Laman sesawang itu saya buka setiap kali saya mahu semak maklumat.

I open that website every time I want to check information.

Breakdown of Laman sesawang itu saya buka setiap kali saya mahu semak maklumat.

• saya: I
• itu: that
• mahu: to want
• buka: to open
• semak: to check
• maklumat: the information
• setiap kali: every time
• laman sesawang: the website

Questions & Answers about Laman sesawang itu saya buka setiap kali saya mahu semak maklumat.

Why is the word order “Laman sesawang itu saya buka” and not “Saya buka laman sesawang itu”?

Malay allows fairly flexible word order. Both:

• Laman sesawang itu saya buka
• Saya buka laman sesawang itu

are grammatically correct and mean essentially the same thing: “I open that website …”

The version in your sentence is an example of fronting/topic–comment structure:

• Laman sesawang itu = topic (“that website”)
• saya buka = comment (“I open (it)”)

Putting the object at the front gives it a bit of emphasis or focus, like:
“That website, I open (it) every time I want to check information.”

In everyday speech, “Saya buka laman sesawang itu …” is more neutral and slightly more common, but the original word order is completely natural and not especially marked or poetic; it’s just mildly emphasizing the website.

What exactly does “laman sesawang” mean, and how does it differ from “laman web” or “website”?

Laman sesawang literally means “web page / web site”, and is a more Malay-origin term:

• laman = page/site/yard (context-dependent)
• sesawang = web (as in spider’s web; used metaphorically for the internet)

In practice:

• laman sesawang – feels formal/standard Malay, often in government documents, textbooks, news.
• laman web – mixed Malay–English, also acceptable and common.
• website / web site – plain English, very common in informal speech and writing.

So:

• Your sentence is standard and slightly formal.
• A more everyday informal version could be:
  “Saya buka website tu setiap kali saya nak cek info.”

What is the function of “itu” in “laman sesawang itu”?

Itu is a demonstrative meaning “that”, but in Malay it also often works like “the” / “that specific one we both know about”.

Compare:

• laman sesawang = a website / websites (general, non-specific)
• laman sesawang itu = that website / the website (a particular one the speaker has in mind)

So in your sentence, “laman sesawang itu” refers to a specific, known website, not just any website.

If you removed itu:

• Laman sesawang saya buka setiap kali…
  would sound more like “I open websites every time…” (more generic, less clearly one specific site), and is also a bit awkward without something to clarify which websites.

Why is the verb “buka” used instead of “membuka”?

Both buka and membuka come from the same root and can both mean “to open”.

Differences:

• buka – base form, very common in spoken Malay and in neutral sentences, even with a direct object:
  • Saya buka laman sesawang itu.
• membuka – meN- verb form, often seen as a bit more formal/written, or used in some fixed expressions:
  • membuka perniagaan (to open a business)
  • membuka fail (to open a file) – also buka fail is fine

In your sentence, buka is perfectly correct and natural.
Membuka would make the sentence feel slightly more formal:

• Laman sesawang itu saya membuka setiap kali… – grammatically possible but stylistically odd; more natural would be:
  Saya membuka laman sesawang itu setiap kali…

Why is “saya” repeated twice? Can it be omitted the second time?

Your sentence:

• Laman sesawang itu saya buka setiap kali saya mahu semak maklumat.

has saya twice:

1. …saya buka… – “I open”
2. …saya mahu semak… – “I want to check”

Malay often omits repeated subjects when the subject is clear from context. So you can say:

• Laman sesawang itu saya buka setiap kali mahu semak maklumat.

This still means “I open that website every time (I) want to check information.”
The second saya is understood and doesn’t need to be said.

Keeping the second saya is also correct; it just sounds more explicit/emphatic:

• With saya repeated: slight emphasis that it is I who wants to check.
• Without the second saya: slightly smoother and more typical in natural speech/writing.

What does “mahu” mean here, and how does it compare with “hendak”, “nak”, or “ingin”?

In this sentence, mahu means “want to”:

• saya mahu semak maklumat = “I want to check (the) information.”

Common alternatives:

• hendak – very close to mahu, also “want to”. Slightly more formal/literary in some regions, but still very common.
• nak – colloquial contraction of hendak. Very common in speech:
  • Saya nak semak maklumat.
• ingin – “wish to / would like to”, sounds more formal or polite:
  • Saya ingin menyemak maklumat.

Your choice of mahu is standard, neutral, and polite.
In everyday casual conversation you’d often hear:

• Saya nak semak maklumat.

What does “semak maklumat” mean, and could you also say “cek maklumat” or “periksa maklumat”?

Semak maklumat means “to check / review / verify information.”

• semak = to check, to review, to go through something to make sure it’s correct
• maklumat = information

Alternatives:

• cek maklumat – from English “check”, very common in informal speech:
  • Saya nak cek maklumat.
• periksa maklumat – periksa often means “examine / inspect / test”. It is possible, but semak maklumat sounds more natural for checking information/documents.
• menyemak maklumat – the meN- form; more formal:
  • Saya ingin menyemak maklumat.

So for everyday standard Malay, semak maklumat is a very good choice: clear and natural.

How does Malay express tense here? How do we know if “saya buka” is present, past, or future?

Malay does not mark tense on the verb the way English does.
The bare verb buka can mean:

• I open (habitual/present)
• I opened (past)
• I will open (future)

The time reference is given by context or extra words. In your sentence:

• setiap kali = “every time” / “whenever”, which suggests a habitual action, so we interpret it as:
  • “I open that website every time I want to check information.”

If you want to make tense explicit, you can add adverbs:

• tadi (earlier) – Saya tadi buka laman sesawang itu. (I opened that website just now.)
• nanti (later) – Saya nanti buka laman sesawang itu. (I’ll open that website later.)

What does “setiap kali” mean exactly, and is it different from just “setiap”?

• setiap = every / each
• kali = time (occurrence)

So setiap kali together means “every time / whenever”:

• setiap kali saya mahu semak maklumat = “every time I want to check information.”

If you only used setiap:

• setiap saya mahu semak maklumat – this is ungrammatical; setiap needs a noun after it.
• You could say setiap kali saya mahu semak maklumat (correct) or, for other nouns:
  • setiap hari (every day)
  • setiap minggu (every week)

So in this context, setiap kali is the correct and natural expression.

Is “maklumat” countable in Malay? Do we ever say “maklumat-maklumat”?

Maklumat is usually treated as a mass noun, like “information” in English:

• maklumat = information (in general)

You normally do not say “maklumat-maklumat” in everyday speech; just maklumat already implies “(pieces of) information”.

You might see maklumat-maklumat or more elaborate forms in formal/legal writing to stress multiple items of information, but it can sound redundant in normal usage.

So semak maklumat is the natural, standard way to say “check (the) information”.

How formal or informal does the whole sentence sound, and how would it look in more casual Malay?

Your sentence:

• Laman sesawang itu saya buka setiap kali saya mahu semak maklumat.

sounds standard and somewhat formal, mainly because of:

• laman sesawang (formal term)
• full forms like saya, mahu, semak

A more casual, everyday version might be:

• Saya buka website tu setiap kali saya nak cek info.

Changes:

• laman sesawang → website
• itu → tu (colloquial)
• mahu → nak
• semak maklumat → cek info

Both are correct; they just differ in register (formal vs informal).