Learn Hardcore Malay: Pagi tadi saya seterika kemeja saya supaya tiada kedut di depan. - This morning I iron my shirt so that there are no wrinkles on the front.

pagi tadi means this morning / earlier this morning, and it clearly refers to a past time that has already finished (earlier on the same day).

pagi tadi = this morning (earlier, already over)
tadi pagi
- In Malay (Malaysia): also understood, but pagi tadi is more natural.
- In Indonesian: tadi pagi is the normal way to say “this morning”.
pagi ini = this morning (more neutral; can be used during the morning, not necessarily emphasizing that it’s over yet)

In Malaysian Malay, pagi tadi is the most idiomatic way to say “this morning (earlier)” when you’re clearly talking about something past, like here.

There’s no past tense marker in the verb. How do we know that seterika means “ironed” and not “iron” (present)?

Malay usually does not change the verb form for tense. Instead, tense/aspect is shown by:

Time expressions – here: pagi tadi (this morning) tells you it’s in the past.
Optional adverbs like sudah / dah (already), akan (will), sedang (currently), etc.

So:

Saya seterika kemeja saya
could mean “I iron my shirt”, “I am ironing my shirt”, or “I ironed my shirt”, depending on context.
When you add pagi tadi, the context forces a past reading:
Pagi tadi saya seterika kemeja saya = “This morning I ironed my shirt.”

What exactly is seterika here? Is it a noun (“iron”) or a verb (“to iron”)? Are there other ways to say this?

In this sentence, seterika is used as a verb: “to iron”.

As a noun: seterika = “(an) iron” (the appliance).
As a verb: seterika = “to iron”.

Malay often uses the same word as both noun and verb without changing the form, especially with loanwords.

Other common verbs:

gosok (colloquial and common) – literally “to rub”, but very commonly means “to iron (clothes)”.
- Saya gosok kemeja saya. = I iron my shirt.
More formal/derived forms like menyetereka / menyeterika exist but are rare in everyday Malaysian usage; seterika or gosok is what people normally say.

Why is saya repeated in kemeja saya? Could we just say Pagi tadi saya seterika kemeja supaya tiada kedut di depan?

kemeja saya literally means “my shirt”. If you remove saya and say kemeja on its own, it just means “a shirt / the shirt”, not specifically yours.

Pagi tadi saya seterika kemeja saya = I ironed my shirt.
Pagi tadi saya seterika kemeja = I ironed a shirt / the shirt (whose shirt is unclear).

You could infer it’s your shirt from context (because you are doing the ironing), but grammatically, kemeja saya is the clear way to say “my shirt”, so repeating saya is natural and normal here.

Can the word order change? For example, can I say Saya seterika kemeja saya pagi tadi supaya tiada kedut di depan?

Yes, Malay allows some flexibility with time expressions. All of these are grammatical:

Pagi tadi saya seterika kemeja saya supaya tiada kedut di depan.
– Time phrase at the beginning; slightly more emphasis on “this morning”.
Saya seterika kemeja saya pagi tadi supaya tiada kedut di depan.
– Time phrase in the middle; also natural.
Saya seterika kemeja saya supaya tiada kedut di depan pagi tadi.
– Possible, but sounds less natural; you usually place pagi tadi closer to the verb it modifies (seterika).

The most common are (1) and (2). Starting with Pagi tadi is very natural in storytelling or conversation when setting the scene in time.

What does supaya do here? How is it different from untuk, jadi, or agar?

supaya introduces a purpose or desired result, and is well translated as “so that”:

… seterika kemeja saya supaya tiada kedut di depan.
= “… I ironed my shirt so that there would be no creases at the front.”

Comparisons:

supaya – “so that / in order that”; often followed by a clause (subject + verb or predicate).
- Saya belajar bersungguh-sungguh supaya saya lulus.
agar – very similar to supaya, slightly more formal, often in writing.
- You could say supaya or agar here with no real change in meaning.
untuk – usually “for / to / in order to”; typically followed by a verb (to do something) or a noun, not a full clause.
- Saya seterika kemeja saya untuk menghilangkan kedut di depan.
  (“… to remove the creases at the front.”)
jadi – “so / therefore / as a result”; indicates a consequence, not a purpose.
- Saya seterika kemeja saya, jadi tiada kedut di depan.
  (“I ironed my shirt, so there are no creases at the front.”)

