Learn Hardcore Malay: Adik lelaki saya suka bermain bola di taman. - My younger brother likes to play ball in the park.

If the context already makes the gender obvious, people often just say adik. But if you want to be clear that it’s a younger brother, you add lelaki (male).

So:

Adik saya suka bermain bola.
→ My younger sibling likes to play ball. (gender unknown/irrelevant)
Adik lelaki saya suka bermain bola.
→ My younger brother likes to play ball. (specifically male)

Why is it Adik lelaki saya instead of saya adik lelaki for "my younger brother"?

Malay usually puts the possessor after the thing possessed:

adik lelaki saya = younger brother + my → my younger brother
buku saya = book + my → my book
kereta dia = car + his/her → his/her car

Saying saya adik lelaki would be understood more like I am a younger brother, not my younger brother, and even then it sounds incomplete (you’d expect more after it).

So the natural order is:

[noun] + [possessive pronoun]
adik lelaki saya, rumah saya, kawan saya, etc.

Is suka a verb or an adjective here, and why don’t we say “to play” after it, like in English?

In Malay, suka functions like a verb meaning to like.

The pattern is:

suka + verb
→ suka bermain = like play / like playing / like to play
→ suka makan = like eating / like to eat
→ suka membaca = like reading / like to read

Malay does not use a separate word like “to” before a verb in this structure. So you don’t say suka untuk bermain in everyday speech; that sounds formal or awkward.

In your sentence:

Adik lelaki saya suka bermain bola di taman.
Literally: My younger brother likes play ball at park.
Natural English: My younger brother likes to play ball in the park.

What’s the difference between bermain and main? Could I say suka main bola?

Both are related to the idea of playing, but:

main is the base verb: play
bermain is the ber- form: also play, often a bit more formal or “complete” in writing

In everyday spoken Malay, people very often say:

suka main bola
budak-budak main di taman

In more formal Malay (writing, exams, news), bermain is preferred:

Dia suka bermain bola.
Mereka bermain di taman.

So yes, Adik lelaki saya suka main bola di taman is very natural in spoken Malay, while suka bermain bola is neutral and slightly more formal/standard.

Does bola mean "ball" in general, or does it usually mean "football/soccer"?

Literally, bola just means ball.

However, in many real-life contexts, especially in Malaysia, bola often implies bola sepak (football/soccer), because that’s the most common ball game people think of.

bola sepak = football/soccer
bola keranjang = basketball
bola tampar = volleyball

In your sentence, in neutral textbook context it’s just ball. But in a typical Malaysian conversation, many listeners might first imagine football unless another sport is mentioned.

Why is it di taman and not something like ke taman? What’s the difference?

Malay prepositions:

di = at / in / on (location, where something is)
ke = to / towards (movement, where something is going)

Your sentence describes where the playing happens, not where he is going:

bermain bola di taman = playing ball in/at the park (location)
pergi ke taman = go to the park (movement)

Compare:

Adik lelaki saya bermain bola di taman.
→ He plays ball in the park.
Adik lelaki saya pergi ke taman untuk bermain bola.
→ He goes to the park to play ball.

Why is there no word for “the” before taman? How do you say “in the park” vs “in a park”?

Malay usually doesn’t use articles like “a” / “an” / “the”.

di taman can mean:
- in a park
- in the park depending on context.

If you really need to be specific, you add more information:

di taman itu = in that park
di taman ini = in this park
di taman permainan itu = in that playground

But in most everyday sentences, di taman alone is enough, and the listener figures out whether it’s a park or the park from context.

How do we know this sentence is present tense (“likes”) and not past or future? There are no tense markers.

Malay doesn’t change the verb form for tense like English does.
suka stays the same for:

present: likes / is liking
past: liked
future: will like

Time is usually clear from context or from time words:

semalam = yesterday
tadi = earlier/just now
esok = tomorrow
selalu = always/often
akan = will (future marker)

Examples:

Adik lelaki saya suka bermain bola di taman.
→ He likes to play ball in the park. (general habit; present)
Semalam adik lelaki saya suka bermain bola di taman.
→ Yesterday my younger brother liked to play ball in the park. (past; context word semalam)
Esok adik lelaki saya akan suka bermain bola di taman.
→ Tomorrow my younger brother will like to play ball in the park. (future; esok, akan)

In your original sentence, the natural interpretation is a general habit in the present.

Could I replace Adik lelaki saya with Dia? Would the meaning change?

Yes:

Adik lelaki saya suka bermain bola di taman.
Dia suka bermain bola di taman.

Both are grammatically correct.

Differences:

Adik lelaki saya is specific: my younger brother.
Dia just means he/she (gender-neutral in Malay).

You would use Dia when the person is already known in the conversation:

A: Siapa suka bermain bola di taman?
(Who likes to play ball in the park?)
B: Adik lelaki saya suka bermain bola di taman.
(My younger brother likes to play ball in the park.)

After that, you can switch to Dia:

Dia suka bermain bola di taman setiap petang.
(He likes to play ball in the park every evening.)

Can I drop saya and just say Adik lelaki suka bermain bola di taman?

You can say Adik lelaki suka bermain bola di taman, and it’s grammatically possible, but:

Without saya, adik lelaki just means younger brother in general, not clearly my younger brother.
It may sound incomplete or ambiguous: whose younger brother?

Sometimes, in a strong context (e.g. you’re clearly talking about your own family), people might drop saya, but the standard, clear form is:

Adik lelaki saya suka bermain bola di taman.

Is the word order bermain bola di taman fixed, or can I move di taman earlier in the sentence?

Malay word order is fairly flexible, but small changes can affect emphasis.

Your original:

Adik lelaki saya suka bermain bola di taman.
→ Neutral: focus on the activity; location comes at the end.

You can also say:

Di taman, adik lelaki saya suka bermain bola.
→ In the park, my younger brother likes to play ball.
This puts more emphasis on the place first (common in storytelling or writing).

But within the verb phrase, bermain bola di taman is the most natural order:

verb (bermain) + object (bola) + place (di taman)

Other orders like bermain di taman bola would sound wrong or confusing.

How would I say “My younger sister likes to play ball in the park” using this pattern?

You just change adik lelaki (younger brother) to adik perempuan (younger sister):

Adik perempuan saya suka bermain bola di taman.

Structure:

Adik perempuan saya = my younger sister
suka bermain bola = likes to play ball
di taman = in the park