Learn Hardcore Malay: Kami mendirikan khemah di tepi tasik hujung minggu ini. - We set up a tent by the lake this weekend.

In Kami mendirikan khemah…, the speaker is saying “we (someone else and I, but not you) will set up the tent…”.
If the listener is also going camping and helping with the tent, Malay would normally use:

Kita akan mendirikan khemah di tepi tasik hujung minggu ini.
→ “We (you and I) will set up the tent by the lake this weekend.”

So kami is chosen because the listener is not part of the “we” group.

What does mendirikan mean exactly, and why is it used with khemah?

mendirikan comes from the root diri (stand) with the prefix–suffix meN-…-kan:

diri = stand, upright
mendirikan = to cause something to stand / to erect / to set up

With khemah (tent), mendirikan khemah literally means “to erect/set up a tent”, which matches the common English phrase “pitch a tent”.

Other common uses of mendirikan:

mendirikan rumah – to build/erect a house
mendirikan bangunan – to construct a building
mendirikan keluarga – to start a family
mendirikan syarikat – to establish a company
mendirikan solat – to perform the prayer (religious usage)

So it has both physical (“erect”) and more abstract (“establish”) meanings. With khemah, it sounds natural in standard Malay.

Could I say dirikan khemah or pasang khemah instead of mendirikan khemah? Which is more natural?

mendirikan khemah – standard, clear, a bit formal/neutral.
pasang khemah – very common in everyday conversation; many speakers would say this when camping.
dirikan khemah on its own (without me- on the verb) is usually understood as a command:
- Dirikan khemah di tepi tasik! – “Set up the tent by the lake!”

In a normal affirmative sentence with “we”, you use the meN- form:

Kami mendirikan khemah… (or)
Kami pasang khemah… (more colloquial)

Both are acceptable; pasang khemah tends to sound a bit more casual and conversational.

There’s no word for “will” in Kami mendirikan khemah…, so how do I know it’s future?

Malay usually does not mark tense with special verb forms the way English does. Instead, time is understood from:

time expressions: hujung minggu ini = this weekend → future
context: a plan, a schedule, etc.

So Kami mendirikan khemah di tepi tasik hujung minggu ini can naturally be understood as:

“We will set up a tent by the lake this weekend.”

If you want to make the future meaning very explicit, you can add akan:

Kami akan mendirikan khemah di tepi tasik hujung minggu ini.
= We will set up a tent by the lake this weekend.

But akan is optional; the original sentence is already clear because of hujung minggu ini.

What does khemah mean exactly? Are there other Malay words for “tent”?

khemah = tent (the shelter used for camping, etc.).

Other related words/expressions:

tenda / tend – borrowed forms from English “tent”; you may see/hear them, but khemah is more standard in Malay.
berkhemah – to camp (verb):
- Kami berkhemah di tepi tasik. → “We camped by the lake.”

So in your sentence, mendirikan khemah is specifically about the action of putting the tent up, not just “going camping” in general.

What does di tepi tasik mean, and how is it different from just di tasik or tepi tasik?

Breakdown:

di = at / in / on (location preposition)
tepi = side / edge / beside
tasik = lake

So:

di tepi tasik = by the lake / at the lakeside
di tasik = literally “at the lake”; could mean somewhere in/at the area of the lake (less specific about being at the edge).
tepi tasik without di is usually a noun phrase: “the edge/side of the lake”. To indicate location, we normally use di tepi tasik.

In this sentence, di tepi tasik clearly means the tent is set up beside the lake, not in the middle of it.

Why does hujung minggu ini come at the end? Can I move it or add pada?

Malay word order is quite flexible with time expressions.

Original:
- Kami mendirikan khemah di tepi tasik hujung minggu ini.

You can also say:

Hujung minggu ini, kami mendirikan khemah di tepi tasik.
Pada hujung minggu ini, kami mendirikan khemah di tepi tasik.

Notes:

hujung minggu ini at the end is very natural in speech and writing.
pada is a preposition roughly like “on/at (time)”. With time expressions it is often optional:
- (Pada) hujung minggu ini… – both are fine.

So yes, you can move the time phrase to the front, and you may add pada if you want a slightly more formal/explicit style.

What exactly does hujung minggu ini mean, and how is it different from minggu ini?

minggu ini = this week
hujung minggu ini = this weekend (literally “the end of this week”)

Other related expressions:

hujung minggu lepas – last weekend
pada hujung minggu – on/at the weekend (in general)
cuti hujung minggu – weekend break / weekend holiday

So hujung minggu ini is specifically the weekend (usually Saturday–Sunday), not the whole week.

Can mendirikan be used only for tents and buildings, or does it have other meanings too?

mendirikan is used quite widely, not just for tents and buildings. Some common patterns:

Physical:

mendirikan khemah – set up/erect a tent
mendirikan rumah/bangunan – build/erect a house/building

Abstract:

mendirikan keluarga – to start a family
mendirikan syarikat – to establish a company
mendirikan kerajaan – to form a government
mendirikan solat – to perform the prayer (religious)

So the core idea is “to cause something to stand / to establish” in both concrete and abstract senses.

Is it necessary to say Kami, or can I just say Mendirikan khemah di tepi tasik hujung minggu ini?

Grammatically, Malay can drop subject pronouns if they are clear from context, but:

Mendirikan khemah di tepi tasik hujung minggu ini. – feels like a sentence fragment on its own.
In real conversations, people usually keep Kami or Kita unless it’s very obvious from previous sentences who is doing the action.

More natural possibilities:

Kami akan mendirikan khemah di tepi tasik hujung minggu ini.
(If responding to “What will you do this weekend?”)
- Hujung minggu ini, mendirikan khemah di tepi tasik. – dropping kami here can work in casual speech because the subject (“we”) is understood from the question.

For clear, complete sentences—especially in writing—keep Kami or Kita.

How do I say “a tent” or “tents” in Malay? There’s no plural -s in khemah.

Malay does not mark plural with a special ending like English -s. Number is usually understood from context or from a number/classifier.

khemah can mean a tent or tents, depending on context.

If you want to be explicit:

sebuah khemah – one tent
dua buah khemah – two tents
beberapa buah khemah – several tents

In your sentence:

Kami mendirikan khemah di tepi tasik hujung minggu ini.

…could mean one or more tents, but listeners will usually assume one tent unless the context suggests otherwise (e.g. a big group camping trip).

Could I say Kami berkhemah di tepi tasik hujung minggu ini instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can, but the meaning shifts slightly:

Kami mendirikan khemah di tepi tasik hujung minggu ini.
→ Focus on the action of putting the tent up (“We will set up a tent by the lake this weekend.”)
Kami berkhemah di tepi tasik hujung minggu ini.
→ Focus on the activity of camping (“We will camp by the lake this weekend.”)

So:

Use mendirikan khemah when you want to talk about pitching/setting up the tent.
Use berkhemah when you mean spending time camping in general.