Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya suka melihat bintang di langit malam. - I like to look at the stars in the night sky.

Both Saya and Aku mean I / me, but they differ in formality and context.
Saya is neutral and polite; it's used in most situations, including with strangers, at work, or in writing.
Aku is more informal and intimate; it's used with close friends, family, or in songs/poetry.
This sentence uses Saya because it sounds neutral and suitable for general use or teaching materials.

Does suka mean “like” or “love”? Can I use it for people as well as things?

Suka generally means to like or to be fond of, and sometimes to enjoy.
You can use it for activities (Saya suka membaca – I like reading), things (Saya suka kopi – I like coffee), and people (Saya suka dia – I like him/her, as a person or romantically, depending on context).
For a stronger sense of love, Malay often uses cinta (romantic love) or sayang (affectionate love), not suka.

Why is it suka melihat and not something like suka untuk melihat?

In Malay, when suka is followed by a verb, you normally just put the verb directly after it: suka + verb.
So suka melihat = “like to look / like looking”.
Using untuk (suka untuk melihat) is possible but usually unnecessary here and can sound more formal or heavy in a simple sentence like this.

What is the difference between lihat, melihat, and tengok?

All three relate to seeing/looking, but with different shades of use:

lihat – base verb “to see / to look”. Can appear in some structures and commands (Lihat! – Look!).
melihat – the standard active form with the me- prefix; sounds a bit more formal or neutral and is common in writing and careful speech.
tengok – more colloquial and often used in everyday conversation, similar to “look/watch” (e.g. tengok TV – watch TV).

In this sentence, melihat sounds natural and slightly more neutral/formal than tengok.

Why is there no word like “at” before bintang? Why is it just melihat bintang?

In Malay, many verbs take their object directly, without a preposition.
Melihat bintang literally means “to see/look at stars”, and bintang is just the direct object of melihat.
You do not need a word like kepada (“to”) here; that would be ungrammatical in this structure.

Does bintang mean one star or many stars? Why is it not bintang-bintang?

On its own, bintang is grammatically singular but can refer to stars in general if the context suggests it.
Malay does not always mark plurals; often the noun form stays the same and context tells you whether it’s singular or plural.
If you really want to emphasize “many stars” or “stars (plural)”, you can say bintang-bintang or banyak bintang, but it’s not required.

What does the preposition di do in di langit malam, and can I replace it with something else?

Di is a location preposition meaning in / at / on.
In di langit malam, it marks the place: “in the night sky” or “in the sky at night”.
You normally would not replace di with pada here; pada is more like “at/on” for time or abstract objects, while di is standard for physical places.

Why is it langit malam and not malam langit? What is the word order rule here?

In Malay, the usual order is noun + its description.
So langit (sky) comes first, and malam (night) follows it, giving langit malam (“night sky” / “sky at night”).
Malam langit would sound wrong, because it would suggest “night of the sky” or break the normal noun–modifier order.

How would I make the phrase more explicitly “in the sky at night” instead of “night sky”? Is di langit pada waktu malam correct?

Yes, di langit pada waktu malam is correct and means “in the sky at night”.
Pada waktu malam literally means “at night time” and makes the time element more explicit.
The original di langit malam is a bit shorter and more like “in the night sky”; both are natural, just with slightly different nuance.

How does tense work here? How do I know if Saya suka melihat bintang di langit malam is present, past, or future?

Malay verbs do not change form for tense, so suka melihat can be present, past, or general/habitual.
Context or time words show the time:

Dulu, saya suka melihat… – I used to like looking…
Sekarang saya suka melihat… – Now I like looking…
Esok saya akan suka melihat… (rare/odd, but grammatically future).
Without extra words, it’s usually understood as a general present/habitual statement: “I like (in general) to look at the stars at night.”

Can I drop Saya and just say Suka melihat bintang di langit malam?

Yes, in conversation people sometimes drop the subject pronoun if it’s obvious from context.
Suka melihat bintang di langit malam could be understood as “(I) like to look at the stars in the night sky.”
However, for clear and neutral sentences, especially for learners, it’s better to include Saya.

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral? How would a more formal version look?

The given sentence is neutral and suitable in most contexts.
A more formal or literary version could be:
Saya gemar memerhati bintang-bintang di langit pada waktu malam.
Here, gemar is a more formal synonym for “like/enjoy”, memerhati is a more formal “to observe/watch”, and bintang-bintang explicitly marks the plural.

Why is di written separately from langit? I’ve seen di- attached to words before.

When di is a preposition meaning in/at/on, it is always written separately: di rumah, di sekolah, di langit malam.
When di- is a prefix forming the passive voice (like “is/was done”), it is written together with the verb: ditulis (is written), dibuat (is made).
In this sentence, di is clearly a preposition of place, so it must be separate from langit.

How do you pronounce bintang and langit, especially the ng sound?

bintang: bin-tang – the ng is like the “ng” in English “sing”, not like a hard g.
langit: la-ngit – again, ng as in “sing”, then a clear -it at the end.
Malay ng is a single sound /ŋ/, and it never has a hard g afterwards unless it’s written -ngg-.