Learn Hardcore Malay: Bagi saya, novel sejarah lebih menarik daripada filem aksi. - For me, historical novels are more interesting than action movies.

Bagi saya – neutral, very common in speech and writing
- Bagi saya, itu tidak penting.
  For me / In my view, that is not important.
Pada saya – very similar meaning, also common
- Pada saya, dia seorang guru yang baik.
  In my opinion, he is a good teacher.
Pada pendapat saya – more formal and explicit, like in my opinion in essays/speeches
- Pada pendapat saya, dasar ini tidak berkesan.
  In my opinion, this policy is ineffective.

In everyday conversation, Bagi saya and Pada saya are almost interchangeable here. Pada pendapat saya sounds more formal and is less common in casual speech.

Why is there no word for is / are in this sentence?

Malay usually drops the verb to be (is/are/am) when linking a subject to an adjective or noun.

In Bagi saya, novel sejarah lebih menarik daripada filem aksi, the structure is:

novel sejarah – history novels
lebih menarik – more interesting
(no is/are)

Literally: For me, history novels more interesting than action movies.

Malay does not need a word like is/are here. You only add a verb (like ialah, adalah) in some specific structures, often more formal or when linking to a noun phrase, for example:

Dia ialah doktor. – He is a doctor.
Masalahnya adalah masa. – The problem is time.

But with adjectives or comparative forms like lebih menarik, you normally just put them directly after the noun.

How does the comparative lebih … daripada work? Can I leave out one of the words?

lebih … daripada is the standard way to say more … than.

Pattern:

A lebih ADJECTIVE daripada B
= A is more ADJECTIVE than B

In the example:

novel sejarah lebih menarik daripada filem aksi
= history novels are more interesting than action movies

Details:

lebih = more
daripada = than (in comparisons)

You normally keep both lebih and daripada:

Dia lebih tinggi daripada saya.
He is taller than me.

You can sometimes drop daripada if what you are comparing to is very clear from context, but for learners it is safer to include it.

If you drop lebih, it stops being a comparison:

Novel sejarah menarik.
History novels are interesting. (not necessarily more than anything else)

What is the difference between daripada and dari? Could I use dari here?

Both dari and daripada are often translated as from, but they have different main uses.

Very simplified:

dari – from a place, time, or direction
- Saya datang dari London. – I come from London.
- Kelas bermula dari pukul 8. – Class starts from 8 o’clock.
daripada – from a person or in comparisons / sources / parts of a whole
- Hadiah ini daripada ibu saya. – This gift is from my mother.
- Dia lebih tinggi daripada saya. – He is taller than me.

In comparisons (more … than), you should use daripada, not dari, so:

lebih menarik daripada filem aksi ✅
lebih menarik dari filem aksi ❌ (sounds wrong or very careless)

In fast informal speech some people may say dari there, but for correct Malay and in writing, use daripada in comparisons.

Is novel sejarah singular or plural? Does it mean “a history novel” or “history novels”?

On its own, novel sejarah can be either singular or plural. Malay usually does not mark plural with an -s like English.

So novel sejarah could mean:

a history novel
the history novel
history novels / history novels in general

Context decides. If you want to be explicit:

sebuah novel sejarah – a (single) history novel
(for countable things, sebuah is a common classifier for books)
novel-novel sejarah – history novels (more than one, emphasised)
banyak novel sejarah – many history novels
semua novel sejarah – all history novels

In your sentence, it is talking about the type in general, so English naturally uses the plural: history novels.

Is sejarah an adjective here? Why does it come after novel?

Grammatically, sejarah is a noun meaning history.

In novel sejarah, Malay is using a noun + noun structure, where the second noun describes the type of the first noun. It is similar to novel sejarah = novel [of] history = historical / history novel.

Malay usually puts the main noun first, and descriptors after:

buku sejarah – history book
fail pejabat – office file
guru matematik – maths teacher

So:

novel – novel
sejarah – history
novel sejarah – a novel whose topic is history

This is not an adjective like historical by itself, but the pair novel sejarah functions similarly to a historical novel in English.

What does filem aksi literally mean? Is this the normal way to say “action movies”?

Literally:

filem – film / movie
aksi – action

So filem aksi = action film / action movie.

Yes, filem aksi is the normal, natural way to say action movies in Malay.

