Learn Hardcore Malay: Guru menegaskan bahawa bahasa yang sopan penting dalam masyarakat. - The teacher emphasizes that polite language is important in society.

The root is tegas = firm, strict, definite.
With the prefix and suffix (meN-
- -kan) you get menegaskan = to state firmly, to stress, to assert, to emphasize.

So Guru menegaskan … is closer to:

“The teacher emphasized …”
“The teacher stressed/insisted that …” rather than just “The teacher said …”.

It sounds fairly formal and shows that the teacher is making a clear, firm point, not just casually mentioning it.

What does bahawa do in this sentence? Can I leave it out?

Bahawa is a conjunction that introduces a clause, like English “that” in “He said that …”.

Guru menegaskan bahawa … = “The teacher emphasized that …”

You can leave it out in many contexts, especially in speech:

Guru menegaskan bahasa yang sopan penting dalam masyarakat.

This is still grammatical and understandable. However:

Including bahawa feels more formal and clear, especially in writing.
In formal texts (essays, news, official writing), verbs like menegaskan, menyatakan, menjelaskan, menambah are very often followed by bahawa.

Why do we use yang in bahasa yang sopan? What is yang doing here?

Yang links a noun to a description that comes after it. It’s often called a relative marker or a linker.

In bahasa yang sopan:

bahasa = language / way of speaking
sopan = polite
yang links them: “language that is polite” or “language which is polite”.

So the structure is:

[noun] + yang + [adjective / phrase / clause]
bahasa
- yang
  - sopan
    → “language which is polite / polite language”

Could I just say bahasa sopan instead of bahasa yang sopan? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say bahasa sopan, and it is correct.

bahasa sopan and bahasa yang sopan both mean “polite language”.

The difference is mostly nuance and style:

bahasa sopan
- Shorter, a bit more neutral.
- Common in everyday speech and writing.
bahasa yang sopan
- Slightly more formal or careful.
- Can sound a bit more specific or emphasized: “language which is polite”.

In this sentence, either bahasa sopan or bahasa yang sopan would work naturally.

Why is there no word like “is” before penting? When should I use adalah?

Malay does not need a verb like “is/are” before adjectives. The adjective itself can function as the predicate.

bahasa yang sopan penting
literally: “polite language important”
= “polite language is important”

About adalah:

adalah often links a noun to another noun/phrase:
- Dia adalah doktor. = “He/She is a doctor.”
Before adjectives, adalah is usually optional and more formal:
- Bahasa yang sopan adalah penting dalam masyarakat. (formal, written style)
- Bahasa yang sopan penting dalam masyarakat. (natural, neutral)

In everyday Malay, it’s very common to omit adalah before adjectives.

Can penting go before the noun, like “important polite language”, or must it come after?

In Malay, descriptive words like penting (important) and sopan (polite) normally come after the noun.

So you say:

bahasa yang sopan penting
not penting bahasa yang sopan

To express ideas like “the importance of polite language”, Malay usually changes the structure instead of moving the adjective in front:

kepentingan bahasa yang sopan
= “the importance of polite language”
kepentingan = importance (noun, from penting)

Could the sentence be Guru menegaskan kepentingan bahasa yang sopan dalam masyarakat? How does that change the meaning?

Yes, that’s a very natural variant:

Guru menegaskan bahawa bahasa yang sopan penting dalam masyarakat.
= The teacher emphasized that polite language is important in society.
Guru menegaskan kepentingan bahasa yang sopan dalam masyarakat.
= The teacher emphasized the importance of polite language in society.

So:

First sentence: emphasizes a statement (…is important).
Second sentence: emphasizes a concept (the importance).

Both are correct; the second one sounds a bit more abstract or academic because of kepentingan (“importance”).

Can I use menekankan instead of menegaskan? What is the difference?

