Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya langsung tidak lapar malam ini.

Saya tidak lapar malam ini = I am not hungry tonight.
Saya langsung tidak lapar malam ini = I am not hungry at all tonight / I am absolutely not hungry tonight.

So langsung is like saying at all, totally, completely in a negative sentence. Without langsung, the sentence is still correct, just less emphatic.

Why is the negative word tidak and not bukan here?

Malay has two common negatives:

tidak: used with verbs and adjectives
- Saya tidak lapar. – I am not hungry.
- Dia tidak datang. – He or she did not come.
bukan: used with nouns and pronouns (to say what something is not)
- Dia bukan doktor. – He or she is not a doctor.
- Itu bukan rumah saya. – That is not my house.

In Saya langsung tidak lapar malam ini, lapar is an adjective (hungry), so the correct negative is tidak, not bukan.

Is lapar a verb or an adjective in Malay? Why is there no word like am?

Malay does not need a separate verb like am / is / are before adjectives.

lapar = hungry (adjective)
Saya lapar. literally: I hungry → I am hungry.
Saya tidak lapar. literally: I not hungry → I am not hungry.

So lapar behaves like an adjective, but Malay does not require a linking verb like to be before it.

What exactly does langsung mean, and where is it usually placed?

In negative sentences, langsung means something like at all, totally, completely and emphasises that the thing does not happen or is not true.

Common patterns:

Subject + langsung + tidak/tak + adjective/verb
- Saya langsung tidak lapar malam ini.
- Dia langsung tak faham. – He or she does not understand at all.

You will also hear:

Subject + tidak/tak + adjective/verb + langsung
- Saya tak lapar langsung malam ini.

Both langsung tidak lapar and tak lapar langsung are natural; they just put the emphasis in slightly different places, but the meaning is essentially the same: not hungry at all.

Is tidak langsung a fixed phrase with a different meaning?

Yes. Be careful with this:

langsung tidak (or tak): not at all, completely not
- Saya langsung tidak lapar. – I am not hungry at all.
tidak langsung: indirect(ly) (as an adverb)
- Kesan itu tidak langsung. – The effect is indirect.

So:

Saya langsung tidak lapar = correct: I am not hungry at all.
Saya tidak langsung lapar sounds wrong or confusing, because it suggests the phrase tidak langsung (indirectly), which does not fit with lapar.

Can I move malam ini to the beginning, like Malam ini saya langsung tidak lapar?

Yes, that is correct Malay.

Saya langsung tidak lapar malam ini.
Malam ini saya langsung tidak lapar.

Both mean I am not hungry at all tonight.

Putting malam ini at the beginning can sound a bit more like you are setting the time topic first, similar to English:

Tonight, I am not hungry at all.

Grammatically, both word orders are fine.

Can I drop ini and just say Saya langsung tidak lapar malam?

No, Saya langsung tidak lapar malam sounds incomplete or unnatural in standard Malay.

malam ini = this evening / tonight
malam alone usually means night in a general sense, so you would need something else for it to work (for example a preposition: pada malam = at night).

To say tonight, you should keep malam ini (or the colloquial malam ni in speech).

What is the difference between malam ini and malam ni?

They mean the same thing (tonight), but differ in formality:

malam ini – standard, neutral/polite, used in writing, formal speech, or with people you are not close to.
malam ni – colloquial, spoken Malay, especially in Malaysia; used with friends, family, casual situations.

Example:

Saya langsung tak lapar malam ni. – very natural in casual conversation.

Can I omit saya and just say Langsung tidak lapar malam ini?

In everyday conversation, Malay speakers often drop the subject if it is clear from context, but in this particular sentence:

Langsung tidak lapar malam ini.

on its own sounds a bit like a fragment. In speech, you might hear something like:

Tak lapar langsung malam ni. – Not hungry at all tonight.

This is understood as I am not hungry at all tonight if the context is clear (for example, when someone asks if you want to eat).

For learners, it is safer and clearer to keep saya until you are very comfortable with context-based omission:

Saya langsung tidak lapar malam ini.

How formal is saya here? Could I use aku instead?

Saya is the standard polite first-person pronoun and is always safe:

Saya langsung tidak lapar malam ini. – Polite/neutral.

Aku is more informal and used with close friends, family, or in certain regional styles:

Aku langsung tak lapar malam ni.

Grammatically, both are fine. The choice is about social relationship and formality:

With strangers, elders, or in formal situations: prefer saya.
With good friends or younger siblings: aku can be natural, depending on local norms.

Are there other common ways to say not hungry at all in Malay?

Yes, several natural options:

Saya langsung tidak lapar malam ini.
Saya langsung tak lapar malam ini. – same meaning, more casual.
Saya tak lapar langsung malam ini.
Saya tidak lapar sama sekali malam ini. – sama sekali also means at all.

They all mean I am not hungry at all tonight, with small differences in style:

tidak → more formal/neutral
tak → informal/spoken
langsung / sama sekali → intensifiers meaning at all, completely

Can langsung be used with other verbs or adjectives, or only with lapar?

You can use langsung with many verbs and adjectives in negative sentences to give the sense of not at all.

Examples:

Dia langsung tidak faham. – He or she does not understand at all.
Saya langsung tidak penat. – I am not tired at all.
Mereka langsung tak setuju. – They do not agree at all.
Saya langsung tak suka kopi. – I do not like coffee at all.

The pattern is the same as in Saya langsung tidak lapar malam ini.

How would I turn this into a question like Are you really not hungry at all tonight?

A natural colloquial way:

Awak langsung tak lapar ke malam ini?
- awak – you (neutral/polite)
- tak – informal tidak
- ke – question particle

More formal:

Adakah awak langsung tidak lapar malam ini?

Both are understandable; the first one sounds much more like normal spoken Malaysian Malay.