Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya minum air dan makan vitamin setiap pagi. - I drink water and take vitamins every morning.

Saya means “I / me” and is the neutral, polite first‑person pronoun. You can safely use saya with strangers, teachers, older people, at work, etc.

Aku also means “I / me”, but it is:

more casual / intimate
used with close friends, siblings, partners, or sometimes by adults to children
not usually used in formal situations or with people you should respect (bosses, elders, etc.)

Your sentence with aku:

Aku minum air dan makan vitamin setiap pagi. – Same meaning, but more casual/informal tone.

Why don’t the verbs change for tense? How do I know if it’s past, present or future?

In Malay, verbs like minum (drink) and makan (eat) do not change form for tense. There is no equivalent of drink / drank / drunk or eat / ate / eaten.

Tense is shown by:

Time words:
- semalam (yesterday)
- esok (tomorrow)
- tadi (a short while ago)
- sekarang (now)
- setiap pagi (every morning)
Aspect markers (optional):
- sudah / telah – already (past/completed)
  - Saya sudah minum air. – I already drank water.
- akan – will (future)
  - Saya akan minum air. – I will drink water.
- sedang – currently (progressive)
  - Saya sedang minum air. – I am drinking water (right now).

In your sentence, setiap pagi suggests a habit, so the natural English translation is present simple:
“I drink water and take vitamins every morning.”

Does air mean “air” like in English, or “water”? I’m confused.

In Malay:

air (pronounced roughly ah-yer) means “water” (and by extension “liquid” in many contexts).
- air sejuk – cold water
- air panas – hot water
- air teh – tea
- air sirap – syrup drink
“Air” as in the gas we breathe is udara, not air.

So in your sentence Saya minum air = “I drink water.”, not “I drink air.”

Why do we say makan vitamin instead of something like “take vitamins”? Isn’t makan only “eat”?

Literally, makan means “to eat”, but in Malay it also covers “taking” something by mouth, including medicine.

Common expressions:

makan vitamin – take vitamins
makan ubat – take medicine
makan pil – take a pill

You would use minum (drink) with liquid medicine/drinks:

minum ubat batuk – drink cough syrup
minum jus vitamin C – drink vitamin C juice

So Saya minum air dan makan vitamin setiap pagi. corresponds to natural English:

“I drink water and take vitamins every morning.”

Why isn’t it minum air dan vitamin with just one verb instead of repeating makan?

You could say:

Saya minum air dan vitamin setiap pagi.

Grammatically it’s okay, and some speakers might say it, but it’s a bit less clear because minum more strongly implies liquids.

By using minum air and makan vitamin, the sentence matches how you actually consume each item:

minum (drink) for water
makan (eat/take) for vitamins (usually in solid form like tablets)

The repetition makes the meaning more natural and precise.

Can I drop saya and just say Minum air dan makan vitamin setiap pagi?

Yes, you can drop the subject pronoun if it is clear from context who you’re talking about.

For example, in an informal context:

(Saya) minum air dan makan vitamin setiap pagi.

Malay often omits the subject when:

it’s obvious from a previous sentence or the situation
you’re giving instructions or routines (like on a schedule or checklist)

However, for a standalone sentence where you want to be clear it’s specifically “I”, including saya is better.

Where can I put setiap pagi in the sentence? Is the position fixed?

The time expression setiap pagi (every morning) is flexible in position. All of these are acceptable and natural:

Saya minum air dan makan vitamin setiap pagi.
Setiap pagi, saya minum air dan makan vitamin.
Saya setiap pagi minum air dan makan vitamin. (less common, but possible)

Most natural:

At the end or at the very beginning of the sentence:
1 or 2 above are the best choices.

There is no change in basic meaning; it’s still “every morning”.

Why are there no words like “a” or “the” before air and vitamin?

Malay does not have articles like English a, an, the. Nouns appear without them:

saya minum air – I drink (the / some) water
saya makan vitamin – I take (a / the / some) vitamins

Definiteness (“the”) or indefiniteness (“a/some”) is usually understood from context or shown with extra words:

air itu – that water / the water
vitamin itu – that vitamin / the vitamin
sedikit air – a bit of water
beberapa vitamin – some vitamins

In your sentence, air and vitamin are generic: water and vitamins in general.

Is vitamin singular or plural? How do I say “vitamins” clearly?

Malay usually uses the same form for singular and plural: vitamin can mean “vitamin” or “vitamins”, depending on context.

Ways to make plurality more explicit:

vitamin-vitamin – vitamins (plural, with reduplication, often more formal/written)
beberapa vitamin – some vitamins
pelbagai vitamin – various vitamins
tiga biji vitamin – three vitamins (three pills)

But in everyday speech, makan vitamin is naturally understood as “take vitamins” (plural).

What does setiap mean exactly? Is it the same as tiap?

Setiap means “every / each”.

setiap pagi – every morning
setiap hari – every day
setiap minggu – every week

Tiap is a shortened, slightly more casual form. In most cases, you can use either:

setiap pagi ≈ tiap pagi
setiap hari ≈ tiap hari

Setiap is a bit more formal/standard, tiap feels more colloquial, but both are very common and understood everywhere.

Is there a difference between pagi and pagi-pagi?

Yes:

pagi = morning (general)
- setiap pagi – every morning
pagi-pagi = early in the morning; emphasizes very early
- Saya bangun pagi-pagi. – I wake up (very) early in the morning.

If you say:

Saya minum air dan makan vitamin pagi-pagi.
It sounds like: “I drink water and take vitamins early in the morning.”

Your original setiap pagi just means every morning, with no extra emphasis on “early”.

How is the word order different from English? Is Malay just Subject–Verb–Object like English?

In basic sentences, Malay word order is indeed Subject – Verb – Object (SVO), like English:

Saya (Subject) minum (Verb) air (Object)
Saya makan vitamin

Your full sentence:

Saya (S) minum (V) air (O1) dan makan (V) vitamin (O2) setiap pagi (time phrase).

The main differences from English here are:

No verb conjugation (minum, makan stay the same)
No articles (no a/the)
Time phrases like setiap pagi are freer in position.

How would I say “I already drank water and took my vitamins this morning”?

You can extend your sentence with past/completed aspect and a time expression:

Pagi tadi saya sudah minum air dan makan vitamin.

Breakdown:

pagi tadi – this morning / earlier this morning
sudah – already (completed)
minum air – drank water
makan vitamin – took vitamins

This makes the past, completed meaning very clear.