Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya singgah di gerai kopi sebelum pergi ke pejabat. - I stop by the coffee stall before going to the office.

Singgah implies you go into a place briefly, often on the way to somewhere else.
- Saya singgah di gerai kopi = I stopped by at the coffee stall (probably bought something, went in).
Berhenti is more general: to stop (moving).
- Bas itu berhenti. = The bus stopped.
- Saya berhenti di lampu isyarat. = I stopped at the traffic light. (You stop, but don’t “visit” the traffic light.)

So:

Use singgah when you stop by / drop in at a place.
Use berhenti when you simply stop moving.

Why is it di gerai kopi but ke pejabat? What’s the difference between di and ke?

di = at / in / on (location)
ke = to / towards (direction, movement)

In the sentence:

singgah di gerai kopi
→ you are at the coffee stall during that short visit.
pergi ke pejabat
→ you go to the office (movement toward).

You can think:

di answers “where?”
→ di gerai kopi, di pejabat (at the coffee stall / at the office)
ke answers “to where?”
→ ke pejabat (to the office)

Could I say ke gerai kopi or di pejabat instead? Are those wrong?

Both are possible; the choice depends on what you want to emphasize.

Saya singgah di gerai kopi sebelum pergi ke pejabat.
– Neutral: “I stopped by at the coffee stall before going to the office.”
Saya singgah ke gerai kopi sebelum pergi ke pejabat.
- In everyday speech some people say singgah ke, but standard Malay usually prefers singgah di.
- It’s understood, but di sounds more natural in careful / formal Malay.
Saya pergi ke gerai kopi sebelum singgah di pejabat.
- Now the movement to the stall is emphasized.
Saya singgah di gerai kopi sebelum di pejabat.
- This sounds incomplete; you usually need a verb with di pejabat, e.g.:
  - …sebelum masuk ke pejabat. (before entering the office)
  - …sebelum berada di pejabat. (before being at the office – quite formal)

So:

singgah di is the usual collocation.
pergi ke is the usual collocation.

In gerai kopi, what is the function of kopi? Is it like an adjective?

Grammatically, kopi is still a noun (“coffee”), but in Malay it is very common for one noun to modify another noun:

gerai kopi = coffee stall (a stall that sells coffee)
kedai buku = book shop
kereta api = train (literally “fire car”)

So the pattern is:

Noun 1 + Noun 2
“a Noun 1 related to Noun 2”

Malay does not need a special adjective form like English does; it just uses the bare noun in this position.

Why is there no word for “a” or “the” in gerai kopi or pejabat?

Malay does not have articles like English a, an, or the.

gerai kopi can mean a coffee stall or the coffee stall, depending on context.
pejabat can mean an office or the office.

If you need to be more specific, you can add other words:

sebuah gerai kopi = a coffee stall (one stall; sebuah is a classifier)
pejabat itu = that/the office (using itu = that)

But in many everyday sentences, you simply say gerai kopi, pejabat, and let context decide whether it’s “a” or “the”.

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

Malay verbs do not change form for tense. Singgah and pergi stay the same in past, present, and future. The time is understood from context, or from time words:

Saya singgah di gerai kopi sebelum pergi ke pejabat tadi.
→ tadi (“earlier”) makes it clearly past.
Tiap-tiap pagi saya singgah di gerai kopi sebelum pergi ke pejabat.
→ “Every morning” shows it’s a habitual action.
Nanti saya singgah di gerai kopi sebelum pergi ke pejabat.
→ nanti (“later”) suggests future.

So your original sentence could mean:

“I stopped by…” (past, if context is about this morning)
“I stop by…” (habit)
“I will stop by…” (if you’re talking about a plan)

English must choose a tense; Malay usually doesn’t unless needed.

Can I leave out Saya and just say Singgah di gerai kopi sebelum pergi ke pejabat?

Yes, in conversation it’s common to drop the subject pronoun when it’s clear from context.

(Saya) singgah di gerai kopi sebelum pergi ke pejabat.

If it’s obvious you’re talking about yourself, this is natural speech. But:

In formal writing or when clarity matters, it is better to keep Saya.
If there is any chance of confusion about who did the action, you should include the subject.

Could I say sebelum saya pergi ke pejabat instead of sebelum pergi ke pejabat?

Yes, both are correct, with slightly different feel.

…sebelum pergi ke pejabat.
- The subject (saya) is understood from context (from the first part of the sentence).
- This is natural and common.
…sebelum saya pergi ke pejabat.
- The subject is explicitly repeated.
- This can sound a bit more formal or emphatic, or useful when there might be confusion about who is going.

In your sentence, both are fine:

Saya singgah di gerai kopi sebelum pergi ke pejabat.
Saya singgah di gerai kopi sebelum saya pergi ke pejabat.

The first is slightly more concise and typical in speech.

What’s the difference between gerai, kedai, and maybe a “café”? Why gerai kopi here?

These words describe different kinds of places:

gerai
- Usually a stall, often small, semi-permanent, or roadside.
- Could be in a food court, hawker centre, night market, etc.
- gerai kopi = a coffee stall (small/simple place).
kedai
- A shop/store or more permanent small business.
- kedai kopi can mean a coffee shop (often traditional, simple seating).
kafe
- From “café”; often suggests a more modern / Western-style place.

So:

Saya singgah di gerai kopi…
→ suggests a small stall, maybe in a market or by the road.
Saya singgah di kedai kopi…
→ more like a small coffee shop.

Is di really necessary after singgah? Could I say Saya singgah gerai kopi…?

In standard Malay, you should use a preposition:

Saya singgah di gerai kopi… ✅ (correct and natural)

In casual spoken Malay, people sometimes drop the preposition:

Saya singgah gerai kopi jap. (very colloquial)
But this is informal and not recommended for writing or formal speech.

So, for safe and correct Malay, keep di after singgah when you mention the place.

Do we always need pergi with ke? Could I just say sebelum ke pejabat?

You can say sebelum ke pejabat, and it’s acceptable in many contexts.

sebelum pergi ke pejabat
→ literally “before (I) go to the office”.
sebelum ke pejabat
→ literally “before (I) to the office”; pergi is understood.

In practice:

Sebelum ke pejabat, saya singgah di gerai kopi.
→ very natural.

In your original sentence:

Saya singgah di gerai kopi sebelum ke pejabat.
→ also natural in speech and informal writing.

Including pergi (sebelum pergi ke pejabat) is slightly more explicit and neutral; leaving it out (sebelum ke pejabat) is a bit more concise and conversational.

How would I clearly say “I will stop by at the coffee stall before going to the office” (future)?

You can add a future marker like akan or a time word:

Saya akan singgah di gerai kopi sebelum pergi ke pejabat.
- akan = will (formal/neutral future marker).
Nanti saya singgah di gerai kopi sebelum pergi ke pejabat.
- nanti (“later”) shows it’s in the future; this is common in speech.
Esok pagi saya singgah di gerai kopi sebelum pergi ke pejabat.
- esok pagi (“tomorrow morning”) sets the time.

All of these make the future meaning explicit.