Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya rasa, lagi kerap kami makan buah seperti epal, oren, pisang, dan anggur, lagi jarang kami sakit kepala. - I feel that the more often we eat fruits like apples, oranges, bananas, and grapes, the more rarely we get headaches.

lagi kerap kami makan buah
= the more often we eat fruit
lagi jarang kami sakit kepala
= the more rarely we get headaches / the less often we have headaches

This is a common correlative comparative pattern in Malay, similar to English:

The more we eat fruit, the less we get headaches.

You’ll also hear the same idea with “semakin”:

Semakin kerap kami makan buah, semakin jarang kami sakit kepala.
(Also fully natural: The more often we eat fruit, the less often we get headaches.)

Why is “lagi” used here? Could we say “lebih kerap” instead of “lagi kerap”?

Both lagi and lebih can indicate “more”, but there are nuances.

lagi kerap = more often / increasingly often
lebih kerap = more often (comparative “more than ”)

In this specific double-comparative pattern:

lagi kerap ..., lagi jarang ...
is very natural and colloquial.

Alternatives:

lebih kerap kami makan buah, lebih jarang kami sakit kepala – grammatical, but sounds slightly more formal/“bookish” here.
semakin kerap ..., semakin jarang ... – very common in standard Malay.

So:

For everyday speech, “lagi kerap ..., lagi jarang ...” is perfect.
For slightly more formal writing, “semakin kerap ..., semakin jarang ...” is often preferred.

Why is “kami” used and not “kita”? What’s the difference?

Malay distinguishes two types of “we”:

kami = we (not including you, the listener) → exclusive
kita = we (including you, the listener) → inclusive

So:

lagi kerap kami makan buah ...
implies we = some group that does not include the person being spoken to
(e.g. my family, my colleagues, my housemates).

If the speaker wants to include the listener in “we”, they would say:

Saya rasa, lagi kerap kita makan buah ..., lagi jarang kita sakit kepala.
= I think the more often we (you and I / all of us) eat fruit, the less we get headaches.

In everyday conversation, choosing kami vs kita is important because it signals clearly who is in the group.

Can we omit one of the “kami”s? For example: “lagi jarang sakit kepala” without kami?

Yes, Malay often drops repeated pronouns when the subject is obvious from context.

All of these are possible and understood as “we”:

Lagi kerap kami makan buah ..., lagi jarang kami sakit kepala.
– More explicit; repeats “kami” in both clauses.
Lagi kerap kami makan buah ..., lagi jarang sakit kepala.
– Very natural; “kami” is understood in the second part.
Lagi kerap makan buah ..., lagi jarang sakit kepala.
– Also natural in casual speech; both subjects are understood to be “we/people in general” from context.

So you don’t have to repeat “kami”, but doing so is not wrong. Repeating it just makes the pattern clearer and a bit more emphatic.

What does “Saya rasa” mean here? Is it physical feeling or “I think”?

In this sentence, “Saya rasa” means “I think / I feel (that)” in an opinion sense, not physical sensation.

Saya rasa, ...
≈ I think that … / I feel that …

Other related options:

Saya fikir, ... – I think that … (a bit more “logical”/cerebral; slightly more formal)
Pada pendapat saya, ... – In my opinion, … (clearly opinion, often used in writing or formal speech)

When “rasa” refers to physical feeling or taste, context makes it clear:

Saya rasa penat. – I feel tired.
Saya rasa pedas. – I taste/feel (that it is) spicy.

In your sentence, because it introduces a general statement about fruit and headaches, it’s clearly “I think (that)”.

Why is there no verb like “to be” before “sakit kepala”? Why is it just “kami sakit kepala”?

Malay normally does not use a separate verb “to be” (like am/is/are) before adjectives or many stative expressions.

kami sakit kepala
literally: we headache
idiomatically: we have headaches / we get headaches.

Common symptom patterns in Malay:

Saya sakit perut. – I have a stomachache.
Dia sakit gigi. – He/she has a toothache.
Mereka sakit mata. – They have an eye infection / sore eyes.

You do not say:

✗ kami adalah sakit kepala – ungrammatical here.

“adalah” is only used as a kind of “is/are” in specific structures, mainly linking to nouns, not adjectives or symptom phrases like “sakit kepala”:

Ini adalah buku saya. – This is my book.
Tugas saya adalah mengajar. – My task is teaching.

