Learn Hardcore Malay: Kami melalui lembah kecil itu ketika berjalan di hutan. - We pass through that small valley while walking in the forest.

kami = we (not including the person being spoken to) → “we (but not you)”
kita = we (including the person being spoken to) → “you and I / all of us including you”

In Kami melalui lembah kecil itu ketika berjalan di hutan, the speaker is talking about a group that does not include the listener. That’s why kami is used.

If the speaker wanted to say that the listener was also part of the group, they would say:

Kita melalui lembah kecil itu ketika berjalan di hutan.
= We (including you) passed through that small valley while walking in the forest.

Why is the adjective after the noun in lembah kecil itu and not before it like in English?

Malay word order for noun phrases is typically:

Noun + Adjective + Demonstrative (ini/itu)

So:

lembah = valley
kecil = small
itu = that

Together: lembah kecil itu → literally valley small that → “that small valley”.

You generally cannot put the adjective before the noun the way English does.
❌ kecil lembah itu is wrong in standard Malay.

Some set phrases or poetic uses can bend this rule, but as a learner you should follow:

Noun + Adjective: lembah kecil (small valley)
Noun + Adjective + itu/ini: lembah kecil itu (that small valley)

What exactly does itu mean here? Is it really “that”, or more like “the”? Can I leave it out?

itu literally means that, but it also works a bit like a definite article (“the”) by making something specific and known.

lembah kecil = a small valley / small valleys (non-specific)
lembah kecil itu = that small valley / the small valley (a particular one both speaker and listener know)

If you say:

Kami melalui lembah kecil ketika berjalan di hutan.
→ We passed through a small valley (not a specific one already in the shared context).

So:

Use itu when you mean a particular small valley (for example, one you mentioned before, or both people know).
Leave itu out if you’re just talking about any small valley, not a specific known one.

What does melalui mean exactly, and how is it different from other similar verbs like melintas or menyeberangi?

melalui comes from the root lalu (“to pass”) and generally means:

to go through / to pass through / to go via

In this sentence:

Kami melalui lembah kecil itu
→ We passed through that small valley / We went via that small valley.

Comparison with similar verbs:

melalui – pass through or go via something (often a place or route).
- Kami melalui kampung itu. = We went through that village.
melintas – to cross in front of or go across a line/space in front of something.
- Dia melintas jalan. = He/She crosses the road.
- Seekor kucing melintas di depan saya. = A cat crossed in front of me.
menyeberangi – to cross over something like a river/road from one side to the other.
- Mereka menyeberangi sungai. = They crossed the river.

In a valley context, melalui lembah is natural because you’re moving through it as a route.

Why is it melalui and not just lalu? What does the me- prefix do?

The root is lalu (to pass). When you add the meN- prefix (here it becomes me- → melalui), you usually:

turn it into a standard active verb, and
make it suitable to take a direct object.

So:

lalu
- often used as an intransitive verb or adverb:
- Dia lalu. = He/She passed (by).
- Tahun lalu = last year.
melalui [object]
- must have something being passed through:
- Kami melalui lembah kecil itu. = We passed through that small valley.

Using just Kami lalu lembah kecil itu would sound off or non-standard in normal modern Malay. melalui is the correct, natural form here.

How do we know this sentence is in the past? There’s no separate past tense word.

Malay verbs generally do not change form for tense. Context usually tells you whether something is past, present, or future.

Kami melalui lembah kecil itu ketika berjalan di hutan.

This could mean:

We passed through that small valley while walking in the forest. (past)
We pass through that small valley when walking in the forest. (habit/present, though “ketika” makes it feel more like a specific event)

To make the past time clear, Malay often adds time expressions:

tadi = earlier / just now
semalam = last night
semalam kami melalui lembah kecil itu...
tadi kami melalui lembah kecil itu...

You can also add sudah / telah before the verb for a completed action:

Kami sudah melalui lembah kecil itu...
Kami telah melalui lembah kecil itu...

But in everyday conversation, people very often omit these if the time is understood from context.

What is the difference between ketika, semasa, and apabila? Could I replace ketika here?

All three can relate to time, but their usage and feel differ slightly.

ketika
- “when / while (at the time that)”
- quite neutral; common in both spoken and written Malay.
semasa
- also “when / during the time that”
- often used for longer periods or in slightly more formal contexts.
apabila
- can mean “when/whenever” (especially in written or formal Malay), or in some contexts “if”.

In this sentence:

Kami melalui lembah kecil itu ketika berjalan di hutan.

You could say:

Kami melalui lembah kecil itu semasa berjalan di hutan. (also fine)
Kami melalui lembah kecil itu apabila berjalan di hutan.
- sounds more like “whenever we walk in the forest, we pass through that small valley” (a habitual sense), depending on context.

For a single event in a narrative, ketika or semasa is more natural than apabila.

Why is it berjalan and not just jalan? What does the ber- prefix do?

Root: jalan = road / street / to walk.

With ber-:

berjalan = to walk (verb form, often intransitive)

ber- often turns a root into a verb indicating an action or state of the subject, often without a direct object.

In this sentence:

ketika berjalan di hutan = while walking in the forest

If you just say ketika jalan di hutan, it sounds incomplete or non-standard as a verb phrase. You might hear jalan used as a verb in colloquial speech, but berjalan is the standard and clearly verbal form in proper Malay.

Why is it di hutan and not dalam hutan? What’s the difference between di and dalam?

Both can be translated as in, but they have different roles:

di = basic preposition for location: at / in / on
dalam = literally “inside (of)”, emphasizes inside/within something

berjalan di hutan:

Focus: your activity takes place in the area of the forest.
Very natural and standard.

berjalan dalam hutan:

Slightly stronger focus on being inside the forest, maybe emphasizing being deep in the forest instead of just at the edge.
Still grammatical and acceptable; just a small nuance.

In many cases, di hutan and dalam hutan will both be understood as “in the forest”, with di being more neutral and common.

Can I move the ketika part to the front, like in English: “When walking in the forest, we passed through that small valley”?

Yes. Malay word order is flexible for time clauses. Both are correct:

Kami melalui lembah kecil itu ketika berjalan di hutan.
Ketika berjalan di hutan, kami melalui lembah kecil itu.

Putting ketika berjalan di hutan at the front is perfectly natural, especially in written or narrative style. Just keep the comma in writing (or a natural pause in speech) after the time clause.

Can the subject kami be dropped, like in some other languages? For example: Melalui lembah kecil itu ketika berjalan di hutan.

In standard Malay, you generally keep the subject, especially in full sentences like this.

Melalui lembah kecil itu ketika berjalan di hutan.
→ sounds incomplete or like a fragment (e.g. a note, a caption, or a sentence cut off from context).

Malay does allow omission of pronouns in very casual speech when the subject is obvious:

(Kami) dah melalui lembah tu.
In conversation, you might drop kami if everyone already knows who “we” refers to.

But in clear, correct sentences—especially for learners—you should keep:

Kami melalui lembah kecil itu ketika berjalan di hutan.

How can I say “those small valleys” instead of “that small valley”?

Malay usually doesn’t mark plural with -s like English. To make the plural explicit, you can:

Repeat the noun (reduplication):
- lembah-lembah kecil itu = those small valleys
  (literally “valleys small that”)
Use a plural marker like beberapa (several), banyak (many), etc.:
- beberapa lembah kecil itu = those several small valleys
- banyak lembah kecil itu (less common; the wording would usually change)

For a simple “those small valleys”, the most straightforward is:

Kami melalui lembah-lembah kecil itu ketika berjalan di hutan.
= We passed through those small valleys while walking in the forest.