Other related words/phrases:

tonton filem aksi – watch action movies
genre aksi – action genre
wayang – can mean movie or cinema in informal speech (especially in Malaysia), but filem is the standard word for the film itself.

So your sentence contrasts novel sejarah (history novels) with filem aksi (action movies) as types/genres.

Can I move Bagi saya to the end, or leave it out? Does that change the meaning?

You have a few options, all natural:

Bagi saya, novel sejarah lebih menarik daripada filem aksi.
– For me / In my view, history novels are more interesting than action movies.
(Opinion phrase at the start; very clear you are giving a personal view.)
Novel sejarah lebih menarik daripada filem aksi, bagi saya.
– History novels are more interesting than action movies, for me.
(Still correct. Slight nuance: statement first, then you soften it by adding bagi saya.)
Novel sejarah lebih menarik daripada filem aksi.
– History novels are more interesting than action movies.
(Sounds more like a general statement, not explicitly marked as opinion.)

So:

Position of bagi saya (front or end) is flexible.
Dropping bagi saya removes the explicit “in my opinion” tone and makes it sound more general/objective.

Would it be more natural to say Saya lebih suka novel sejarah daripada filem aksi to express a preference?

Both are natural but slightly different in focus.

Your original:

Bagi saya, novel sejarah lebih menarik daripada filem aksi.
– Focus on how interesting they are.
Literally: for me, history novels are more interesting than action movies.

Alternative:

Saya lebih suka novel sejarah daripada filem aksi.
– Focus on preference / liking.
Literally: I like history novels more than action movies.

Native speakers commonly use both, depending on what they want to emphasise:

If you are talking about quality or appeal:
Novel sejarah lebih menarik.
If you are talking about personal preference / choice:
Saya lebih suka novel sejarah.

They are often interchangeable in casual conversation when the context is “which do you prefer?”.

How formal is this sentence? Would you say it with friends?

The sentence is neutral and suitable for most situations:

Fine in conversation with friends
Fine in classroom, essays, presentations, etc.

Small notes:

Bagi saya is polite and neutral.
Vocabulary like novel, sejarah, filem aksi is standard.

In very casual speech with close friends, people might use more informal pronouns:

Saya → aku (very informal, depends on relationship)
Example:
Bagi aku, novel sejarah lagi menarik daripada filem aksi.

But the given sentence is perfectly natural in everyday conversation and not too formal.

Is the comma after Bagi saya necessary in Malay?

In writing, the comma after an initial phrase like Bagi saya is recommended and common, because:

It separates the introductory opinion phrase from the main clause.
It makes the sentence easier to read.

So:

Bagi saya, novel sejarah lebih menarik daripada filem aksi. ✅

In less formal writing, some people might omit it:

Bagi saya novel sejarah lebih menarik daripada filem aksi.

This is still understandable, but the version with the comma is clearer and is what you should aim for in correct written Malay.

How do you pronounce the words bagi, sejarah, filem, aksi, and daripada?

Approximate pronunciation (using English-like hints):

bagi – BAH-gee
- ba like bar (shorter), gi like gee in geese
sejarah – suh-JA-rah
- se like suh
- ja like ja in jar (without strong R)
- rah like rah in rah-rah
filem – FEE-lem or FEE-ləm
- fi like fee
- lem like lem in lemon (no final strong M puff)
aksi – AK-see
- ak like ack in back (without strong final K release)
- si like see
daripada – DAH-ree-PAH-dah
- da like duh/da
- ri like ree
- pa like pah
- da like duh/da

Malay stress is typically fairly even; you don’t strongly stress one syllable the way English does.

Can you give a word-by-word breakdown of the sentence?

Sentence:

Bagi saya, novel sejarah lebih menarik daripada filem aksi.

Word-by-word:

bagi – for
saya – me / I
→ bagi saya – for me / in my view
novel – novel
sejarah – history
→ novel sejarah – history novel(s)
lebih – more
menarik – interesting / attractive
→ lebih menarik – more interesting
daripada – than (in comparisons)
filem – film / movie
aksi – action
→ filem aksi – action movie(s)

Putting it together:

Bagi saya, novel sejarah lebih menarik daripada filem aksi.
Literally: For me, history novels more interesting than action movies.
Natural English: In my opinion, history novels are more interesting than action movies.