Tahun depan, saya mahu bercuti di negara kecil itu.

Next year, I want to go on vacation in that small country.

Breakdown of Tahun depan, saya mahu bercuti di negara kecil itu.

• saya: I
• itu: that
• mahu: to want
• di: in
• kecil: small
• bercuti: to go on vacation
• negara: the country
• tahun depan: next year

Questions & Answers about Tahun depan, saya mahu bercuti di negara kecil itu.

Why is there no word like will to show the future tense?

Malay usually does not use separate words to mark tense (past / present / future) the way English does.

In this sentence, tahun depan (next year) already tells us the time is in the future, so there is no need for a word like will.

• Tahun depan, saya mahu bercuti...
  = Next year I want to go on holiday...

You can add akan (a future marker) if you want to emphasise the future, but it’s not necessary in everyday speech:

• Tahun depan, saya akan bercuti di negara kecil itu.

Both versions are correct; akan just makes the future sense more explicit or slightly more formal.

What exactly does mahu mean, and how is it different from hendak, ingin, or nak?

Mahu literally means to want.

Other similar words:

• hendak – close to mahu; often slightly more formal or old-fashioned in some regions, but still common.
• ingin – to wish / to desire; often a bit more formal or polite, especially in writing.
• nak – colloquial, informal form of hendak/mahu, common in speech.

In your sentence, you could say:

• Tahun depan, saya mahu bercuti... (neutral, standard)
• Tahun depan, saya hendak bercuti... (also neutral/standard)
• Tahun depan, saya ingin bercuti... (a little more formal or polite)
• Tahun depan, saya nak bercuti... (informal, spoken)

All are understandable. For neutral learner Malay, mahu is a good choice.

What does bercuti mean exactly, and how is it different from cuti or percutian?

The root is cuti, which means leave/holiday (time off work, etc.).

• bercuti = to go on holiday, to be on vacation
  (verb with the prefix ber-, which often turns nouns into intransitive verbs)

• cuti (by itself) = leave / holiday as a noun

  • Saya ada cuti seminggu. = I have one week of leave.

• percutian = a holiday / vacation (a more formal noun)

  • Percutian kami sangat menyeronokkan. = Our vacation was very enjoyable.

Your sentence:

• saya mahu bercuti
  = I want to go on holiday / I want to take a vacation (verb).

Why is it di negara kecil itu and not ke negara kecil itu?

Malay distinguishes between location and direction:

• di = at / in / on (location, where something is)
• ke = to / towards (movement, where something is going to)

In bercuti di negara kecil itu, the focus is on being on holiday in that small country.

If you wanted to talk about the movement (going there), you could say:

• Saya mahu pergi ke negara kecil itu.
  = I want to go to that small country.

So:

• bercuti di negara kecil itu = be on holiday in that country
• pergi ke negara kecil itu = go to that country

How does the phrase negara kecil itu work? Why is the order country + small + that?

Malay noun phrases normally follow this order:

noun + adjective + demonstrative (ini/itu)

So:

• negara = country
• kecil = small
• itu = that

→ negara kecil itu = that small country

Compare:

• negara itu = that country
• negara kecil = a small country
• negara kecil itu = that small country (a specific one you both know)

If you say negara itu kecil, that is a full sentence:

• Negara itu kecil. = That country is small.

Does itu here mean that or the?

Literally, itu means that, but in Malay it often behaves like that/the when referring to a specific, known thing.

In negara kecil itu:

• It usually implies a particular small country that both speaker and listener can identify (maybe it was mentioned earlier, or is obvious from context).
• In natural English, we might translate it as that small country or the small country, depending on context.

No itu:

• negara kecil = a small country / some small country (non-specific)
  With itu:

• negara kecil itu = that particular small country (specific)

Could I move tahun depan to a different place in the sentence?

Yes. Time expressions are quite flexible in Malay.

All of these are grammatical:

1. Tahun depan, saya mahu bercuti di negara kecil itu.
2. Saya mahu bercuti di negara kecil itu tahun depan.
3. Saya tahun depan mahu bercuti di negara kecil itu. (less common, but possible in speech)

The most natural are (1) and (2). Placing tahun depan at the start often emphasises the time; placing it at the end sounds very natural in everyday speech:

• Saya mahu bercuti di negara kecil itu tahun depan.

Why is there a comma after tahun depan?

Tahun depan is a fronted time phrase. The comma marks a small pause, similar to English:

• Next year, I want to go on holiday...

In everyday, informal writing or texting, people often omit the comma:

• Tahun depan saya mahu bercuti di negara kecil itu.

Both are acceptable; with the comma is more careful/standard punctuation.

Can I omit saya and say Tahun depan, mahu bercuti di negara kecil itu?

In casual spoken Malay, people sometimes drop the subject when it is clear from context:

• Tahun depan, mahu bercuti di negara kecil itu.
  (understood: I want to go on holiday there)

However:

• For learners, it’s safer and clearer to keep the subject saya.
• In writing (especially formal or semi-formal), you should generally include the subject pronoun.

So your original version with saya is the best standard form:

• Tahun depan, saya mahu bercuti di negara kecil itu.

Why isn’t there untuk before bercuti, like mahu untuk bercuti?

In Malay, verbs like mahu, hendak, ingin, boleh, perlu, etc., are normally followed directly by another verb without untuk.

So the natural pattern is:

• saya mahu bercuti
• saya hendak makan
• saya ingin belajar
• saya perlu tidur

Adding untuk (e.g. mahu untuk bercuti) usually sounds unnatural or influenced by English. So:

• ✅ saya mahu bercuti
• ❌ saya mahu untuk bercuti (avoid this)

Is this sentence formal, neutral, or informal?

The sentence is neutral and fits well in most contexts:

• Tahun depan, saya mahu bercuti di negara kecil itu.

Reasons:

• saya is the standard, polite first-person pronoun.
• mahu is neutral (not too formal, not slangy).
• Vocabulary and structure are standard.

You could make it more formal by using ingin instead of mahu, or by adding akan:

• Tahun depan, saya ingin bercuti di negara kecil itu.
• Tahun depan, saya akan bercuti di negara kecil itu.

How would I say we want to go on holiday in that small country next year? What’s the difference between kami and kita?

You change saya to kami or kita, depending on who is included.

• kami = we (not including the listener)
• kita = we (including the listener)

So:

• Tahun depan, kami mahu bercuti di negara kecil itu.
  = Next year, we (but not you) want to go on holiday in that small country.

• Tahun depan, kita mahu bercuti di negara kecil itu.
  = Next year, we (including you) want to go on holiday in that small country.

Malay is very precise about this distinction.

How do you pronounce bercuti, negara, kecil, and itu? Are there any silent letters?

Malay pronunciation is quite phonetic; letters are usually pronounced.

Rough guide (using English-like sounds):

• bercuti:
  ber – like ber in Berlin (schwa sound: “buh”)
  cu – like choo in choose, but shorter
  ti – tee
  → buh-CHOO-tee (stress usually on the second syllable: ber-CU-ti)

• negara:
  ne – “nuh” (schwa)
  ga – “gah”
  ra – “rah”
  → nuh-GAH-rah (stress often on GA)

• kecil:
  ke – “kuh” (schwa)
  cil – “chil” (like chill without the double L)
  → kuh-CHIL

• itu:
  i – “ee”
  tu – “too”
  → EE-too

No silent letters in these words; every vowel is pronounced.