Semasa jerebu kuat, kami jarang keluar berjoging di taman.

When the haze is strong, we rarely go out jogging in the park.

Breakdown of Semasa jerebu kuat, kami jarang keluar berjoging di taman.

• di: in
• taman: the park
• kami: we
• keluar: to go out
• kuat: strong
• jarang: rarely
• berjoging: to jog
• semasa: during
• jerebu: the haze

Questions & Answers about Semasa jerebu kuat, kami jarang keluar berjoging di taman.

What does semasa mean here, and how is it different from apabila, ketika, or masa?

Semasa means “when / while (during the time that)”. It introduces a time clause, often for something that lasts a period of time.

In this sentence:

• Semasa jerebu kuat, kami jarang keluar berjoging di taman.
  → When / While the haze was strong, we rarely went out jogging in the park.

Rough differences:

• semasa – “while / when (during a period)”
  • Often used for a continuous condition or background situation.
  • e.g. Semasa hujan turun, kami duduk di dalam rumah.
• apabila – “when (at the time that)”
  • Slightly more neutral, can be for an event or condition.
  • e.g. Apabila hujan turun, kami duduk di dalam rumah.
• ketika – very close to semasa, often a bit more formal/literary.
  
  • e.g. Ketika hujan turun, kami duduk di dalam rumah.
• masa – literally “time”; in spoken Malay it can also function like “when”, less formal.
  
  • e.g. Masa hujan turun, kami duduk di dalam rumah.

In everyday speech, semasa, ketika, apabila, and colloquial masa can often be swapped without changing the basic meaning, though style and nuance shift slightly.

Why is it jerebu kuat and not jerebu yang kuat?

In Malay, an adjective can directly follow a noun without yang:

• jerebu kuat = “strong haze / thick haze”

Adding yang is usually for:

1. Emphasis or contrast:
   • Jerebu yang kuat itu sangat berbahaya.
     “That strong haze is very dangerous.”
2. Making a more specific, descriptive phrase:
   • jerebu yang kuat di bandar – “the strong haze in the city”

In this sentence, jerebu kuat is a simple “noun + adjective” phrase, so yang is not needed. Semasa jerebu kuat sounds natural and concise.
Semasa jerebu yang kuat is grammatical but feels heavier and more “pointed”, as if you’re talking about a particular defined instance of strong haze.

What’s the difference between kami and kita, and why is kami used here?

Both kami and kita mean “we / us”, but they differ in inclusion:

• kami = “we (NOT including the listener)”
• kita = “we (INCLUDING the listener)”

In this sentence:

• kami jarang keluar berjoging di taman
  → “we rarely go out jogging in the park”
  The speaker is talking about their own group, not necessarily including the person they’re speaking to, so kami is appropriate.

If the speaker wants to include the listener inside the group—e.g. speaking to a friend who also jogs with them—then kita could be used:

• Semasa jerebu kuat, kita jarang keluar berjoging di taman.
  → “When the haze is strong, we (you and I) rarely go out jogging in the park.”

Where can jarang go in the sentence, and does its position change the meaning?

Jarang means “rarely / seldom” and usually comes before the verb phrase it modifies.

Most natural options:

• Kami jarang keluar berjoging di taman.
• Semasa jerebu kuat, kami jarang keluar berjoging di taman.

You can also put the time clause after:

• Kami jarang keluar berjoging di taman semasa jerebu kuat.

All of these keep the same basic meaning: “we rarely go out jogging in the park when the haze is strong.”

Positions that sound odd or wrong:

• ✗ Kami keluar jarang berjoging di taman. (unnatural)
• ✗ Kami keluar berjoging jarang di taman. (unnatural)

So, in practice, keep jarang before the main verb: jarang keluar, jarang berjoging, jarang makan, etc.

Does this sentence show past, present, or future? How is tense handled in Malay here?

Malay does not mark tense on the verb the way English does. The verb form keluar berjoging can be:

• past: “went out jogging”
• present: “go out jogging”
• future: “will go out jogging”

The time is understood from:

1. Context, or
2. Extra words like:
   • sudah / telah – past/completed
   • sedang – ongoing right now
   • akan – future

In this sentence:

• Semasa jerebu kuat, kami jarang keluar berjoging di taman.

