Learn Hardcore Malay: Adik saya menjerit kerana dia sangat takut lipas, sehingga dia berlari ke koridor. - My younger sibling screams because she/he is very afraid of cockroaches, so much so that she/he runs to the corridor.

younger brother or younger sister (any younger sibling)
sometimes younger child (of the parents)
as a form of address, it can also mean a younger person you’re talking to (like “kid” or “young one”, but polite).

If you want to be explicit:

adik lelaki = younger brother
adik perempuan = younger sister

So Adik saya is best translated here as my younger sibling, unless the wider context makes the gender clear.

Why is it adik saya and not saya adik, since in English we say “my younger sibling”?

Malay puts the thing possessed first, then the possessor:

adik saya = my younger sibling (literally “sibling younger I”)
buku saya = my book
kereta mereka = their car
rumah Ali = Ali’s house

So the pattern is: > [noun / thing] + [possessive pronoun or name]

This is the opposite of English, where the possessor usually comes first (“my sibling”, “Ali’s house”).

What is menjerit exactly? Is it “to scream” or “screamed”? How does tense work here?

Menjerit is a verb meaning to scream / to shout loudly.

Root: jerit (scream, shout)
With the prefix meN- → menjerit (to scream)

Malay verbs do not change form for tense. Menjerit can be:

screams / is screaming / screamed / was screaming, depending on context.

In this sentence, because the rest of the story is clearly in the past, we translate it as:

“My younger sibling screamed…”

If you really want to mark past, you can add a time word or aspect marker, e.g.:

tadi adik saya menjerit = my younger sibling screamed just now
adik saya telah menjerit = my younger sibling has screamed (more formal/literary)

What does kerana mean? Can I also use sebab here?

Kerana means because.

Adik saya menjerit kerana dia sangat takut lipas…
= My younger sibling screamed because he/she is very afraid of cockroaches…

You can almost always replace kerana with sebab:

Adik saya menjerit sebab dia sangat takut lipas…

Differences:

kerana: more formal / standard (you’ll see it more in writing, news, essays).
sebab: more colloquial, very common in everyday speech.

Both are correct in this sentence.

Why is dia used after adik saya? Isn’t that repetitive?

Here, dia is a pronoun referring back to adik saya.

The logic is:

First clause: Adik saya menjerit → subject is adik saya
Second clause: kerana dia sangat takut lipas → we use dia to avoid repeating the full noun phrase adik saya.

This is similar to English:

“My younger sibling screamed because he/she is very afraid of cockroaches.”

Could you drop dia and say:

kerana sangat takut lipas
Yes, in informal speech that can happen, especially if the subject is very clear. But the version with dia is clearer and more standard.

Does dia mean he or she? How do you show gender in Malay?

Dia is gender-neutral. It can mean he or she.

Malay normally does not mark gender in pronouns:

dia = he / she
mereka = they (no gender)

To make gender explicit, you rely on:

context, or
adding words like:
- adik perempuan saya = my younger sister
- adik lelaki saya = my younger brother
- dia, seorang perempuan itu… = she, that woman… (quite formal)

But in everyday speech, dia alone is usually enough, and you infer gender from context.

In dia sangat takut lipas, why is sangat before takut? What is the structure here?

The structure is: > dia (subject) + sangat (degree adverb) + takut (stative verb/adjective) + lipas (object)

sangat = very
takut = afraid / scared

Malay uses degree words like:

sangat (very)
terlalu (too, overly)
amat (very, formal)

before adjectives or stative verbs:

sangat takut = very afraid
sangat letih = very tired
sangat cantik = very beautiful

So dia sangat takut lipas = he/she is very afraid of cockroaches.

In English we say “afraid of cockroaches”. Why is there no preposition like of before lipas? Should it be takut akan lipas or takut kepada lipas?

With takut, Malay often omits the preposition, especially in everyday speech:

takut lipas = afraid of cockroaches
takut hantu = afraid of ghosts
takut anjing = afraid of dogs

More formal or careful usage sometimes adds a preposition:

takut akan lipas
takut kepada lipas

These are not wrong; they just sound a bit more formal or bookish.
In normal spoken Malay, takut lipas is completely natural.

What does sehingga mean here, and how is it different from words like jadi or lalu?

Sehingga here means to the point that / so ... that, introducing a result clause.

So:

...dia sangat takut lipas, sehingga dia berlari ke koridor.
≈ ...he/she was so afraid of cockroaches that he/she ran into the corridor.

Other connectors:

jadi = so, therefore (consequence, but not necessarily “to such an extent”)
- Dia takut lipas, jadi dia berlari ke koridor.
  = He/She is afraid of cockroaches, so he/she ran into the corridor.
lalu = then, and then (sequence in a story)
- Dia menjerit, lalu berlari ke koridor.
  = He/She screamed, then ran into the corridor.

Sehingga emphasises that the second action (running) is the extent or result of the fear, not just the next event.

Why is there a comma before sehingga?

The comma marks a pause between:

the cause/background:
- Adik saya menjerit kerana dia sangat takut lipas,
the result introduced by sehingga:
- sehingga dia berlari ke koridor.

In English we might also write:

“My younger sibling screamed because he/she was very afraid of cockroaches, so much so that he/she ran into the corridor.”

In Malay, you don’t have to put a comma, but it’s common and helpful in longer sentences to show the division between clauses.

What does berlari mean, and what does the prefix ber- do?

Lari is the root verb meaning to run.

With the prefix ber-, it becomes berlari:

often translated simply as to run

The prefix ber- can:

form intransitive verbs, often meaning “to do X”, “to be in the state of X”
sometimes carry meanings like “to have, to wear, to involve oneself in”

Some examples:

berjalan (jalan = walk/road) → to walk
bercakap (cakap = speak) → to talk
berbaju (baju = shirt/clothes) → to be wearing clothes

So dia berlari ke koridor = he/she ran to the corridor.

What is ke, and how is it different from di or kepada?

Ke is a preposition meaning to / towards (movement to a place):

ke sekolah = to school
ke rumah = to the house
ke koridor = to the corridor

Compare:

di = at / in (location, no movement)
- di sekolah = at school
- di rumah = at home
- di koridor = in the corridor
kepada = to (usually for people or abstract “to”)
- bercakap kepada dia = speak to him/her
- surat kepada ibu = letter to mother

So:

dia berlari ke koridor = he/she ran to the corridor
dia berdiri di koridor = he/she is standing in/at the corridor

Is koridor a Malay word or a loanword? Are there other ways to say “corridor”?

Koridor is a loanword from English “corridor” (via English or another European language), and it’s commonly used in Malay.

Other possibilities, depending on context:

lorong = passage, lane, alley (can be outside or inside, depending on context)
laluan = passageway, route (more general, often more formal)

But if you mean an indoor hallway in a building, koridor is natural and widely understood.

Could we omit the second dia and just say ..., sehingga berlari ke koridor? Would that still be correct?

Yes, you can omit the second dia in informal or narrative contexts:

Adik saya menjerit kerana dia sangat takut lipas, sehingga berlari ke koridor.

Malay often allows dropping a repeated subject pronoun when it is clear from context. The listener will naturally understand that the subject of berlari is still adik saya / dia.

However:

keeping dia (sehingga dia berlari ke koridor) is clearer and more standard, especially in writing or for learners.