Breakdown of Pada musim jerebu, kita perlu memakai topeng ketika berjalan di luar.
Questions & Answers about Pada musim jerebu, kita perlu memakai topeng ketika berjalan di luar.
Pada is a preposition that often means "in / on / at" when talking about time.
- pada musim jerebu = in the haze season
- musim jerebu alone just means haze season without saying in/at/during.
You normally use pada before:
- days, dates, and time: pada hari Isnin (on Monday), pada pukul 3 (at 3 o’clock)
- periods: pada waktu malam (at night), pada musim panas (in summer)
Here, pada makes the phrase clearly mean "during the haze season", not just haze season as a noun phrase.
Yes, jerebu means haze / smog, especially the kind caused by air pollution or forest fires.
- musim = season
- jerebu = haze
So musim jerebu is like “the haze season” – a period of time when the air is often hazy and polluted. This is a common phrase in Malaysia and Singapore because haze problems happen regularly in certain months.
Malay has two words for we:
- kita = we / us (including the listener)
- Example: Kita pergi makan. = Let’s go eat / We (you and I) go eat.
- kami = we / us (excluding the listener)
- Example: Kami sudah makan. = We (but not you) have eaten.
In kita perlu memakai topeng, the speaker is including the listener in the group that needs to wear masks – it’s a general statement like “We all need to wear masks”. That’s why kita is correct here.
Using kami would sound like “We (but not you) need to wear masks”, which would be odd in this context.
Perlu means need to / necessary to.
- kita perlu memakai topeng = we need to wear masks / it is necessary for us to wear masks.
Compared with others:
- mesti = must, stronger and more obligatory
- Kita mesti memakai topeng. = We must wear masks.
- harus / patut = often translate as should / ought to, more like advice
- Kita patut memakai topeng. = We should wear masks.
Perlu is in between must and should. It states a necessity but doesn’t always sound as strict as mesti.
Both memakai and pakai mean to wear / to put on.
- memakai is the formal / standard form with the prefix meN-.
- pakai is the base verb and is very common in speech and casual writing.
In everyday conversation, people often say:
- Saya pakai topeng. = I wear a mask.
In a more formal or neutral written sentence like this one, memakai fits very well:
- kita perlu memakai topeng = we need to wear masks.
Grammatically, both are correct; the choice is about style and formality.
Topeng is a general word for mask, including:
- costume masks, theater masks
- traditional masks
- medical or protective masks
However, for modern health-related contexts (like COVID), Malay also uses:
- pelitup muka = literally face covering (more technical / official)
- topeng muka = face mask
In everyday speech, many people simply say topeng when the context is clear, so in this sentence it is naturally understood as a protective face mask.
Ketika means when / while and introduces a time clause:
- ketika berjalan di luar = when (we are) walking outside / while walking outside
Comparisons:
- ketika – fairly neutral and common in both spoken and written Malay.
- semasa – very similar to ketika, often used in formal or written contexts.
- apabila – often used like when in if-then or descriptive sentences, can be quite formal.
- bila – very common in speech, often means when (or whenever) and also used in questions (Bila? = When?).
In this sentence, ketika is a natural choice and sounds neutral and correct in both writing and speech.
Malay usually does not mark tense with separate words like am / is / are / will. Instead, the tense is understood from:
- context
- time phrases (like pada musim jerebu)
- sometimes adverbs like sudah (already), akan (will), sedang (currently).
In Pada musim jerebu, kita perlu memakai topeng ketika berjalan di luar, the idea is general and habitual:
- During the haze season, we need to wear masks when walking outside.
It can cover present and future (whenever haze season occurs). No extra tense word is needed; Malay speakers automatically understand the time from the whole sentence.
Yes, Malay word order is flexible with time and place phrases. All of these are grammatical, though the emphasis changes slightly:
- Pada musim jerebu, kita perlu memakai topeng ketika berjalan di luar.
- Time phrase at the beginning; emphasizes “during the haze season”.
- Kita perlu memakai topeng ketika berjalan di luar pada musim jerebu.
- Time phrase at the end; still natural, a bit more “neutral” in flow.
- Kita perlu memakai topeng pada musim jerebu ketika berjalan di luar.
- Also acceptable; sounds like you are adding details step by step.
All three mean essentially the same thing. Putting pada musim jerebu first is a common way to set the scene.
Di is a preposition meaning at / in / on (for locations).
- luar = outside (the noun / concept of “outside”)
- di luar = outside (somewhere) as a location phrase
In sentences, you normally use di:
- berjalan di luar = to walk outside
- di luar rumah = outside the house
Using luar alone would sound incomplete in this position. Di luar is the correct form for “outside” as a location in this sentence.
Literally, berjalan means to walk (to move on foot).
- berjalan di luar = to walk outside / walking outside
Sometimes, in context, berjalan can be used more loosely to mean “to move about / go around,” but it still implies movement. If you want to say being outside more generally, you might say:
- berada di luar = to be outside
- duduk di luar = to sit / stay outside
So in this sentence, ketika berjalan di luar focuses on the activity of walking around outside, not just being outdoors in general.