Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya mahu sertai kelab belajar di kampus. - I want to join the study club on campus.

mahu – neutral, standard, common in Malaysia in both speech and writing.
- Saya mahu sertai kelab… – fine in most situations.
hendak – also standard; can sound slightly more formal or bookish, and sometimes closer to “intend to”.
- Saya hendak menyertai kelab…
nak – very common colloquial form (especially in Malaysia), derived from hendak. Not for formal writing.
- Saya nak sertai kelab… (informal speech).
ingin – feels more formal/polite or expresses a “wish/desire”. Often used in official letters, announcements, etc.
- Saya ingin menyertai kelab…

In your sentence, you can say:

Saya mahu / hendak / nak / ingin sertai kelab belajar di kampus.

All are understandable; just match the choice to the level of formality. For an official email to a university office, ingin or hendak/mahu is safer than nak.

Why is it sertai and not menyertai? Is one of them more correct?

Both are used, but there’s a nuance of register (formality/standardness):

menyertai is the fully standard form (meN- prefix + root serta
- suffix -i).
sertai is a common shortened or less formal form in everyday usage.

You could say:

Saya mahu menyertai kelab belajar di kampus. – safest in formal writing, textbooks, exams.
Saya mahu sertai kelab belajar di kampus. – perfectly normal in speech and informal writing.

Both will be understood. If your goal is very correct standard Malay, use menyertai after mahu:

Saya mahu menyertai kelab belajar di kampus.

Could I also say “Saya mahu masuk kelab belajar di kampus”? What’s the difference between sertai and masuk?

You can say it, and people will understand, but there’s a small difference in nuance:

sertai / menyertai – focuses on joining/participating as a member.
- Like English “join (a club / an activity)”.
masuk – literally “to enter”, and by extension, “to join (an organization, school, WhatsApp group, etc.)”.
- Saya mahu masuk kelab belajar sounds like “I want to get into / join the club”.

In context, both work:

Saya mahu menyertai kelab belajar di kampus. – more textbook/standard.
Saya mahu masuk kelab belajar di kampus. – very natural in casual speech.

For learners, menyertai is a good verb to remember for “to join (an activity/club/event)”.
Masuk is broader and very common in everyday conversation.

Is “kelab belajar” the normal way to say “study club”? Are there other options?

Kelab belajar is understandable and acceptable as “study club / learning club”.

Other possibilities you might see:

kelab akademik – academic club (slightly more formal/general).
kelab studi – used in some contexts, but less common; feels more borrowed/technical.
kelab belajar bahasa – a study club specifically for languages.
kelab pelajar – student club (focuses on students, not on studying).

For a generic “study club on campus”, kelab belajar di kampus works fine, especially in a learning context.

In “kelab belajar”, is belajar a verb or a noun? How can a verb modify kelab?

Grammatically, belajar is a verb (“to study”), but in Malay it’s very common for a verb to be used after a noun to describe the function or activity linked to that noun.

So:

kelab belajar literally: “club (for) studying”
bilik belajar – study room (room for studying)
masa belajar – study time

In these noun–verb combinations, the noun comes first, and the verb describes what happens there or what it’s for. English often uses “-ing” or “for …”:

kelab belajar ≈ study club / club for studying.

So yes, belajar is still a verb, but Malay lets it function in a noun phrase like this without changing the form.

Why is there no word for “to” before “join”? In English we say “want to join”.

Malay doesn’t need a separate word like English “to” before verbs in this structure.

The pattern is simply:

[Subject] + [mahu / hendak / ingin / nak] + [verb] + [object]

So:

Saya mahu menyertai kelab belajar.
literally: I want join club study.

Learners sometimes try to say:

✗ Saya mahu untuk menyertai kelab…

This sounds unnatural in Malay. Untuk (“for/to”) is used mainly to express purpose:

Saya datang ke kampus untuk menyertai kelab belajar.
I came to campus to join the study club.

But after mahu/ingin/hendak, just put the verb directly, no extra “to” needed.

Can I drop “Saya” and just say “Mahu sertai kelab belajar di kampus”?

