Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya mahu habiskan novel itu malam ini.

mahu – neutral, standard, very common in both speech and writing.
ingin – a bit more formal or “polite / refined”, often used in writing, speeches, or when being careful/polite.
hendak – quite formal or old‑fashioned in many areas; in some dialects it sounds normal, in others it sounds bookish.
nak – very colloquial, informal spoken Malay (shortened from hendak).

So you could also hear:

Saya nak habiskan novel itu malam ini. (informal spoken)
Saya ingin menghabiskan novel itu malam ini. (more formal, written or careful speech)

The core meaning (want to) stays the same; the difference is mainly formality and style.

Why is it habiskan and not just habis? What does the -kan ending do?

The base word habis means finished / used up / over.

Adding -kan makes it a transitive verb: to finish something / to use something up.

habis – can be an adjective/adverb:
- Novel itu sudah habis. = That novel is already finished.
- Duit saya habis. = My money is (all) gone.
habiskan – transitive verb: you do the finishing to an object:
- Saya mahu habiskan novel itu. = I want to finish that novel.
- Dia habiskan duitnya. = He/She used up his/her money.

So in Saya mahu habiskan novel itu malam ini, you must have -kan, because novel itu is the object you are finishing.

Saying Saya mahu habis novel itu malam ini sounds ungrammatical or at least very odd in standard Malay.

What is the object of habiskan in this sentence?

The object of habiskan is novel itu.

Verb: habiskan (finish)
Object: novel itu (that novel / the novel)
Time expression: malam ini (tonight)

So the structure is:

Saya (subject) mahu habiskan (verb phrase) novel itu (object) malam ini (time).

What does novel itu mean exactly? Is itu just “that”, or does it also mean “the”?

Literally, novel itu is that novel.

However, in Malay, itu (that) and ini (this) are also used to show definiteness, similar to English the.

So novel itu often means:

that novel (we both know which one)
or more loosely:
the novel (the specific one we’ve been talking about)

If you said just novel with no itu/ini, it would sound more like:

a novel / novels (in general)

Examples:

Saya suka baca novel. = I like reading novels. (general)
Saya suka novel itu. = I like that novel / that particular novel. (specific)

Could I say novel ini instead of novel itu? What would change?

Yes, you can say novel ini.

novel itu – that novel / the novel (further away, or already mentioned).
novel ini – this novel / this novel (physically close to you, or very “present” in context).

So:

Saya mahu habiskan novel itu malam ini.
→ I want to finish that novel tonight (maybe it’s over there, or just “the one we talked about”).
Saya mahu habiskan novel ini malam ini.
→ I want to finish this novel tonight (maybe you’re holding it, or it’s right in front of you).

How do we know this sentence is about the future (tonight) if the verb doesn’t change form?

Malay verbs generally do not change form for tense (past/present/future). Instead, time is shown by context and time words.

In this sentence:

mahu = want to (shows intention; usually about the future)
malam ini = tonight

Together, they clearly point to the future.

So:

Saya mahu habiskan novel itu malam ini.
→ I want to finish that novel tonight. (future intention)

If you change the time phrase:

Saya sudah habiskan novel itu semalam.
→ I already finished that novel yesterday. (past)
(sudah = already, semalam = yesterday)

The verb habiskan itself doesn’t change; you add adverbs like sudah, akan, sedang, and time words (yesterday, now, later) to show time.

What level of politeness is saya? Could I use aku instead?

Saya is the default polite/neutral first‑person pronoun in Malay. It’s appropriate in:

talking to strangers
work situations
talking to older people
most everyday contexts where you aren’t very close or are being respectful

Aku is informal/intimate. It’s used:

with close friends
within family
in very casual settings
often in songs, poems, and fiction

So:

Saya mahu habiskan novel itu malam ini.
→ Neutral/polite, safe everywhere.
Aku nak habiskan novel itu malam ini.
→ Casual, used with friends or people you’re close to.

Be careful: using aku with someone you don’t know well can sound rude or too familiar.

Can we drop saya and just say Mahu habiskan novel itu malam ini?

In careful or standard Malay, you normally keep the subject pronoun, so Saya mahu… is better.

However, in very casual spoken Malay, speakers sometimes drop saya/aku if the subject is obvious from context. For example, among close friends:

Nak habiskan novel itu malam ini.
(context makes it clear it’s about “I”)

For learners and in most situations, it’s safer and clearer to keep saya:

Saya mahu habiskan…

Is the word order fixed, or can I move malam ini to the front?

The word order is fairly flexible. All of these are grammatical, with slightly different emphasis:

Saya mahu habiskan novel itu malam ini.
→ Neutral: subject–verb–object–time. Very common.
Malam ini saya mahu habiskan novel itu.
→ Emphasis on tonight (as for tonight, I want to finish that novel).
Saya malam ini mahu habiskan novel itu.
→ Less common; can sound a bit marked or “literary”.

In everyday speech, (1) and (2) are the most natural. Starting with time expressions (Malam ini, Esok, Nanti petang) is very common when you want to highlight the time.

Why is there no preposition like pada before malam ini? Is pada malam ini also correct?

Yes, pada malam ini is grammatically correct, but in everyday speech, time expressions usually appear without pada.

Saya mahu habiskan novel itu malam ini.
→ Most natural in casual conversation.
Saya mahu habiskan novel itu pada malam ini.
→ More formal, often found in writing, announcements, speeches, or when you want to sound very precise.

So, spoken Malay: usually no preposition for simple time expressions (malam ini, esok, minggu depan, etc.).

Is Saya menghabiskan novel itu malam ini also correct? What’s the difference from Saya mahu habiskan…?

Yes, Saya menghabiskan novel itu malam ini is grammatically correct, but it’s not quite the same:

Saya mahu habiskan novel itu malam ini.
→ I want to finish that novel tonight. (intention, plan)
Saya menghabiskan novel itu malam ini.
→ I am finishing / finish that novel tonight.
(stating the act, more like a report; sounds written/formal, and a bit odd without extra context)

Also, menghabiskan is more typical in formal written Malay. In speech, habiskan after modal verbs like mahu, boleh, mesti is far more common:

Saya boleh habiskan novel itu hari ini.
Dia mesti habiskan kerja itu sekarang.

Could habiskan here mean “use up” instead of “finish reading”?

Literally, habiskan means to finish / to use up / to exhaust something. The exact nuance depends on the object and context.

habiskan novel – almost always understood as finish reading the novel.
habiskan duit – use up / spend all the money.
habiskan makanan – finish the food / eat it all.

In Saya mahu habiskan novel itu malam ini, because the object is novel, learners and native speakers automatically interpret it as finish reading that novel tonight.

Is there a more explicit way to say “finish reading” the novel, not just “finish” it?

Yes. You can add baca (read):

Saya mahu baca sampai habis novel itu malam ini.
→ I want to read that novel until it’s finished tonight.
Saya mahu habiskan membaca novel itu malam ini.
→ I want to finish reading that novel tonight. (more formal)

But in everyday speech, Saya mahu habiskan novel itu malam ini is usually enough; people will assume you mean finish reading.

How would this sentence sound in very casual, spoken Malay?

A very natural casual version would be:

Aku nak habiskan novel tu malam ni.

Changes:

saya → aku (informal I)
mahu → nak (informal want)
itu → tu (colloquial shortening)
ini → ni (if used)

So:

Standard: Saya mahu habiskan novel itu malam ini.
Casual: Aku nak habiskan novel tu malam ni.