Learn Hardcore Malay: Audio yang jelas membantu saya baiki sebutan dan sebut perkataan sukar dengan betul. - Clear audio helps me improve my pronunciation and pronounce difficult words correctly.

So here yang connects audio with the describing word jelas. It’s similar to English “that/which is”, but in many short noun + adjective phrases in Malay it’s just a natural way to say “X that is Y”.

You can sometimes say audio jelas without yang, but audio yang jelas sounds a bit more careful and clearly means “audio that is clear”, not “audio clearly (does something)”.

Could I say audio jelas instead of audio yang jelas? What’s the difference?

Both are possible, but with a slight nuance:

audio yang jelas
– Very clearly: “audio that is clear”.
– Feels more standard/natural as an attributive description (when you’re naming a type of audio).
audio jelas
– Can also mean “clear audio”, especially in speech or informal wording.
– In some contexts it can be read as “the audio is clear” (a whole sentence-like idea) or “audio clearly (does something)”, depending on word order and intonation.

In your sentence, Audio yang jelas membantu… is the safest, most straightforward way to say “Clear audio helps…”.

What exactly does jelas mean here? Is it only “clear” in the sense of sound?

Jelas means “clear” or “distinct”, and it’s used in a few related ways:

Clear sound:
- audio yang jelas = clear audio (you can hear everything distinctly)
Clear meaning / explanation:
- penjelasan yang jelas = a clear explanation
Clear/obvious situation:
- Memang jelas dia marah. = It’s clearly/obviously true that he’s angry.

In this sentence, it’s “clear” in the sense of easy to hear / distinct sound, so jelas is the right choice.

Why is it membantu saya baiki and not membantu saya untuk membaiki?

All of these are possible and grammatical:

membantu saya baiki …
membantu saya membaiki …
membantu saya untuk membaiki …

The differences:

untuk is often optional after membantu.
- membantu saya (untuk) membaiki… = “help me (to) improve…”.
In everyday speech, Malay often drops both:
- The mem- prefix on the second verb (baiki instead of membaiki), and
- The untuk:
- membantu saya baiki sebutan = “helps me improve my pronunciation”.

So the sentence you have is a perfectly natural, slightly informal pattern: > [verb] + [object] + [bare verb]
> membantu saya baiki …

A very formal version would be: > Audio yang jelas membantu saya membaiki sebutan…

What’s the difference between baiki, membaiki, and memperbaiki?

All relate to “fix/improve”, but with different forms and typical usage:

baiki
- Derived from baik (good) + -i.
- Common in everyday speech.
- Means “to fix / to repair / to improve”:
  - Saya nak baiki telefon. = I want to fix the phone.
  - Saya nak baiki sebutan. = I want to improve my pronunciation.
membaiki
- meN- prefix + baiki.
- More explicitly verb-like, a bit more formal.
- Often interchangeable with baiki:
  - Dia membaiki kereta. vs Dia baiki kereta.
memperbaiki
- memper- prefix (often “to make more X / to improve X”).
- Common in more formal writing or abstract contexts:
  - memperbaiki sistem pendidikan = improve the education system
  - memperbaiki hubungan = improve a relationship

In your sentence, baiki sebutan is natural and common in spoken / neutral Malay. membaiki sebutan or memperbaiki sebutan would sound more formal.

What’s the difference between sebut and sebutan?

They come from the same root, but have different functions:

sebut = verb: “to say / to mention / to pronounce”
- sebut nama kamu = say/mention your name
- Dia susah nak sebut perkataan ini. = He finds it hard to pronounce this word.
sebutan = noun: “pronunciation”
- sebutan saya = my pronunciation
- sebutan yang betul = the correct pronunciation

In your sentence:

baiki sebutan = improve (my) pronunciation (noun)
sebut perkataan sukar = pronounce difficult words (verb)

So the sentence cleverly uses both the noun (sebutan) and the verb (sebut).

Why does the sentence say both baiki sebutan and sebut perkataan sukar? Isn’t that repetitive?

They overlap in meaning, but they focus on slightly different things:

baiki sebutan
- General: improve my overall pronunciation (sounds, accent, intonation, etc.).
dan sebut perkataan sukar dengan betul
- Specific: be able to pronounce difficult words correctly.

So the structure is:

Clear audio helps me:
1. improve my pronunciation in general, and
2. (be able to) pronounce difficult words correctly.

It’s similar to saying in English: > “Clear audio helps me improve my pronunciation and say difficult words correctly.”

Not strictly necessary, but natural and more expressive.

Why is it perkataan sukar, not sukar perkataan?

In Malay, the normal order is:

noun + describing word (adjective)

So:

perkataan sukar = difficult words
buku baru = new book
orang tinggi = tall person

Putting the adjective before the noun (like English) is almost always wrong:

sukar perkataan ✗ (unnatural / incorrect)

You could also say perkataan yang sukar (“words that are difficult”), but perkataan sukar is shorter and very natural.

Is dengan betul the standard way to say “correctly”? Could I just use betul alone?

Dengan betul is a very common and standard way to say “correctly / in the correct way”.

Structure:

dengan (with/in) + betul (correct) → adverbial phrase “in a correct way”.

In your sentence:

sebut … dengan betul = “pronounce … correctly”.

You can also sometimes use betul-betul:

sebut betul-betul = pronounce really properly / very correctly (more emphasis, more colloquial).

Using betul alone:

Dia sebut betul. can mean “He pronounces it correctly.”
But in a longer phrase, dengan betul is clearer and more natural:
- sebut perkataan sukar dengan betul sounds better than
  sebut perkataan sukar betul (which is awkward).

Is membantu different from menolong? Could I say Audio yang jelas menolong saya…?

They’re very close in meaning and often interchangeable:

membantu
- “to help / to assist”
- Slightly more neutral or formal; often used for abstract help:
  - Fungsi ini membantu pengguna. = This function helps the user.
menolong
- Also “to help”, often used for more direct, personal help, though the difference isn’t strict:
  - Dia tolong saya bawa beg. = He helped me carry the bag.

In your sentence, both are acceptable:

Audio yang jelas membantu saya… ✓
Audio yang jelas menolong saya… ✓

Membantu probably sounds a bit more natural here because the “helper” is an impersonal thing (audio), not a person.

How would you give a very literal word‑by‑word breakdown of the sentence?

Sentence: > Audio yang jelas membantu saya baiki sebutan dan sebut perkataan sukar dengan betul.

Literal breakdown:

Audio = audio
yang = that / which (linking word)
jelas = clear
membantu = helps
saya = me / I
baiki = improve / fix / repair
sebutan = pronunciation
dan = and
sebut = pronounce / say
perkataan = words / word
sukar = difficult
dengan = with / in (used to form an adverbial phrase)
betul = correct(ly)

So a close, literal reading is:

“Audio that is clear helps me improve (my) pronunciation and pronounce difficult words in a correct way.”