Learn Hardcore Malay: Suatu hari nanti, saya mahu menjadi jurutera. - One day in the future, I want to become an engineer.

suatu hari ≈ “one day / some day (not a specific day)”
satu hari literally = “one day” (the number 1), and often used more literally about quantity or duration.

In this phrase, suatu hari nanti is idiomatic and sounds more natural than satu hari nanti when you mean “someday in the future” in a vague, hopeful way.

Can I just say “hari nanti” without suatu?

No, hari nanti on its own is not natural Malay.

You need something like:

suatu hari nanti – “one day (in the future)”
pada suatu hari nanti – grammatically fuller, but the pada is usually dropped in casual speech/writing.

So keep suatu in this expression.

What exactly does nanti add to suatu hari nanti?

Nanti means roughly “later / in the future”.

suatu hari = one (unspecified) day — could be past, present, or future, depending on context
suatu hari nanti = clearly future, “one day in the future / someday”

Without nanti, the time is more neutral; with nanti, it clearly points forward.

Is suatu hari nanti, saya mahu… the only possible word order, or can I move the time expression?

You can move it. Both are correct:

Suatu hari nanti, saya mahu menjadi jurutera.
Saya mahu menjadi jurutera suatu hari nanti.

Putting suatu hari nanti at the start gives it more emphasis, like in English:

“One day, I want to become an engineer”
vs
“I want to become an engineer one day.”

Does this sentence need something like “will”? How is the future tense shown?

Malay doesn’t have verb conjugations for tense like English. Future meaning is usually shown by:

context
time words (nanti, esok, tahun depan, etc.)
or auxiliaries like akan (“will / shall”), mahu/hendak/ingin (“want to / intend to”).

In this sentence:

suatu hari nanti and mahu together already make the time clearly future, so you don’t need a separate “will” word like akan.

Does mahu here mean “want to” or “will”?

Literally, mahu = “want / want to”.

In context, it often carries a mix of desire and future intention, so it can feel close to “I want to / I would like to / I aim to”.

If you wanted a more neutral “will”, you could say:

Suatu hari nanti, saya akan menjadi jurutera. – “One day, I will become an engineer.”

But your original sentence highlights the desire more than a definite prediction.

What’s the difference between mahu, hendak, ingin, and nak?

All can relate to “want (to)”, but differ in formality and region:

mahu – standard, common in Malaysia; polite and neutral.
hendak – more formal/literary; also used in official writing or set phrases.
ingin – “to wish / to desire”; often a bit more formal or polite, softer tone.
nak – very colloquial, mostly spoken Malaysian Malay.

So in your sentence:

Saya mahu menjadi jurutera. – neutral, good in most situations.
Saya nak jadi jurutera. – very casual, spoken, with jadi instead of menjadi.

Why is it menjadi jurutera and not just jurutera? Is menjadi like “to be”?

Menjadi literally means “to become / to turn into”.

menjadi jurutera = “to become an engineer”.

Malay doesn’t use a separate verb like English “to be” before nouns in simple statements:

Saya jurutera. = “I am an engineer.”

But when you talk about changing state (from not-an-engineer to an engineer), you use menjadi (or its simpler form jadi):

Saya mahu menjadi jurutera. – “I want to become an engineer.”

What is the difference between menjadi and jadi here?

Both can mean “to become”, but:

menjadi – more formal/standard, common in writing and careful speech.
jadi – more informal / conversational.

So you could say in casual speech:

Suatu hari nanti, saya nak jadi jurutera.

In standard written Malay, menjadi is usually preferred.

Should there be something like “an” before jurutera? Why is there no article?

Malay does not use articles like “a / an / the”.

Jurutera alone already covers “(an) engineer” in general.
If you really want to stress “a single person who is an engineer”, you can add a classifier:

seorang jurutera – “an engineer (one person who is an engineer)”

So you could also say:

Suatu hari nanti, saya mahu menjadi seorang jurutera.

Both are correct; with seorang is a bit more explicit but not necessary.

Why do we use saya instead of aku? Can I change it?

Both mean “I / me”, but:

saya – polite, neutral, used with strangers, in formal settings, in writing.
aku – informal / intimate, used with close friends, family, or in song lyrics.

You can say:

Suatu hari nanti, aku mahu menjadi jurutera.

Grammatically correct, but it sounds more casual and depends on who you’re talking to. For learners, saya is the safest default.

Can I drop the pronoun and just say “Suatu hari nanti, mahu menjadi jurutera.”?

In natural Malay, subject pronouns are often dropped when the context is very clear, especially in speech.

However, in this standalone sentence, leaving out saya sounds incomplete or vague, because we don’t know who wants to become an engineer.

So for a full, clear sentence, keep:

Suatu hari nanti, saya mahu menjadi jurutera.

Is the comma after suatu hari nanti necessary? Do Malaysians actually use it?

When a time expression comes at the start, it’s good style to separate it with a comma, and you’ll see this often in writing:

Suatu hari nanti, saya mahu…

In everyday informal writing (texts, chats), people may omit it, but in proper written Malay, the comma is recommended, much like in English: “One day, I want to …”

Is suatu hari nanti, saya mahu menjadi jurutera formal, informal, or neutral?

It’s neutral and standard:

saya – polite/neutral pronoun
mahu – neutral verb
menjadi – standard form

You can use this sentence in speech, essays, exams, and polite conversation without any problem. If you made it more casual, it might look like:

Nanti, aku nak jadi jurutera. – very informal, spoken style.