Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya mahu berehat sebentar di sofa sebelum memasak makan malam. - I want to rest for a moment on the sofa before cooking dinner.

nak – very common, informal speech
- Aku nak rehat sekejap… (to a friend)
hendak – similar meaning to mahu, slightly more formal / written or in careful speech
ingin – “wish to / would like to”, a bit softer or more formal/polite
- Saya ingin berehat sebentar…

All of these can be used in this sentence; the main difference is formality and tone, not meaning.

Why do we use berehat and not just rehat? What does the ber- prefix do?

In Malay, the prefix ber- often turns a base word into an intransitive verb (an action you do, without a direct object).

rehat = “rest” as a noun (a rest, a break)
berehat = “to rest” as a verb

So in standard Malay:

Saya mahu berehat. = “I want to rest.”
Masa rehat. = “Break time / recess.”

In informal speech, people often say:

Saya nak rehat sekejap.

Here rehat is used as a short form of berehat in casual conversation. But in formal or standard sentences like the one you gave, berehat is more correct/neutral.

What exactly does sebentar mean? Is it more like “for a moment” or “for a while”? Are there other common words I could use?

Sebentar means “for a short while / for a moment”. It doesn’t specify an exact amount of time, but it suggests it won’t be long.

Common near-synonyms:

sekejap – very common in Malaysia, especially in speech
- Saya nak berehat sekejap.
seketika – a bit more formal / literary
sebentar – standard and also very common in Indonesian

In normal Malaysian usage, you’ll hear:

Saya mahu/sekejap berehat sebentar. (standard)
Saya nak rehat sekejap. (informal)

So sebentar is closer to “for a bit / for a short while” than “for a long while.”

Is the word order berehat sebentar di sofa fixed? Where else could I put sebentar and di sofa?

The word order is fairly flexible, but some positions sound more natural.

Your original:

Saya mahu berehat sebentar di sofa sebelum memasak makan malam.

Other natural options:

Saya mahu berehat di sofa sebentar sebelum memasak makan malam.
Sebelum memasak makan malam, saya mahu berehat sebentar di sofa.

What’s common:

sebentar usually comes after the verb or at the end of the verb phrase:
- berehat sebentar
- berehat di sofa sebentar
di sofa usually goes after the verb, before or after sebentar:
- berehat di sofa sebentar
- berehat sebentar di sofa

Something like Saya sebentar mahu berehat… would sound odd. The original word order is already very natural.

Why do we need the preposition di before sofa? Can we leave it out?

Di is a location preposition, like “at / in / on” in English.

di sofa = “on the sofa / at the sofa”

In Malay, you can’t normally put a bare noun after the verb to express place. You need di (or another preposition):

✔ berehat di sofa – correct
✘ berehat sofa – incorrect

You might also hear:

berehat atas sofa – literally “rest on (top of) the sofa”

So no, you shouldn’t omit di here; you need a preposition to mark the location.

Can I drop Saya and just say Mahu berehat sebentar di sofa sebelum memasak makan malam?

Yes, dropping the subject pronoun is possible in Malay if it’s clear from context.

In a conversation, if it’s obvious you’re talking about yourself, people might say:

Mahu berehat sebentar di sofa…
More naturally in speech: Nak rehat sekejap kat sofa sebelum masak makan malam.

However:

In a standalone sentence (like in a textbook example), keeping Saya is clearer and more standard.
In writing or more formal contexts, it’s safer to keep Saya.

So:

Saya mahu berehat… – clear, neutral, good for learning
Mahu berehat… – fine in informal speech when the subject is already known.

What is the function of sebelum here? Do I need untuk before memasak?

Sebelum means “before” and introduces a time clause:

sebelum memasak makan malam = “before cooking dinner”

Pattern:

sebelum + verb phrase
sebelum + clause (subject + verb)

Examples:

Sebelum tidur, saya membaca buku. – Before sleeping, I read a book.
Saya mandi sebelum pergi kerja. – I shower before going to work.

You do not add untuk here:

✘ sebelum untuk memasak makan malam – wrong
✔ sebelum memasak makan malam – correct

So sebelum alone already gives the “before doing X” meaning; it doesn’t need untuk.

Why do we say memasak makan malam and not just memasak? Isn’t that like “cook eat night”?

Literally, makan malam is “eat night”, but as a phrase it means “dinner”.

So:

makan malam = dinner (not literally “eat night” in normal use)
memasak makan malam = “to cook dinner”

You could also say:

memasak untuk makan malam – “to cook for dinner”
memasak makan malam untuk keluarga – “cook dinner for the family”

Just saying:

sebelum memasak = “before cooking (something)”

is also grammatical, but less specific. Using makan malam makes it clear what you are going to cook: dinner.

So it’s not redundant; memasak is the verb “cook” and makan malam is the object “dinner.”

How would I change this sentence to past or future tense in Malay?

Malay doesn’t change the verb form for tense. Instead, you add time words.

Original (tense depends on context):

Saya mahu berehat sebentar di sofa sebelum memasak makan malam.

To make it clearly future:

Nanti saya mahu berehat sebentar di sofa sebelum memasak makan malam.
(Later I want to rest…)
Saya akan berehat sebentar di sofa sebelum memasak makan malam.
(akan explicitly marks future.)

To refer to the past intention:

Tadi saya mahu berehat sebentar di sofa sebelum memasak makan malam.
(Just now / earlier I wanted to rest…)
Or to state what you actually did:
- Tadi saya berehat sebentar di sofa sebelum memasak makan malam.
  (I rested for a while on the sofa before cooking dinner.)

Notice mahu / berehat / memasak themselves never change form; only the time markers like tadi, nanti, akan change.

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral? How would a friend say it in casual speech?

Your sentence is in neutral standard Malay:

Saya mahu berehat sebentar di sofa sebelum memasak makan malam.

A more casual / spoken version to a friend might be:

Aku nak rehat sekejap atas sofa sebelum masak makan malam.
- Aku instead of Saya – informal “I”
- nak instead of mahu – informal “want to”
- rehat instead of berehat – casual shortening
- sekejap instead of sebentar – very common in speech
- atas or kat instead of di – kat is colloquial “at/on”

Even more colloquial (especially among younger speakers):

Aku nak rehat jap kat sofa sebelum masak.

So your original is good for textbooks, writing, and polite conversation; the others are what you’ll often hear in everyday speech.