Learn Hardcore Malay: Ayah saya tidak merokok di rumah.

ayah – very common, neutral, standard; good default.
bapa – slightly more formal; often in official terms (e.g. bapa saudara = uncle).
abah, ayahanda, walid – more regional, religious, or formal/literary, depending on context.
papa, daddy – borrowed, informal, used in some families.

In this sentence, Ayah saya is perfectly natural and standard.

Why is there no word for does in the sentence? In English we say: My father does not smoke at home.

Malay does not use an auxiliary like do/does for negation or questions.

The basic pattern is:

Subject + (negator) + verb + other information

So your sentence is literally:

Ayah saya tidak merokok di rumah
My father not smoke at home

There is no extra word corresponding to does; tidak alone handles the negation.

Why is tidak used here instead of bukan?

Malay has two common negatives: tidak and bukan. Rough rule:

tidak negates verbs and adjectives
- dia tidak makan = he/she does not eat
- rumah itu tidak besar = that house is not big
bukan negates nouns, pronouns, or corrects identity
- dia bukan doktor = he/she is not a doctor
- itu bukan kereta saya = that is not my car

In your sentence, what is being negated is the verb merokok (to smoke), so we must use:

Ayah saya tidak merokok di rumah.

Using bukan here (Ayah saya bukan merokok …) would be ungrammatical or would sound like the start of a contrast, not a simple negation.

What is the difference between tidak and tak?

They mean the same thing (not / do not / does not), but differ in style:

tidak – standard, neutral, used in formal writing and careful speech.
tak – informal/colloquial; common in everyday speech.

So these are both possible:

Ayah saya tidak merokok di rumah. – neutral/standard.
Ayah saya tak merokok di rumah. – sounds more casual.

As a learner, default to tidak in writing and to sound polite; you will hear tak very often in conversation.

What is the base form of merokok, and how is this verb built?

The root word is rokok, which is a noun meaning cigarette.

Malay often makes verbs from nouns using the prefix meN-. For this root:

rokok → meN- + rokok → merokok
(the meN- prefix appears as me- before r)

So:

rokok = cigarette
merokok = to smoke (cigarettes)

In everyday usage, merokok is an intransitive verb:

Dia merokok. = He/She smokes.

You normally do not say merokok rokok; merokok already implies smoking (usually cigarettes).

How do we know whether the sentence means does not smoke or did not smoke or is not smoking?

Malay verbs do not change form for tense. Merokok stays the same for past, present, and future. Tense is usually shown by time words or understood from context:

semalam = yesterday
tadi = earlier
akan = will
sedang = in the process of (progressive)
tidak pernah = never

Examples using your sentence:

Ayah saya tidak merokok di rumah.
– can mean does not smoke at home (habit) or is not smoking at home (depending on context).
Semalam ayah saya tidak merokok di rumah.
– Yesterday my father did not smoke at home.
Sekarang ayah saya tidak sedang merokok di rumah.
– Right now my father is not smoking at home.

So English tense is chosen when translating, but Malay itself leaves the verb form unchanged.

Why do we need di before rumah? Why not just Ayah saya tidak merokok rumah?

di is a preposition meaning at / in / on (for location). To say at home / in the house, you must use di:

rumah = house / home (a noun)
di rumah = at/in home / the house (a location phrase)

Common patterns:

di rumah = at home
di sekolah = at school
di pejabat = at the office
di Malaysia = in Malaysia

Without di, rumah would just be a noun like house, not a place phrase.
So:

Ayah saya tidak merokok di rumah. = My father does not smoke at home.

Also note: di as a preposition is written separately from the noun (di rumah), unlike the passive verb prefix di- which attaches to a verb (ditulis, dibaca).

Does di rumah mean at home or in the house? Is there a difference?

di rumah is fairly broad and often corresponds to English at home. It can mean:

physically in the house, or
more generally at (one’s) home, including the yard/compound.

If you need to be more precise:

di dalam rumah = inside the house (emphasis on indoors)
di luar rumah = outside the house

In everyday speech, di rumah is usually understood as at home unless the context forces a more concrete meaning.

Can I say Ayah saya tidak merokok di rumah saya? Does that sound natural?

It is grammatically correct, but the nuance is slightly different:

Ayah saya tidak merokok di rumah.
– Normally understood as My father does not smoke at home (our home).
Ayah saya tidak merokok di rumah saya.
– My father does not smoke at my house (emphasising that it is my house, perhaps different from his usual home).

You would use di rumah saya when you want to stress my house as a specific place among other possible houses.

If you want to emphasise the family’s house, you might also hear:

Ayah saya tidak merokok di rumah kami.
– My father does not smoke at our house.

But in most neutral contexts, di rumah alone is enough and more natural.

Can I omit saya and just say Ayah tidak merokok di rumah?

Yes, in many contexts that is possible and natural.

Ayah saya tidak merokok di rumah. – explicitly my father.
Ayah tidak merokok di rumah. – usually understood as (My) father doesn’t smoke at home, if it is clear you are talking about your own father.

In conversation or in a narrative about your own family, speakers often drop the pronoun after it is clear whose father you mean. However:

In very formal or ambiguous contexts, keeping saya can avoid confusion.
If you are talking about someone else’s father, you would usually specify: ayah dia, ayah Ali, etc.

So Ayah tidak merokok di rumah is fine and common when the context already makes it clear it is your father.

How would I turn this into a question: Does my father smoke at home?

For a yes–no question, Malay can rely on intonation, or add a question word. Common options:

Just change the intonation (spoken)
- Ayah saya merokok di rumah?
  (said with rising intonation at the end)
  This is very common in speech.
Use the particle ke at the end (informal)
- Ayah saya merokok di rumah ke?
Use a formal question marker (more formal/written)
- Adakah ayah saya merokok di rumah?
Use a positive–negative choice (common in speech)
- Ayah saya merokok di rumah atau tidak?
- Ayah saya merokok di rumah tak?

All of these can correspond to English Does my father smoke at home? The difference is mostly tone/formality.

What is the difference between saya and aku in Ayah saya vs Ayah aku?

Both saya and aku mean I / me, and as possessives they can both mean my:

ayah saya = my father
ayah aku = my father

The difference is formality and closeness:

saya
- polite, neutral, safe with strangers, in formal situations, and in writing.
- good default for learners.
aku
- very informal, used with close friends, siblings, in songs, diaries, etc.
- can sound rude or too casual in the wrong context.

So:

Ayah saya tidak merokok di rumah. – neutral and polite.
Ayah aku tak merokok kat rumah. – casual/colloquial speech among friends.

As a learner, it is safer to use saya until you clearly understand the social norms around aku.