Learn Hardcore Malay: Jurulatih menasihatkan kami guna fon kepala yang tidak merosakkan telinga. - The coach advises us to use headphones that do not damage the ears.

Jurulatih – the subject: the coach / trainer
menasihatkan – the verb: advised
kami – the object (person): us
guna fon kepala yang tidak merosakkan telinga – the object (thing/action): to use headphones that do not damage the ears

So in natural English:
“The coach advised us to use headphones that do not damage the ears.”

What does jurulatih mean, and is it one word or two?

Jurulatih means coach or trainer.

It is one word in Malay.
It comes from the prefix juru- (a person who does a certain job) and latih (to train), but as a learner you can just remember jurulatih = coach/trainer.
It can refer to a sports coach, a fitness trainer, or even a trainer in a course, depending on context.

What is the difference between menasihatkan and menasihati?

Both are related to the verb nasihat (advice).

menasihatkan – roughly “to advise (someone) to do something”
menasihati – roughly “to advise (someone)”

In practice:

menasihati kami – to advise us / to give us advice
menasihatkan kami guna fon kepala… – to advise us to use headphones…

So menasihatkan is very natural when followed by:

a person (kami, us), and
then an action (guna fon kepala…)

You will often see both forms; many native speakers use them almost interchangeably, but in this sentence menasihatkan fits better because it introduces what we are advised to do.

Why is guna used instead of menggunakan?

Both are correct, but the level of formality is different:

guna – informal / neutral, very common in speech and casual writing.
menggunakan – more formal, common in writing, official contexts, or more careful speech.

So:

… menasihatkan kami guna fon kepala… – natural, conversational style.
… menasihatkan kami menggunakan fon kepala… – more formal, like in a report or announcement.

Meaning-wise, both are “to use”.

Why is there no word like “to” in “advised us to use”? Where is that in Malay?

Malay does not need a separate word like English “to” before a verb in this kind of structure.

English: advised us to use headphones
Malay: menasihatkan kami guna fon kepala

Here, guna directly follows menasihatkan kami and functions like an infinitive (to use) without needing untuk.

You could say … menasihatkan kami untuk guna…, but:

it is longer,
and often sounds more formal or slightly heavier.

In everyday usage, menasihatkan kami guna… is perfectly natural.

What does fon kepala literally mean, and does it mean “headphones” or “headphone”?

Fon kepala literally is:

fon – from English “phone” (in this context, phones as in headphones/earphones)
kepala – head

So fon kepala is “headphones”.

Malay usually doesn’t mark plural with an s:

fon kepala can mean “headphone” (one) or “headphones” (a pair), depending on context.
If you really need to show plural, you can add a word like beberapa (several), banyak (many), or a number:
- beberapa fon kepala – several pairs of headphones
- dua fon kepala – two headphones

What does yang do in fon kepala yang tidak merosakkan telinga?

Yang introduces a relative clause, similar to “that / which / who” in English.

fon kepala – headphones
yang tidak merosakkan telinga – that do not damage the ears

So yang here works like “that”:

fon kepala yang tidak merosakkan telinga
headphones that do not damage the ears

Without yang, the sentence would be ungrammatical or at least feel very incomplete, because yang connects fon kepala to the describing clause tidak merosakkan telinga.

What does tidak mean, and why not bukan?

Both tidak and bukan mean “not”, but they are used differently:

tidak is used before:
- verbs: tidak pergi – not go
- adjectives: tidak bagus – not good
bukan is used before:
- nouns: bukan doktor – not a doctor
- pronouns: bukan saya – not me
- certain entire phrases for contrast: Itu bukan kerana…

In tidak merosakkan telinga:

merosakkan is a verb (to damage), so tidak is correct.

bukan merosakkan telinga would be wrong in this context.

How is merosakkan formed, and what’s the difference between rosak and merosakkan?

The base word is rosak, which means:

rosak – broken, damaged, spoiled (adjective or intransitive verb: to be damaged)

With the prefix me- and the suffix -kan, it becomes merosakkan:

me- + rosak + -kan → merosakkan

Meaning of merosakkan:

to damage, to cause damage to (something)
it is transitive: it usually takes an object.

In the sentence:

tidak merosakkan telinga – do not damage the ears

So:

rosak – the state of being damaged (The machine is broken = Mesin itu rosak.)
merosakkan – the action of causing damage (Smoking damages health = Merokok merosakkan kesihatan.)

Why is it just telinga and not telinga kami for “our ears”?

Telinga means “ear / ears”.

Malay often leaves out possessive words (my, your, our) when the possessor is obvious from context.

In this sentence:

Jurulatih menasihatkan kami… – The coach advised us…

After this, it is clear the ears in telinga belong to us. So Malay can simply say:

… yang tidak merosakkan telinga.
literally: that do not damage ears
understood as: that do not damage *our ears*

If you really want to be explicit, you can say:

… yang tidak merosakkan telinga kami. – that do not damage our ears.

Both are grammatically correct; the shorter version is just more typical.

Is this sentence in the past tense? How do we know “advised” and not “advises” or “will advise”?

Malay verbs do not change form for tense (past, present, future).

menasihatkan can mean:
- advised (past)
- advises / is advising (present)
- will advise (future)

The exact tense is understood from context, not from the verb form itself.

So:

If you’re telling a story about yesterday, it will be understood as “The coach advised us…”
If you’re describing a general habit, it can mean “The coach advises us…”

With no extra context given, the English translation usually picks the most natural option, often past (“advised”).

Could this be written in a passive form in Malay, and how would it change the meaning or emphasis?

Yes, you can make it passive. For example:

Kami dinasihatkan oleh jurulatih supaya guna fon kepala yang tidak merosakkan telinga.

Here:

Kami – now the subject (we / us)
dinasihatkan – passive form (were advised)
oleh jurulatih – by the coach
supaya guna fon kepala… – to use headphones…

The meaning is essentially the same, but the emphasis moves:

Original (active): focuses on the coach as the one who advises.
Passive: focuses on us as the ones who receive the advice.

In many everyday contexts, the active form in the original sentence is more common and feels more direct.