So “kami sakit kepala” is the correct, natural way to say we have headaches.

What exactly does “kerap” mean? How is it different from “selalu” or “sering”?

All three relate to frequency, but with different nuances and regional preferences.

kerap
- Meaning: frequently, often
- Very acceptable in standard Malay; sounds slightly more formal or “proper” than casual speech, but also used in conversation.
selalu
- Historically: always
- In colloquial Malay (especially in Malaysia), it often means usually / often as well.
  - Dia selalu datang lewat. – He often/usually comes late.
sering
- Also often
- Much more common in Indonesian than in Malaysian Malay.
- Malaysians will understand it, but it isn’t the most typical choice in Malaysia.

In your sentence:

lagi kerap kami makan buah ≈ the more often we eat fruit

You could also hear:

lagi selalu kami makan buah (colloquial)
semakin kerap / semakin selalu kami makan buah (standard-ish)

But “kerap” is a good, clear, standard word for frequently.

Why “buah seperti epal, oren, pisang, dan anggur”? What does “seperti” do here?

“seperti” literally means “like / as / such as”.

So:

buah seperti epal, oren, pisang, dan anggur
= fruits such as apples, oranges, bananas, and grapes.

Structure:

buah – fruit(s)
seperti X, Y, Z... – such as X, Y, Z...

You could rephrase with other expressions that introduce examples:

buah, contohnya epal, oren, pisang dan anggur
– fruit, for example apples, oranges, bananas and grapes
buah-buahan seperti epal, oren, pisang dan anggur
– fruits such as apples, oranges, bananas and grapes

But “buah seperti ...” is a very natural way to say “fruit such as …”.

Should it be “buah-buahan” instead of “buah” when talking about several kinds of fruit?

Both are possible, with a slight nuance:

buah
- Basic word for fruit
- Can be singular or general/collective, depending on context.
buah-buahan
- Reduplicated form often meaning various fruits / fruit(s) in general
- Emphasises variety or the concept of fruit as a category.

In your sentence:

lagi kerap kami makan buah seperti epal, oren, pisang, dan anggur
is fine and natural: the list of specific fruits already shows you mean multiple types.

If you want to emphasise a variety of fruits, you could say:

lagi kerap kami makan buah-buahan seperti epal, oren, pisang dan anggur, ...

Both forms are correct; the original is acceptable and natural.

How do we know what tense this is? Does it mean now, generally, or in the future?

Malay does not mark tense on the verb like English does. There’s no change equivalent to eat/ate/eaten.

Instead, time and aspect are understood from:

Time adverbs
- e.g. semalam (yesterday), esok (tomorrow), selalu (always), kerap (often).
Context

In your sentence:

lagi kerap kami makan buah – “the more often we eat fruit”
lagi jarang kami sakit kepala – “the more rarely we have headaches”

The words “kerap” (often) and “jarang” (rarely) strongly suggest a general, habitual meaning. So it’s interpreted as a general rule:

I think that, in general, the more often we eat fruit, the less often we get headaches.

If you wanted to make it clearly future, you’d usually add “akan”:

Saya rasa, lagi kerap kami akan makan buah ..., lagi jarang kami akan sakit kepala.
= I think the more often we will eat fruit, the less we will get headaches.

But in normal use, people rarely put “akan” here; context is enough.

Is the comma after “Saya rasa” and before the second “lagi” necessary?

Punctuation in Malay is broadly similar to English, but there is flexibility in casual writing.

Your original:

Saya rasa, lagi kerap kami makan buah ..., lagi jarang kami sakit kepala.

Possible variants:

Saya rasa lagi kerap kami makan buah ..., lagi jarang kami sakit kepala.
– perfectly acceptable; no comma after Saya rasa.
Saya rasa, lagi kerap kami makan buah ..., lagi jarang kami sakit kepala.
– also acceptable; the comma marks a slight pause in speech.
Saya rasa bahawa lagi kerap kami makan buah ..., lagi jarang kami sakit kepala.
– adding “bahawa” (that) is more formal; comma optional before it.

The comma before the second “lagi” (marking the break between the two clauses) is helpful and common:

... makan buah ..., lagi jarang kami sakit kepala.

So:

Comma after “Saya rasa” = optional stylistic choice.
Comma between the two “lagi ...” clauses = recommended for clarity.