In your sentence, supaya is perfect because you’re stating the purpose of your action.

Why is tiada used instead of tidak ada or tak? Are they interchangeable?

tiada, tidak ada, and tak ada all relate to “there is/are not”, but they differ in register and style:

tiada
- More formal / literary.
- Often used in writing, news, or formal speech.
- Can mean both “there is no” and “do not have”.
- In your sentence: supaya tiada kedut = so that there are no creases.
tidak ada
- Neutral, standard.
- Very common in both speech and writing.
- You could say: supaya tidak ada kedut di depan (also fine).
tak ada
- Colloquial, very common in casual speech.
- You might hear: … supaya tak ada kedut kat depan.

So yes, in everyday speech, tiada / tidak ada / tak ada are often interchangeable in meaning, but tiada feels a bit more formal and compact.

What exactly does kedut mean here? Is it singular or plural? How is it different from berkedut?

kedut is a noun meaning “crease(s), wrinkle(s)”, especially in clothing or fabric.

Malay doesn’t mark plural with -s like English.
- kedut can mean “a crease / creases” depending on context.
- tiada kedut = “no crease / no creases”.

berkedut is the verb/adjective form with the prefix ber-, roughly “to have wrinkles / to be wrinkled / creased”.

Kemeja saya berkedut. = My shirt is creased / wrinkled.
supaya tiada kedut (no wrinkles – as things)
vs
supaya bahagian depan tidak berkedut (so that the front part is not wrinkled – as a state).

Both ways are natural; your sentence chooses the noun pattern (no creases) instead of the stative verb pattern (not wrinkled).

Does di depan mean “in front of something” or “the front part (of the shirt)” here? How is it different from di hadapan or bahagian depan?

In this context, di depan refers to the front part of the shirt, not “in front of (some object)”. The reference (the shirt) is understood from kemeja saya.

Shades of meaning:

di depan
- Generally: “in front / at the front”.
- Here: “at the front (part of the shirt)”.
bahagian depan
- More explicit: “the front part / the front section”.
- … supaya tiada kedut di bahagian depan. = so that there are no creases on the front part.
di hadapan
- Often sounds a bit more formal/positional: “in front (of)” as a location.
- Kereta itu berhenti di hadapan rumah saya. = The car stopped in front of my house.

In casual speech about clothes, di depan is perfectly natural to mean “on the front (of it)”.

Could I drop the subject saya and just say Pagi tadi seterika kemeja saya supaya tiada kedut di depan?

In standard Malay, you normally keep the subject, so:

Pagi tadi saya seterika kemeja saya… is the standard form.

If you say Pagi tadi seterika kemeja saya…, it:

Sounds incomplete in formal/neutral Malay.
Might appear in very casual speech or certain dialects, but it’s not the safest form to learn or use.

So for clear, correct Malay, you should keep saya as the subject.

Is kemeja always “shirt”? Could I say baju instead?

kemeja is specifically a shirt, usually a collared shirt (dress shirt, formal shirt, etc.).

kemeja – shirt (often collared, more formal style).
baju – a very general word: “clothes / garment / top / shirt / blouse”, depending on context.

You could say:

Pagi tadi saya seterika baju saya…
= “This morning I ironed my clothes / my top / my shirt…”, but it’s less specific.

Using kemeja makes it clear you mean a (usually collared) shirt.

How would this sentence sound in more casual everyday speech?

A very natural casual version (Malaysian flavour) might be:

Tadi pagi aku gosok baju aku, supaya tak ada kedut kat depan.
or
Pagi tadi aku gosok baju aku, jadi tak berkedut kat depan.

Changes from the original:

aku instead of saya – more informal “I”.
gosok instead of seterika – common casual verb for ironing.
baju instead of kemeja – more general word for clothes/shirt.
tak ada instead of tiada – casual “there isn’t / there aren’t”.
kat instead of di – colloquial form of di (at/in/on).
Using jadi instead of supaya shifts from “so that (purpose)” to “so / therefore (result)”.