Learn Hardcore Malay: Dia risau tentang kemalangan di jalan sesak. - He/She is worried about an accident on the crowded road.

Dia lelaki itu risau tentang kemalangan…
= That man is worried about accidents…
Dia perempuan itu risau tentang kemalangan…
= That woman is worried about accidents…

Often, context (who you are talking about) is enough, so dia alone is very common.

Is risau a verb (to worry) or an adjective (worried)?

Risau can function like both, depending on how you think about it, but grammatically it is a stative word (an adjective that acts as the main predicate).

In this sentence:

Dia risau tentang kemalangan…
literally: He/She worried about the accident(s)…
natural English: He/She is worried about accidents…

Malay does not use a separate verb like to be here. You just put:

subject + adjective → Dia risau = He/She is worried.

More examples:

Saya risau. = I am worried.
Mereka risau tentang peperiksaan. = They are worried about the exam.

So you can mentally translate risau as is worried / feels worried, even though in Malay it’s just one word without to be.

What is the difference between risau, bimbang, takut, and khuatir?

All are related to negative feelings, but with different nuances:

risau – worried, anxious (very common, neutral)
- Saya risau tentang anak-anak. = I’m worried about the children.
bimbang – worried/concerned, slightly more formal
- Ibu bimbang akan keselamatan kamu. = Mother is concerned about your safety.
takut – afraid, scared (fear)
- Dia takut anjing. = He/She is afraid of dogs.
khuatir – concerned, apprehensive (often formal/written)
- Kami khuatir tentang kesan jangka panjang. = We are concerned about the long-term effects.

In your sentence, risau is the most natural everyday choice:
Dia risau tentang kemalangan di jalan sesak.

Why is tentang used here? What’s the difference between tentang, akan, mengenai, and pasal?

Tentang is a preposition meaning about / regarding.

In your sentence:

Dia risau tentang kemalangan…
= He/She is worried about accidents…

Other options:

mengenai – also about / regarding, a bit more formal:
- Dia risau mengenai kemalangan…
akan – literally about / concerning, often more formal/literary, or after certain verbs:
- Dia bimbang akan kemalangan…
pasal – very informal/colloquial about:
- Dia risau pasal kemalangan… (spoken, casual)

All four are understandable, but:

tentang and mengenai = neutral / polite
akan = a bit literary/formal with this verb
pasal = casual speech

So tentang is a safe, neutral choice.

What exactly does kemalangan mean? Is it always a traffic accident?

Kemalangan means accident / mishap.

Word formation:

malang = unfortunate
ke‑…‑an often makes an abstract noun → kemalangan = misfortune/accident

In modern usage, kemalangan very often refers to an accident, especially a traffic accident, but it can be any kind of accident:

kemalangan jalan raya = road/traffic accident
kemalangan di tempat kerja = workplace accident

In your sentence, because jalan sesak (congested road) is mentioned, listeners will naturally understand traffic accident(s).

Why is di used with jalan? Does di jalan mean “on the road” or “in the street”?

Di is the general preposition for in / at / on (for locations).

di jalan sesak can be translated as:
- on congested roads
- on a congested road
- sometimes also “in the street” depending on context

Malay doesn’t separate in/at/on as strictly as English. Di covers all of them, and the exact English preposition depends on the noun and context:

di sekolah = at school
di meja = on the table
di bandar = in the city

So di jalan sesak is simply at/on congested roads, and English chooses on to sound natural.

Why is sesak placed after jalan? What is the normal adjective order in Malay?

In Malay, adjectives normally come after the noun.

jalan sesak = congested road
(noun jalan = road, adjective sesak = crowded/congested)

This is the usual pattern:

rumah besar = big house
kereta baru = new car
jalan bahaya = dangerous road

If the adjective is used as a full sentence predicate, you put it after the subject:

Jalan itu sesak. = That road is congested.

So:

jalan sesak = congested road (noun phrase)
jalan sesak (as a whole) can also be the predicate in the right context, but here it’s a noun phrase governed by di: di jalan sesak.

How do I make “congested roads” clearly plural in Malay?

Malay usually leaves plural unmarked if it’s obvious from context. So:

di jalan sesak can mean:
- on a congested road
- on congested roads (in general)

If you want to emphasize plurality, you have options:

Reduplication (repeating the noun)
- di jalan-jalan sesak = on congested roads (plural is clear)
Use a quantifier
- di banyak jalan sesak = on many congested roads
- di beberapa jalan sesak = on several congested roads

In everyday speech, di jalan sesak is usually enough; listeners will understand plural or general sense from context.

How would I say “He/She is worried that an accident might happen on the congested road”?

You can turn the “about + noun” structure into a clause:

Dia risau bahawa mungkin akan berlaku kemalangan di jalan yang sesak itu.

Breakdown:

Dia risau = He/She is worried
bahawa = that (introduces a clause; more formal)
mungkin akan berlaku kemalangan = an accident might happen
- mungkin = might / maybe
- akan berlaku = will/might happen (future-ish)
di jalan yang sesak itu = on that congested road
- yang = which/that (relative marker)
- itu = that (specific)

More neutral/less formal, still natural:

Dia risau kemalangan mungkin akan berlaku di jalan yang sesak itu.
(literally: He/She is worried an accident might happen on that congested road.)

Is the original sentence formal, informal, or neutral? How would it sound in casual speech?

Dia risau tentang kemalangan di jalan sesak. is neutral and suitable for everyday speech and most written contexts.

More casual/colloquial variants might look like:

Dia risau pasal eksiden kat jalan yang sesak.
- pasal = about (informal)
- eksiden = “accident” borrowed from English (very colloquial)
- kat = at/on (informal form of di)

You might also hear:

Dia takut eksiden kalau jalan sesak.
= He/She is scared of accidents when the road is congested.

But the given sentence is already natural in conversation and not overly formal.

How would I indicate past or future time for this sentence in Malay?

Malay does not change the verb form for tense. You add time words or aspect markers.

Base sentence (timeless):

Dia risau tentang kemalangan di jalan sesak.
= He/She is (or was / will be) worried about accidents on congested roads.

To make time clearer:

Past:

Tadi dia risau tentang kemalangan di jalan sesak.
= Earlier, he/she was worried…
Dulu dia selalu risau tentang kemalangan di jalan sesak.
= In the past, he/she often worried…

Future / upcoming:

Esok dia akan risau tentang kemalangan di jalan sesak.
= Tomorrow he/she will be worried…

Often, context alone tells you whether it’s past, present, or future, so the original sentence is flexible in time.

How do you pronounce risau, kemalangan, and sesak?

Approximate pronunciation (stress is fairly even in Malay, a slight emphasis usually on the second‑last syllable):

risau → ree-sow
- ri like “ree”
- sau like English “sow” (as in “cow”), not like “so”
kemalangan → kə-mah-lah-ngan
- ke = kə (schwa, like the ‘a’ in “sofa”)
- ma = mah
- la = lah
- ngan = ngan with ng as in “sing”, plus ‘an’
sesak → sə-sak
- se = sə (schwa)
- sak = “suck” but with a clearer a (like “father”)

Malay spelling is very phonetic, so once you learn the letter‑sound rules, what you see is usually what you say.