Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya suka makan buah-buahan segar setiap pagi. - I like to eat fresh fruits every morning.

Saya means I / me and is the default polite, neutral first‑person pronoun in Malay. You can safely use saya in almost any situation: with strangers, at work, at school, in writing, etc.

Aku also means I / me, but it is more informal and intimate. It’s typically used:

With close friends
With siblings or people your age (depending on local norms)
In songs, poems, or expressive writing

In the sentence Saya suka makan buah-buahan segar setiap pagi, if you replaced saya with aku, it would sound more casual:

Aku suka makan buah-buahan segar setiap pagi.

Grammatically fine, but only appropriate in informal contexts.

Why is it saya suka makan and not something like “I am like to eat” or “I like to eat am”? Where is the verb “to be”?

Malay does not use a separate verb like to be (am/is/are) before adjectives or verbs in this kind of structure.

Saya suka makan… literally: I like eat…
- saya = I
- suka = like
- makan = eat / to eat

You don’t say anything equivalent to “I am like to eat…” in Malay. The pattern subject + suka + verb is standard:

Saya suka membaca. – I like (to) read.
Dia suka berjalan. – He/She likes (to) walk.

No extra “to be” verb is ever needed here.

What is the difference between makan and to eat / eating? Does Malay have a separate infinitive form?

Malay uses the same verb form for:

eat
to eat
eating

So makan can cover all of these, depending on context:

Saya makan. – I eat / I am eating.
Saya suka makan. – I like to eat / I like eating.

Malay does not have a special infinitive marker like to in English. You just put the base verb after another verb (like suka, mahu, boleh, etc.):

Saya mahu makan. – I want to eat.
Dia boleh makan. – He/She can eat.

What does buah-buahan mean exactly, and why is it repeated with a hyphen?

Buah means fruit.
Buah-buahan is reduplication of the noun and usually means:

fruits (in general, more than one)
a variety of fruits / different kinds of fruit

So:

buah – fruit (can be singular or general)
buah-buahan – fruits / assorted fruits

Reduplication is a common way in Malay to show plurality or variety:

buku (book) → buku-buku (books)
orang (person) → orang-orang (people)

However, Malay doesn’t have to mark plural this way; context also shows number. You could say:

Saya suka makan buah segar. – I like to eat fresh fruit.
(Still understood as “fruit(s)” in general.)

Buah-buahan just makes it clearer that you mean multiple kinds or pieces of fruit.

Why is segar (fresh) placed after buah-buahan and not before it?

In Malay, adjectives usually come after the noun they describe:

buah-buahan segar – fresh fruits
baju baru – new clothes/shirt
rumah besar – big house

So the pattern is:

noun + adjective

Putting the adjective before the noun (like in English) would be incorrect:

❌ segar buah-buahan (wrong in standard Malay)
✅ buah-buahan segar (correct)

There are a few set expressions and special cases, but for a learner, the simple rule “adjective comes after the noun” will work almost all the time.

Does segar mean only “fresh”, or does it have other uses?

Segar mainly means fresh in the sense of:

fresh food: ikan segar (fresh fish), roti segar (fresh bread)
feeling fresh / refreshed: Saya rasa segar. (I feel fresh.)

So in buah-buahan segar, it is clearly about fresh (not stale/rotten) fruit.

What does setiap pagi mean exactly, and where can it go in the sentence?

Setiap pagi means every morning.

In Saya suka makan buah-buahan segar setiap pagi, the word order is:

Saya (I)
suka makan (like to eat)
buah-buahan segar (fresh fruits)
setiap pagi (every morning)

You can also move setiap pagi to the front for emphasis or style:

Setiap pagi, saya suka makan buah-buahan segar.
– Every morning, I like to eat fresh fruits.

Both are correct and natural. Time expressions like semalam (yesterday), esok (tomorrow), setiap pagi (every morning) can appear:

at the end of the sentence
or at the beginning (often with a pause/comma in speech or writing)

How is tense shown here? Why doesn’t suka or makan change form for present tense?

Malay verbs do not change form for tense. The same verb form works for past, present, and future. Tense/aspect is usually shown by time words or extra particles, not by changing the verb itself.

In Saya suka makan buah-buahan segar setiap pagi:

setiap pagi – every morning
→ This tells us it is a habit, like English I like to eat fresh fruit every morning.

If you wanted to show different time frames, you’d add markers:

Saya sudah makan. – I have eaten / I already ate.
Saya akan makan. – I will eat.
Saya tadi makan. – I ate just now / earlier.

But the core verbs (suka, makan) stay the same.

Can I drop saya and just say Suka makan buah-buahan segar setiap pagi?

Yes, in informal spoken Malay, it is common to drop pronouns when the subject is already clear from context. So:

(Saya) suka makan buah-buahan segar setiap pagi.

This could be understood as I like to eat fresh fruits every morning, if everyone knows you’re talking about yourself.

However:

In formal writing or when you need clarity, it’s better to keep saya.
As a learner, keeping the subject (Saya) is safest until you’re very comfortable with context-based omission.

Do I need a preposition like pada before setiap pagi, for example pada setiap pagi?

You don’t need a preposition here. Setiap pagi on its own is perfectly natural and more common:

✅ Saya suka makan buah-buahan segar setiap pagi.

Pada setiap pagi is grammatically possible but sounds more formal or heavy, and is rarely used in everyday speech. You’re more likely to see pada with specific times/days:

pada pukul lapan – at eight o’clock
pada hari Isnin – on Monday

So for a regular habit like this, setiap pagi without pada is the normal choice.