”

The original version is very clear and natural, especially in written or careful speech.