Learn Hardcore Malay: Adik saya hampir ketagih telefon bimbit dan kena hadkan masa skrin setiap malam. - My younger sibling is almost addicted to the mobile phone and has to limit screen time every night.

Saya punya adik is colloquial and also means my younger sibling, but it sounds more informal or dialectal. Adik saya is neutral and standard.

What is the function of hampir here? Can it go somewhere else in the sentence?

Hampir means almost / nearly. Here it modifies ketagih (addicted):

Adik saya hampir ketagih...
= My younger sibling is almost addicted...

Its usual position is just before the verb or adjective it modifies. You would not say:

✗ Adik saya ketagih hampir telefon bimbit (incorrect)

You could move it slightly for emphasis in some contexts, but the natural, standard place here is exactly where it is: hampir ketagih.

What does ketagih mean exactly, and how is it different from ketagihan?

Ketagih = addicted (adjective / stative verb)
- Dia ketagih telefon bimbit. = He/She is addicted to mobile phones.
Ketagihan = addiction (noun), or sometimes being addicted as a state
- Ketagihan telefon bimbit dalam kalangan remaja semakin serius.
  = Mobile phone addiction among teenagers is getting more serious.

So in this sentence, you want the describing word ketagih, not the noun ketagihan.

Is it okay that there’s no word like “to” after ketagih, as in ketagih telefon bimbit?

Yes, it’s fine and very natural in Malay to say:

ketagih telefon bimbit
(literally: addicted mobile phone)

You may also see:

ketagih kepada/pada telefon bimbit
which is more explicit (literally “addicted to mobile phones”), but in everyday speech and writing, ketagih telefon bimbit without the preposition is very common and acceptable.

What does telefon bimbit mean, and are there other common ways to say “mobile phone” in Malay?

Telefon bimbit literally means mobile phone (bimbit = handheld / portable). Other common options:

telefon pintar = smartphone (more formal)
telefon = phone (often understood as mobile from context)
handphone / henfon = borrowed from English; very common in casual Malaysian speech
In Indonesian, you may hear HP (ha-pe), telepon genggam, etc.

For standard Malay in Malaysia, telefon bimbit and telefon pintar are safe, formal choices.

Why is there no equivalent of the verb “to be” (like “is”) before hampir ketagih?

Malay usually omits a verb like “to be” (am/is/are) before adjectives and many stative verbs. So:

Adik saya hampir ketagih telefon bimbit.
literally: My younger sibling almost addicted mobile phone.

In English you need “is almost addicted”, but in Malay the is is simply unspoken. You do not add adalah here; adalah has a more formal, specific use and would sound odd in this sentence.

What does kena mean here? I thought kena could mean “to get hit” or “to be affected”.

Kena is very flexible in Malay. Common meanings include:

to be affected / to suffer:
- Dia kena demam. = He/She caught a fever.
to get hit / to be struck:
- Bola itu kena muka dia. = The ball hit his/her face.
have to / must / be obliged to (colloquial):
- Saya kena pergi sekarang. = I have to go now.

In your sentence:

... dan kena hadkan masa skrin ...
= and (someone) has to limit screen time...

Here kena carries the meaning must / have to, with a slight nuance that this is something imposed or required (not just a free choice). It’s informal but extremely common.

Who is the subject of kena hadkan masa skrin? Is it the sibling, or the speaker, or the parents?

Grammatically, the subject is left implicit, so it’s ambiguous:

It could mean my younger sibling has to limit (their own) screen time, or
we/our parents/ I have to limit my younger sibling’s screen time.

Context (tone, previous sentences) would clarify it in real usage.

If you want to be explicit:

Adik saya kena hadkan masa skrin dia setiap malam.
= My younger sibling has to limit his/her own screen time every night.
Saya kena hadkan masa skrin adik saya setiap malam.
= I have to limit my younger sibling’s screen time every night.

Could I use mesti or perlu instead of kena? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can:

... dan mesti hadkan masa skrin ...
- mesti = must (strong obligation, often rules/commands)
... dan perlu hadkan masa skrin ...
- perlu = need to (necessity, often slightly more neutral/formal)
... dan kena hadkan masa skrin ...
- kena = have to / must (colloquial, also feels like the obligation is imposed by circumstances, rules, or others)

All are understandable; kena is the most colloquial, mesti a bit stronger, perlu slightly more formal.

What is the base meaning of hadkan, and how is it related to menghadkan?

The root is had = limit / boundary.

hadkan = to limit (causative with -kan)
- hadkan masa skrin = limit screen time
menghadkan = also to limit, with the meN-...-kan verb pattern
- more obviously verb-like and often a bit more formal.

Both are correct. In casual sentences with another verb like kena, using hadkan is very natural:

kena hadkan masa skrin (colloquial, natural)
perlu menghadkan masa skrin (a bit more formal)

Is masa skrin a standard way to say “screen time”?

Yes. Masa skrin is a straightforward, increasingly common way to say screen time:

masa = time
skrin = screen

You might also see or say:

masa menatap skrin = time spent staring at the screen (more descriptive)
masa di depan skrin = time in front of the screen

But masa skrin is short, clear, and natural in modern usage.

What does setiap malam mean, and can it be replaced with something else?

Setiap malam = every night.

Alternatives with similar meaning:

tiap malam = every night (more colloquial)
tiap-tiap malam = every single night (a bit more emphatic/old-fashioned)
saban malam = every night (somewhat literary/formal)

In everyday speech and writing, setiap malam and tiap malam are the most common.

How is tense expressed in this sentence? How do I know if it’s present, past, or future?

Malay doesn’t change the verb form for tense. Time is usually understood from context or time expressions.

Your sentence on its own is most naturally understood as present:

Adik saya hampir ketagih telefon bimbit dan kena hadkan masa skrin setiap malam.
= My younger sibling is almost addicted... and has to limit screen time every night.

To make time clearer, you can add adverbs:

sekarang (now):
- Sekarang adik saya hampir ketagih... = Right now my younger sibling is almost addicted...
dulu (in the past):
- Dulu adik saya hampir ketagih... = In the past my younger sibling was almost addicted...
nanti (later):
- Nanti adik saya mungkin akan ketagih... = Later my younger sibling might become addicted...