It’s most naturally read as a general or habitual statement (present or “whenever it happens”), like:

• “When the haze is strong, we rarely go out jogging in the park.”

If you want to make it clearly about the past:

• Semasa jerebu kuat dulu, kami jarang keluar berjoging di taman.
  (“back then / previously”)

For a clear future meaning:

• Semasa jerebu kuat nanti, kami akan jarang keluar berjoging di taman.

Why do we need both keluar and berjoging? Could we just say berjoging?

• berjoging = “to jog”
• keluar = “to go out / to go outside”

Keluar berjoging literally: “go out jogging”, which matches English “go out for a jog”.

Options:

1. Kami berjoging di taman.
   → “We jog in the park.” (focus on the activity)
2. Kami keluar berjoging di taman.
   → “We go out jogging in the park.” (focus on going out to do it)
3. Kami pergi berjoging di taman.
   → “We go to jog in the park.”

All are grammatical. In your sentence, keluar berjoging emphasizes that they leave the house/go outside in order to jog, which makes sense because haze affects whether they go outside.

Why is it di taman and not ke taman at the end of the sentence?

• di = “at / in / on” (location)
• ke = “to / towards” (direction or destination)

In this sentence:

• berjoging di taman = “jogging in the park” (location of the activity)

If you said:

• keluar ke taman untuk berjoging
  → “go out to the park to jog”

then ke is correct because you’re talking about the destination.

So:

• berjoging di taman – where the jogging happens (location)
• pergi ke taman – where you are going (direction)

Could the time clause come later, like in English “We rarely go out jogging in the park when the haze is strong”?

Yes. Both orders are fine:

1. Time clause first (as in the original):
   
   • Semasa jerebu kuat, kami jarang keluar berjoging di taman.
2. Main clause first:
   
   • Kami jarang keluar berjoging di taman semasa jerebu kuat.

The meaning is the same. Putting Semasa jerebu kuat at the beginning puts a bit more emphasis on the condition “when the haze is strong” as the background to what follows.

Both word orders are natural in Malay.

What does kuat mean here? I thought it meant “strong”.

Literally, kuat means “strong” (physically strong, powerful, loud, intense, etc.).

In this context:

• jerebu kuat = “strong haze”
  More natural English translations: “thick / heavy / severe haze”.

So kuat often carries the idea “intense / severe” depending on the noun:

• angin kuat – strong wind
• hujan kuat – heavy rain
• bunyi kuat – loud sound
• bau kuat – strong smell

For haze, you might also hear:

• jerebu tebal – “thick haze”
• jerebu teruk – “bad / severe haze”

Can we drop kami and just say Semasa jerebu kuat, jarang keluar berjoging di taman?

You might hear something like that in very casual speech, but:

• Semasa jerebu kuat, jarang keluar berjoging di taman.

is incomplete or ambiguous in careful Malay because we don’t know who rarely goes out jogging.

In formal or neutral sentences, you normally keep the subject:

• Semasa jerebu kuat, kami jarang keluar berjoging di taman.

Dropping kami is more like a casual note, speech fragment, or a sign on a notice board where the subject is understood from context. For learner Malay, it’s better to keep the pronoun.

Why is there a comma after Semasa jerebu kuat? Is it required?

The comma separates the fronted time clause from the main clause:

• Semasa jerebu kuat, → time clause
• kami jarang keluar berjoging di taman. → main clause

When a dependent clause (like one starting with semasa, apabila, kalau, etc.) comes first, it is standard and clearer to put a comma before the main clause.

If the main clause comes first, the comma is usually not needed:

• Kami jarang keluar berjoging di taman semasa jerebu kuat. (no comma)

So in the original order, the comma is normal and recommended, especially in writing.

What is the difference between joging and berjoging?

Joging is a loanword (from English “jogging”). In standard Malay:

• berjoging is the usual verb form: “to jog”.

The prefix ber- often makes an intransitive verb: berlari (to run), berjalan (to walk), berenang (to swim), berjoging (to jog).

You may hear joging used on its own as a verb in very casual speech, but for correct/standard Malay in sentences like this, berjoging is preferred:

• Saya suka berjoging pada waktu pagi.
• Mereka sering berjoging di taman.