Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya suka bau oren segar apabila saya potong kulitnya dekat hidung saya. - I like the smell of fresh oranges when I cut their peel near my nose.

Here, oren segar works as a noun phrase meaning fresh orange(s), and bau oren segar literally feels like the smell of fresh orange(s).

The structure is:

bau (head noun)
oren (what kind of smell? orange)
segar (what kind of orange? fresh)

So you get: bau (smell) + oren (orange) + segar (fresh).

A phrase like bau segar oren would not be natural; it sounds like "fresh smell orange" and breaks the normal pattern.

What exactly does oren mean here? Is it the colour "orange" or the fruit, and how is it different from jingga or limau?

In this sentence, oren means the orange fruit.

Rough guide:

oren
- Everyday Malay for the orange fruit.
- Can also be used for the orange colour, especially in informal speech.
jingga
- More formal / standard word for the orange colour, not for the fruit.
limau
- A more traditional Malay word for citrus fruits in general (e.g. limau oren, limau nipis, limau kasturi).
- You might also hear limau oren for the fruit "orange".

So in bau oren segar, it’s understood as fresh oranges (the fruit), not the colour.

What does apabila mean exactly, and how is it different from bila, ketika, or semasa?

apabila means when (at the time that).

Compared to the others:

apabila
- Neutral and standard.
- Common in spoken and written Malay.
- Good choice here: apabila saya potong… = when I cut…
bila
- Also means when, but more informal and very common in speech.
- You could say: Saya suka bau oren segar bila saya potong kulitnya…
- In many contexts bila and apabila are interchangeable.
ketika / semasa
- Closer to when / while / at the time when.
- Often used with a longer background situation, not just a short action:
  - Ketika saya kecil… = When I was small…
  - Semasa saya di sekolah… = When I was in school…

For this exact sentence, apabila or bila are the most natural choices.

Why is the verb just potong and not memotong? Are both correct?

Both potong and memotong are correct; the difference is mainly style and nuance.

potong is the root verb.
- Very common in everyday, conversational Malay.
- Simple, direct: saya potong = I cut.
memotong is the meN- verb form.
- Often a bit more formal or neutral.
- Common in writing, instructions, or more careful speech.

In this sentence:

apabila saya potong kulitnya
apabila saya memotong kulitnya

Both are grammatically fine. In casual conversation, potong is very natural.

What does kulitnya mean exactly? Why use -nya instead of saying kulit oren again?

kulitnya is:

kulit = skin/peel
-nya = his/her/its OR "that thing’s"

Here -nya refers back to oren (the orange). So kulitnya = its peel / the peel (of the orange).

Why use kulitnya?

It avoids repeating oren.
It sounds more natural and less repetitive:
- apabila saya potong kulit oren dekat hidung saya – OK
- apabila saya potong kulitnya dekat hidung saya – more fluent, since "its peel" is obvious.

You could also say:

kulit oren itu = that orange peel / the orange peel
kulit limau = citrus peel, depending on context

But kulitnya is perfectly natural when the referent (the orange) is already clear from context.

Why is it dekat hidung saya and not di hidung saya? What’s the difference?

Both dekat and di relate to location, but they’re not the same here.

di = at / in / on (a specific point or place)
- di hidung saya = on my nose / at my nose
  → This sounds like the peel is actually on your nose.
dekat = near / close to
- dekat hidung saya = near my nose
- This matches the intended idea: you hold or cut the peel close to your nose to smell it.

You’ll also see:

dekat dengan hidung saya = near to my nose (slightly more explicit)
di dekat hidung saya is possible but more wordy; everyday speech usually just uses dekat.

Why repeat saya in apabila saya potong kulitnya dekat hidung saya? Can I drop one or both saya?

The sentence repeats saya for clarity:

Saya suka bau oren segar (I like the smell of fresh oranges)
apabila saya potong kulitnya dekat hidung saya (when I cut its peel near my nose)

In standard Malay, this is perfectly fine and clear.

In informal spoken Malay, you can often drop repeated pronouns if the subject is obvious:

Saya suka bau oren segar apabila potong kulitnya dekat hidung saya.

Here the second saya (before potong) can be omitted in casual speech.

However, dropping the final saya after hidung would be odd, because it would become unclear whose nose you are talking about. So:

Keep: …dekat hidung saya
Optionally drop (in casual speech): the saya before potong.

Does suka work like English "like"? Do I need a preposition such as akan after suka?

suka is very close to English like, and in most everyday sentences you don’t need a preposition.

Saya suka bau oren segar. = I like the smell of fresh oranges.

No extra word is needed between suka and bau.

You might see suka akan in more formal or literary language:

Saya suka akan bau oren segar.

This is grammatically correct but sounds formal or old-fashioned in casual conversation. In normal modern Malay, people usually just say suka + object:

Saya suka muzik.
Saya suka kopi.
Saya suka bau oren segar.

How do I show that I mean "fresh oranges" (plural)? There is no plural marker in oren segar.

Malay normally does not mark plural the way English does. oren segar can mean:

a fresh orange
fresh oranges
orange that is fresh (general)

The context decides whether it’s singular or plural. Here, bau oren segar is naturally understood as the smell of fresh oranges in a general sense.

If you really want to emphasise plural, you have some options, but they’re less common in this specific phrase:

oren-oren segar (reduplication; sounds a bit unnatural here)
banyak oren segar = many fresh oranges

In daily use, oren segar alone is enough.

Can I move the apabila clause to the front and say: Apabila saya potong kulitnya dekat hidung saya, saya suka bau oren segar?

Yes, that word order is completely grammatical and natural:

Apabila saya potong kulitnya dekat hidung saya, saya suka bau oren segar.

Malay allows both orders:

Main clause first:
- Saya suka bau oren segar apabila saya potong kulitnya dekat hidung saya.
Time clause first:
- Apabila saya potong kulitnya dekat hidung saya, saya suka bau oren segar.

Putting the apabila clause first slightly emphasises the situation/time, but both versions are correct and sound natural.