Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya mahu paru-paru sihat, jadi saya tidak merokok.

In Malay, paru-paru is the standard word for lungs (the organ as a whole). It’s formed by reduplication (repeating the word), which is very common in Malay.

paru-paru = lungs
paru on its own does exist, but you’ll most often see it in specific contexts, e.g. food (fried cow lung: paru goreng) or in some medical/technical terms.

For everyday talking about your lungs as an organ, you should say paru-paru, not just paru.

Why is the order paru-paru sihat and not sihat paru-paru?

In Malay, the normal order is:

noun + adjective

So:

paru-paru = lungs (noun)
sihat = healthy (adjective)

Therefore:

paru-paru sihat = healthy lungs

Putting sihat before paru-paru (sihat paru-paru) is not natural in Malay. Adjectives usually follow the noun they describe.

Does Saya mahu paru-paru sihat mean “I want my lungs to be healthy”? Where is “my”?

Yes, in context it means you want your own lungs to be healthy.

Malay often leaves out possessive words like my / your / his if it’s obvious from context. So:

Saya mahu paru-paru sihat
→ literally “I want lungs healthy”
→ understood as “I want my lungs to be healthy.”

If you really want to show possession explicitly, you can say:

Saya mahu paru-paru saya sihat.
(I want my lungs to be healthy.)

Both are correct; the shorter version is quite natural.

Why is there no word for “to be” like “are” in paru-paru sihat?

Malay usually does not use a verb like “to be” (am/is/are) in simple descriptive sentences.

English:

“My lungs are healthy.”

Malay:

Paru-paru saya sihat. (literally: “lungs my healthy”)

There is a word adalah, but it’s not used the same way as “to be” with adjectives. It’s mainly used in more formal sentences linking nouns, like:

London adalah ibu negara England.
“London is the capital of England.”

With adjectives (like sihat), you normally don’t use adalah in conversational Malay.

What exactly does mahu mean? Is it the same as hendak, ingin, or nak?

mahu means to want.

Other common “want” words:

hendak – very close in meaning, a bit more formal, often used in writing or polite speech.
ingin – also “to want / to wish”, can sound a bit more polite or “soft”.
nak – colloquial, very common in speech in Malaysia; a short form of hendak.

You could say:

Saya mahu paru-paru sihat.
Saya hendak paru-paru sihat.
Saya ingin paru-paru sihat.
Saya nak paru-paru sihat. (informal)

All mean essentially the same thing; mahu is a safe, standard choice.

What does jadi mean here, and can I use other words instead of jadi?

Here jadi means “so” / “therefore”, showing a result or consequence:

Saya mahu paru-paru sihat, jadi saya tidak merokok.
“I want healthy lungs, so I don’t smoke.”

Other options with a similar meaning:

sebab itu – “that’s why”
oleh itu – “therefore” (more formal)
maka – formal/literary “thus / so”

In everyday conversation, jadi is very common and natural.

Why is it tidak merokok and not bukan merokok?

Malay has two main negative words: tidak and bukan.

tidak is used to negate verbs and adjectives.
bukan is used to negate nouns and pronouns, or to contradict an identity/label.

Here, merokok is a verb (“to smoke”), so you must use tidak:

✅ Saya tidak merokok. – I do not smoke.
❌ Saya bukan merokok. – ungrammatical.

Examples to contrast:

Dia bukan doktor. – He/She is not a doctor. (negating a noun)
Dia tidak sakit. – He/She is not sick. (negating an adjective)

What is merokok exactly? Is it related to the noun for “cigarette”?

Yes. The base noun is:

rokok = cigarette

When you add the meN- prefix, you often get a verb related to the noun:

merokok = to smoke (cigarettes)

So:

Saya merokok. – I smoke.
Saya tidak merokok. – I do not smoke.

Colloquially, you may also hear:

hisap rokok – literally “suck/inhale cigarette”, also meaning “to smoke”.

But merokok is the standard verb form.

How do we know the tense in Saya tidak merokok? Could it mean past or future?

Malay does not mark tense (past/present/future) with verb endings like English does. Saya tidak merokok can mean:

I do not smoke (in general / habitually).
I am not smoking (right now) – less common reading, depends on context.

If you want to be explicit:

Saya tidak pernah merokok. – I have never smoked.
Saya tidak akan merokok. – I will not smoke.

But in this sentence, linked to I want healthy lungs, the natural interpretation is a general habit: “I don’t smoke.”

Can I drop the second saya and just say … jadi tidak merokok?

Yes, you can, especially in speech:

Saya mahu paru-paru sihat, jadi tidak merokok.

The subject saya is understood from the first clause, so it doesn’t have to be repeated. Both are acceptable:

Saya mahu paru-paru sihat, jadi saya tidak merokok. (more explicit)
Saya mahu paru-paru sihat, jadi tidak merokok. (slightly more compact)

In writing, repeating saya is very clear and perfectly natural.

How formal is this sentence? Would people say it this way in casual conversation?

The sentence is neutral and standard. It’s fine in both spoken and written Malay.

For more casual speech, people might change:

Saya → aku (informal “I”, depending on region and relationship)
tidak → tak (informal “not”)

So you might hear:

Aku nak paru-paru sihat, jadi aku tak merokok.

Your original sentence with Saya and tidak is polite, clear, and safe in almost any context.

Is sihat the same as Indonesian sehat?

Yes, they are basically the same word:

Malaysian Malay: sihat
Indonesian: sehat

Both mean healthy. Spelling differences like this are common between Malay (Malaysia/Brunei/Singapore) and Indonesian, but speakers usually understand both forms from context.