Yes, you can; they are close in meaning but with slightly different flavour.

menegaskan (from tegas = firm)
- to state firmly, to assert, to make something clear and definite
- feels like “insisted / stated firmly that…”
menekankan (from tekan = press)
- to put emphasis on, to stress, to highlight
- feels like “emphasized the importance of…”

In this sentence:

Guru menegaskan bahawa bahasa yang sopan penting …
= The teacher firmly stated/insisted that polite language is important.
Guru menekankan bahawa bahasa yang sopan penting …
= The teacher emphasized that polite language is important.

Both are acceptable; menegaskan can sound a bit more “firm/authoritative”, menekankan a bit more “highlighting/underscoring”.

Does bahasa here mean the Malay language specifically, or just language in general?

Here bahasa means “language / way of speaking” in general, not specifically Malay.

If you wanted to say “Malay language”, you would usually say bahasa Melayu.
In phrases like:
- bahasa yang sopan (polite language)
- bahasa kasar (rude language)
- bahasa istana (court language, royal register) bahasa is about style or manner of speaking, not a specific national language.

So the sentence is about using polite speech in society, regardless of which language you’re speaking.

What is the nuance of dalam masyarakat? Could we use di masyarakat instead?

Dalam and di can both be translated as “in”, but they feel a bit different.

dalam masyarakat = “within society / in society”
- Very common fixed expression.
- Sounds natural and idiomatic when talking about abstract contexts like values, norms, roles.
di masyarakat is grammatically possible, but much less common in this kind of phrase; speakers usually prefer:
- dalam masyarakat
- dalam masyarakat kita (in our society)
- dalam kalangan masyarakat (among the public)

So in this sentence, dalam masyarakat is the most natural and standard choice.

Is masyarakat singular or plural? And how would I say “in our society”?

Masyarakat is a collective noun; it can cover both singular “society” and a general “the public / the community”.

In this sentence, masyarakat ≈ “society” or “the community” in general.
Plural is rarely needed, but masyarakat-masyarakat exists for “different societies”.

To say “in our society”, you can say:

dalam masyarakat kita
= “in our society”
kita = we/our (inclusive)

Why don’t we see words like “the” or “a” before guru and masyarakat?

Malay does not have articles like “a/an” or “the”. There’s no direct equivalent of English articles.

guru can mean “a teacher”, “the teacher”, or “teachers (in general)”, depending on context.
masyarakat can mean “a society”, “the society”, or “society in general”.

If you really need to be specific, Malay uses other words:

seorang guru = a (single) teacher
guru itu = that / the teacher
masyarakat itu = that society / that community

In this sentence, guru and masyarakat are understood generically from context: “the teacher” and “(in) society” in a general sense.

What level of formality is this sentence, and how might people say something similar in everyday conversation?

This sentence is fairly formal/standard, suitable for:

school essays
textbooks
speeches
news articles

A more everyday, spoken version might be:

Cikgu tekankan yang kita kena guna bahasa yang sopan dalam masyarakat.
(Colloquial: “The teacher stresses that we must use polite language in society.”)

Changes you might notice in casual speech:

guru → cikgu (more colloquial for “teacher”)
menegaskan → tekankan / cakap dengan tegas / ingatkan
bahawa → yang or omitted entirely
Possible use of kita (“we/our”) to make it more personal: dalam masyarakat kita

Can I start the sentence with Bahasa yang sopan or Dalam masyarakat instead of Guru?

Yes, you can move parts of the sentence to change the focus, as long as the grammar is adjusted correctly.

Fronting the “polite language” part:
- Bahasa yang sopan penting dalam masyarakat, tegas guru itu.
  = “Polite language is important in society, the teacher stressed.”
Here tegas guru itu literally means “said the teacher firmly”.
Fronting the “in society” part:
- Dalam masyarakat, bahasa yang sopan penting, tegas guru itu.
  = “In society, polite language is important, the teacher stressed.”

Malay allows this kind of fronting for emphasis or style, especially in writing, but the original order Guru menegaskan bahawa … is the most neutral.