Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya menonton pertandingan bola di stadium kecil dekat sekolah. - I watch a football match at the small stadium near the school.

Saya menonton pertandingan bola di stadium kecil dekat sekolah semalam.
= I watched … yesterday. (past)
Sekarang saya menonton pertandingan bola…
= Now I am watching … (present continuous)
Nanti saya akan menonton pertandingan bola…
= Later I will watch … (future, with akan)

So Saya menonton pertandingan bola di stadium kecil dekat sekolah. by itself is neutral: I watch / I am watching / I watched a ball match at the small stadium near the school.

What does menonton literally mean, and how is it different from tengok or lihat?

Menonton: to watch (usually something like TV, a movie, a performance, a match). Slightly more formal/standard.
Tengok (or tengok/tonton in some dialects): to look, to watch (very common in everyday speech, more informal).
Lihat / melihat: to see, to look at (more neutral/formal, can be used in writing, instructions, etc.).

In this sentence, menonton pertandingan bola feels natural because you “watch” a match as a kind of event or show. Informally you might hear:

Saya tengok bola di stadium kecil dekat sekolah.
(I’m watching football at the small stadium near the school.)

What does each word in Saya menonton pertandingan bola di stadium kecil dekat sekolah correspond to in English?

A rough word-for-word breakdown:

Saya = I
menonton = watch / am watching / watched
pertandingan = competition / match
bola = ball (here: football / soccer, from context)
di = at / in
stadium = stadium
kecil = small
dekat = near
sekolah = school

So the structure is:

Saya (I)
menonton (watch)
pertandingan bola (ball match / football match)
di stadium kecil (at [a] small stadium)
dekat sekolah (near [the] school).

Why is it pertandingan bola and not just bola or permainan bola?

Bola by itself = ball / football, and by extension, “football (as a sport)”.
- Saya menonton bola. = I’m watching football. (very casual, common)
Pertandingan bola = ball competition, i.e. a ball match / tournament game.
- pertandingan focuses on the competitive event.

Permainan bola = ball game, but this sounds more general and is less commonly used in this context for a specific match you’re watching in a stadium.

So:

Saya menonton bola. – natural, casual: “I’m watching football.”
Saya menonton pertandingan bola. – specifies that it’s a competitive match.

Where is the “a/the” in Malay? Why not sebuah stadium kecil?

Malay usually does not use articles like a or the. They are understood from context.

di stadium kecil dekat sekolah can mean:
- at a small stadium near the school, or
- at the small stadium near the school.

You can add a classifier + se- (meaning “one”) to make “a” more explicit:

di sebuah stadium kecil dekat sekolah
= at a small stadium near the school

But in natural everyday speech, people often just say di stadium kecil dekat sekolah and let context show whether it’s “a” or “the”.

Why is it stadium kecil and not kecil stadium, like in English?

In Malay, adjectives usually come after the noun:

stadium kecil = small stadium
sekolah besar = big school
kereta baru = new car

So the pattern is:

Noun + Adjective

English is often the opposite: adjective + noun (small stadium).
That’s why stadium kecil is correct, not kecil stadium.

Does dekat sekolah describe the stadium or the school? Is the meaning ambiguous?

In this sentence, dekat sekolah naturally attaches to stadium kecil:

stadium kecil dekat sekolah
= the small stadium that is near the school

So the structure is:

pertandingan bola (the match)
di [stadium kecil dekat sekolah] (at [the small stadium near the school])

It does not mean “the school is near something”; it means the stadium is the one that is near the school.

Is dekat a preposition (“near”) or an adjective (“nearby”)? And why is there no dengan after it here?

Dekat can work as:

An adjective/adverb: near / nearby / close.
- Rumah saya dekat. = My house is nearby / close.
A preposition: near (something).
- dekat sekolah = near the school

You can say dekat dengan sekolah (near to the school), and it’s also correct:

Saya menonton … di stadium kecil dekat dengan sekolah.

In casual speech, dekat sekolah (without dengan) is very common and completely natural. The sentence in your example uses this shorter form.

Can I drop Saya and just say Menonton pertandingan bola di stadium kecil dekat sekolah?

Grammatically, yes: Malay often omits the subject when it’s clear from context.

Menonton pertandingan bola di stadium kecil dekat sekolah.
Could mean: (I/We/They) are watching a football match at the small stadium near the school.

However:

In written, clear sentences (especially for learners), keeping Saya is better.
In conversation, dropping Saya is common if everyone already knows you are talking about yourself or your group.

So it’s possible but context-dependent.

Why is Saya used here instead of Aku? What’s the difference?

Both mean “I”, but they differ in formality and context:

Saya: polite, neutral, used with almost everyone (except very intimate friends/family). Good default choice.
Aku: informal/intimate, used with close friends, family, or in some dialects and poetry/song lyrics.

Your sentence:

Saya menonton pertandingan bola… – neutral, polite, standard.
Aku menonton pertandingan bola… – more intimate/casual, depending on who you are talking to.

As a learner, use Saya unless you are sure Aku is appropriate.

Is stadium really a Malay word? How do you pronounce it?

Yes, stadium is a borrowed word (from English/Latin), but it’s fully accepted in Malay.

Pronunciation in Malay is usually:

stadium ≈ “sta-dee-oom” (each vowel clearly pronounced)
- sta as in “star” without the ‘r’
- di like “dee”
- um like “oom”

It’s written the same as in English, but pronounced with more regular, “spelled-out” vowels.

If I just want to say “I’m watching football” without mentioning the match or stadium, what’s the most natural way?

Common natural options:

Saya menonton bola. – I’m watching football. (standard, still casual)
Saya tengok bola. – I’m watching football. (very casual, everyday speech)

Both are understood as “watching a football match” on TV or live, depending on context. You don’t need pertandingan or stadium unless you want to be more specific.

How would I say “I am currently watching a football match…” to emphasize that it’s happening right now?

Use sedang to show a current, ongoing action:

Saya sedang menonton pertandingan bola di stadium kecil dekat sekolah.
= I am currently watching a football match at the small stadium near the school.

Sedang + verb is like English “am/is/are -ing” (present continuous).

Why is there no plural ending for “match” or “stadium”? How would I say “matches” or “stadiums”?

Malay usually doesn’t mark plural with endings. Context shows number:

pertandingan bola can mean:
- a football match
- football matches (in general)
stadium kecil can mean:
- a small stadium
- small stadiums (in the right context)

To emphasize plural, you can:

Repeat the noun:
- pertandingan-pertandingan bola = matches (many matches)
Use a number or a quantity word:
- beberapa pertandingan bola = several matches
- dua stadium kecil = two small stadiums

But in your original sentence, simple singular forms are natural and enough.

Where would I put a time expression like “yesterday” or “every week” in this sentence?

Malay is flexible, but common positions are:

At the beginning:
- Semalam saya menonton pertandingan bola di stadium kecil dekat sekolah.
  = Yesterday I watched a football match…
After the subject:
- Saya semalam menonton pertandingan bola… (possible but less common in simple sentences)
- Saya setiap minggu menonton pertandingan bola…
  = I watch a football match every week…
At the end:
- Saya menonton pertandingan bola di stadium kecil dekat sekolah semalam.

All are grammatical; putting time at the beginning or end is most natural for simple statements.