Saya semak bajet bulanan di telefon setiap minggu.

I check the monthly budget on the phone every week.

Breakdown of Saya semak bajet bulanan di telefon setiap minggu.

• saya: I
• setiap: every
• di: on
• telefon: the phone
• semak: to check
• bajet: the budget
• minggu: the week
• bulanan: monthly

Questions & Answers about Saya semak bajet bulanan di telefon setiap minggu.

What does semak mean here? Is it the same as “to check”?

In this sentence, semak means to check / to review / to go through something carefully.

It’s a normal, standard verb for actions like:

• checking a budget
• checking homework
• checking a document or form

Rough English equivalents in this context: check, review, go over.
It does not mean “to tick” a box (for that you’d more likely hear tanda, tandakan, or colloquially tik).

Why is it saya semak and not saya menyemak? Are both correct?

Both forms are possible, but they differ in style:

• Saya menyemak bajet bulanan…

  • Uses the meN- prefix (menyemak).
  • More formal / textbook / written Malay.
  • Very safe in writing and in careful speech.

• Saya semak bajet bulanan…

  • Drops the meN- prefix and uses the root semak.
  • Very common in everyday spoken Malay, especially in Malaysia.
  • Feels more casual / conversational.

As a learner:

• Use menyemak in formal writing or exams.
• Expect to hear and see semak a lot in speech, on social media, and in informal texts.

What exactly is bajet? Is it just the English word “budget”?

Yes, bajet is a loanword from English “budget”, adapted to Malay spelling and pronunciation.

• Meaning: budget (a plan for income and expenses).
• Common and natural in everyday Malay: bajet bulanan, bajet tahunan, bajet makanan, etc.

You might also see belanjawan, which is:

• more formal and often used for government budgets:
  belanjawan negara = the national budget
• for a personal budget, bajet is much more common than belanjawan.

How does bulanan work? Why not just say bajet bulan?

Bulanan is formed from:

• bulan = month
• -an (suffix) → forms an adjective or noun meaning “monthly / per month”

So:

• bajet bulanan = monthly budget (a budget defined on a monthly basis)

If you said bajet bulan, it would sound incomplete or odd, like “budget of the month” without context.

You can also say:

• bajet setiap bulan = budget (that you handle) every month

Difference in feel:

• bajet bulanan → the type of budget (a monthly budget, as a category)
• bajet setiap bulan → emphasises the repeated action (“every month” you do something with the budget)

Both are correct, but here bajet bulanan is the most natural choice.

Could I say bajet saya or bajet bulanan saya? Where do I put saya?

Yes, you can add saya to show possession more explicitly:

• bajet saya = my budget
• bajet bulanan saya = my monthly budget

In Malay, the possessor comes after the noun:

• noun + possessor
  bajet saya, telefon saya, akaun bank saya

So you could say:

• Saya semak bajet bulanan saya di telefon setiap minggu.
  = I check my monthly budget on the phone every week.

In the original sentence, my is understood from saya, so native speakers are fine with just bajet bulanan unless there’s a risk of confusion about whose budget it is.

Why is the preposition di used in di telefon? Can I use pada or dalam instead?

di is the usual preposition for locations and surfaces, and with devices it commonly means “on (a device)”:

• di telefon = on the phone
• di komputer = on the computer
• di tablet = on the tablet

Alternatives:

• pada telefon

  • Grammatically correct but sounds more formal / bookish.
  • Much less common in everyday speech for this meaning.

• dalam telefon

  • Literally “inside the phone”.
  • Used if you really mean inside the phone (memory/storage), e.g.
    Gambar itu ada dalam telefon saya. = The photo is in my phone.

So for “I check my monthly budget on my phone”, di telefon is the most natural choice.

Does di telefon ever mean “on the phone (talking to someone)”?

It can, depending on context, but usually Malay makes it clearer:

• bercakap di telefon / bergayut di telefon
  = talking on the phone
• melalui telefon
  = via phone / by phone

In the sentence Saya semak bajet bulanan di telefon setiap minggu, the presence of bajet and semak strongly suggests “on the phone (device)”, not “while talking to someone on the phone”.

Can I move setiap minggu to the front, like in English “Every week I check…”?

Yes. Both of these are correct:

1. Saya semak bajet bulanan di telefon setiap minggu.
2. Setiap minggu saya semak bajet bulanan di telefon.

Differences:

• Sentence 1 (time at the end) is very neutral and very common.
• Sentence 2 (time at the start) puts a bit more emphasis on the frequency (“Every week, I…”), similar to English.

Malay is quite flexible with time expressions; both orders are natural.

How is the tense expressed? Does Saya semak… mean “I check”, “I am checking”, or “I checked”?

Malay verbs do not change form for tense. Saya semak… on its own could mean:

• I check
• I am checking
• I checked
• I will check

The actual tense/aspect comes from context and from time words.
Here, setiap minggu (“every week”) clearly shows a habitual action, so the most natural English equivalent is:

• I check my monthly budget on my phone every week.

To be more explicit, Malay can add particles:

• past: sudah, telah
  Saya sudah semak bajet bulanan. = I have checked…
• future: akan
  Saya akan semak bajet bulanan. = I will check…

Why is minggu not plural? Shouldn’t it be “weeks”?

Malay usually doesn’t add a plural marker when there’s a word that already shows quantity, such as:

• setiap (every)
• dua (two), tiga (three), etc.
• beberapa (several), banyak (many)

So:

• setiap minggu = every week (plural sense is understood)
• tiga minggu = three weeks

You could say minggu-minggu, but that would mean “weeks and weeks / many weeks” and is not used with setiap.
So setiap minggu is exactly how you say “every week”.

What is the difference between saya and aku here?

Both mean “I / me”, but differ in politeness and context:

• saya

  • polite, neutral
  • used with strangers, in formal situations, in writing
  • safe default for learners

• aku

  • informal, intimate
  • used with close friends, family (depending on relationship), in songs, poems
  • can sound rude or overly familiar with the wrong person

So:

• Saya semak bajet bulanan… = polite/neutral
• Aku semak bajet bulanan… = casual/intimate

As a learner, stick with saya unless you are very sure aku is appropriate.

Can I use cek instead of semak, since it sounds closer to English “check”?

Yes, you will often hear and see cek (from English check) in informal contexts:

• Saya cek bajet bulanan di telefon setiap minggu.

Nuance:

• semak → standard Malay, fine in both formal and informal contexts.
• cek → more casual / colloquial, common in speech, text messages, social media.

For exams, formal writing, or when in doubt, semak is the safer choice.