You can omit Saya in informal spoken Malay if the subject is obvious from context:

Mahu sertai kelab belajar di kampus. – sounds like casual speech (“(I) want to join the study club on campus.”).

However:

In neutral / formal Malay (writing, exams, emails, speaking to lecturers), it’s better to keep the subject:
- Saya mahu menyertai kelab belajar di kampus.

Malay does allow subject dropping in conversation, but as a learner it’s safer to include the pronoun, especially in anything semi-formal.

Is “di kampus” always “at campus”? Could I say “di universiti” instead? Any difference?

Both are correct; the nuance is slightly different:

di kampus – “on campus / at the campus area”
- Focus on the physical campus location (buildings, grounds).
di universiti – “at the university”
- Can refer to the institution more broadly, not necessarily the physical campus.

In practice:

Saya mahu menyertai kelab belajar di kampus.
– Emphasizes that the club is on the campus grounds.
Saya mahu menyertai kelab belajar di universiti saya.
– Emphasizes that it’s at my university (institution).

Everyday usage overlaps, but di kampus is a natural choice for talking about clubs and activities located physically on campus.

How can I make this sentence more formal or more informal?

More formal / polite:

Use ingin or hendak/mahu
- menyertai, and maybe add “saya” clearly:
  - Saya ingin menyertai kelab belajar di kampus.
  - Saya hendak menyertai kelab belajar di kampus.

This is suitable for emails to staff, application forms, or written assignments.

More informal / conversational (Malaysian style):

Use nak and the shorter sertai (or even English “join” in mixed speech):
- Saya nak sertai kelab belajar dekat kampus.
- Aku nak join kelab belajar kat kampus. (very casual, with aku, kat)

For learning purposes, a good neutral choice is:

Saya mahu menyertai kelab belajar di kampus.

How do I show past or future time? There’s no tense in this sentence.

Malay verbs don’t change form for tense. You show time with adverbs or context.

Base sentence (timeless):

Saya mahu menyertai kelab belajar di kampus.
– can be present or near future depending on context.

To make it clearly future:

Saya akan menyertai kelab belajar di kampus. – I will join…
Esok saya mahu menyertai kelab belajar di kampus. – Tomorrow I want to join…

To talk about past:

Dulu saya mahu menyertai kelab belajar di kampus. – I used to / once wanted to join…
Tadi saya mahu menyertai kelab belajar di kampus. – Just now/earlier I wanted to join…
Saya sudah menyertai kelab belajar di kampus. – I have already joined the study club on campus.

So the verb form stays the same; time is added with words like akan, sudah, dulu, tadi, esok, nanti, etc.

What’s the difference between “di” in “di kampus” and the prefix “di-” used in passive verbs?

They look the same in pronunciation but work differently in writing and grammar.

“di” as a preposition (location)
- Written separate from the next word.
- Means “at / in / on”.
- Example: di kampus, di rumah, di sekolah.
- In your sentence: di kampus = at/on campus.
“di-” as a passive prefix
- Written attached to the verb.
- Forms passive verbs, like “is/was …-ed” in English.
- Examples:
  - diterima – is received / was accepted
  - dibaca – is read / was read
  - disertai – is joined / was joined

So compare:

di kampus – at campus (preposition + noun, written separately)
disertai – is/was joined (by) (passive verb, written as one word)

Spacing is important in standard writing.

Do I need a classifier like “sebuah kelab” instead of just “kelab”?

You don’t have to use a classifier here. In Malay, classifiers (like buah, orang, ekor) are mainly used:

with numbers:
- satu buah kelab, dua buah rumah, tiga orang pelajar
sometimes with certain determiners like beberapa (several), setiap (each), etc.

In your sentence:

Saya mahu menyertai kelab belajar di kampus.

“Kelab belajar” is a generic, indefinite “a study club”, and no number is specified, so it’s totally natural to omit the classifier.

If you want to be explicit about “one club”, you can say:

Saya mahu menyertai sebuah kelab belajar di kampus.

Both are grammatically correct; the version without the classifier is simpler and very natural.