Learn Hardcore Malay: Skrin komputer terlalu terang, jadi saya kurangkan cahaya supaya mata saya tidak sakit. - The computer screen is too bright, so I reduce the brightness so that my eyes do not hurt.

Skrin komputer terlalu terang
= The computer screen is *too bright* (it’s a problem; it needs to be reduced).
Skrin komputer sangat terang
= The computer screen is *very bright* (just describing; not automatically a problem).

So terlalu usually implies a negative consequence or that something is beyond what is comfortable/acceptable, which fits the second part of the sentence: the eyes might hurt.

Why is it kurangkan and not just kurang? What’s going on with that form?

The root word is kurang (“less / lacking / not enough”).

As an adjective/stative verb:
- Gaji saya kurang. = My salary is not enough / is lacking.

To make a transitive verb (“to reduce / to make [something] less”), Malay uses the meN-…-kan pattern:

mengurangkan = to reduce / to lower something
- Saya mengurangkan cahaya. = I reduce the light.

In everyday speech, especially in Malaysia, speakers often drop the meN- prefix when the subject is clear:

Saya kurangkan cahaya.
= I reduce the light / I lower the brightness.

So in your sentence:

kurangkan = a shortened spoken form of mengurangkan
It must have an object: kurangkan cahaya = reduce the light.

Just “kurang” without -kan would usually not take a direct object in this sense:

Cahaya kurang. = The light is not enough / is lacking.
(not “I reduce the light”)

Does cahaya here mean “light” or “brightness”? Could I say kecerahan instead?

Literally, cahaya means “light”. In everyday usage, especially about screens and lamps, kurangkan cahaya is naturally understood as “turn down / reduce the light (level)”, which matches “lower the brightness”.

If you want to be more technical or precise, you could say:

Saya kurangkan kecerahan skrin komputer.
= I reduce the computer screen’s brightness.

Here:

kecerahan = brightness (from cerah “bright”)
cahaya = light

In normal conversation, kurangkan cahaya feels perfectly natural and is less formal than kurangkan kecerahan, but both are correct depending on how technical/formal you want to sound.

What exactly does jadi do here? Is it the same jadi as “to become”?

Yes, jadi has two common uses:

As a verb: “to become”
- Dia jadi doktor. = He/She becomes a doctor.
As a conjunction: “so / therefore / as a result”
- Skrin komputer terlalu terang, jadi saya kurangkan cahaya.
  = The computer screen is too bright, so I reduce the light.

In your sentence, jadi is used purely as a conjunction meaning “so / therefore”, linking a cause (too bright) to a result/action (I reduce the light).

More formal alternatives as conjunctions include:

oleh itu
maka (more literary)

What does supaya mean here, and how is it different from untuk or agar?

In this sentence:

supaya roughly means “so that / in order that” and introduces a desired result.

…saya kurangkan cahaya supaya mata saya tidak sakit.
…I reduce the light so that my eyes do not hurt.

Comparison:

supaya
- Focus: the intended result.
- Common in both spoken and written Malay.
- Often followed by a clause (subject + verb):
  - supaya mata saya tidak sakit (subject: mata saya, verb: tidak sakit).
agar
- Very similar in meaning to supaya, but slightly more formal / bookish.
- You could say:
  - …supaya mata saya tidak sakit.
  - …agar mata saya tidak sakit.
    Both are correct.
untuk
- Usually means “for / to (do something)”.
- Often followed by a noun or a verb phrase (infinitive-like):
  - untuk mata saya = for my eyes
  - untuk melindungi mata saya = to protect my eyes
- Less natural here if you keep the rest of the clause the same. You’d normally restructure:
  - Saya kurangkan cahaya untuk melindungi mata saya.
    = I reduce the light to protect my eyes.

So, supaya is ideal here because we’re introducing a full clause (my eyes do not hurt) as the result/purpose.

Why is it mata saya and not something that explicitly shows plural like “my eyes”? Does Malay mark plural here?

Malay usually does not mark plural on nouns, unless you want to be very explicit or emphasize “many”.

mata saya can mean:
- my eye (if context is singular)
- my eyes (most natural interpretation here)

Plural is normally understood from context. When you talk about screen brightness and eye strain, it’s naturally both eyes, so mata saya is understood as my eyes.

You could say mata-mata saya, but:

Reduplication (mata-mata) can mark plural, but
In this case it sounds unnatural and is almost never used for “my eyes” in this context.
mata-mata on its own can also have a different idiomatic meaning (“spies” / “informers”) in Malay.

So just use mata saya for my eye(s); the English plural is handled by context, not by changing the Malay word.

Why is tidak used before sakit? Could we use bukan instead?

Malay has two main words for “not”:

tidak
- Used before verbs and adjectives.
- Examples:
  - Saya tidak faham. = I don’t understand. (verb)
  - Dia tidak marah. = He/She is not angry. (adjective)
bukan
- Used before nouns and pronouns, or to contrast identity/category.
- Examples:
  - Dia bukan doktor. = He/She is not a doctor. (noun)
  - Ini bukan kereta saya. = This is not my car.

In your sentence:

sakit is used like an adjective (“in pain / hurting / sore”).
Therefore, you must use tidak:

mata saya tidak sakit
my eyes are not hurting / do not hurt

✘ mata saya bukan sakit is ungrammatical in this meaning.

Is sakit here a verb (“hurt”) or an adjective (“painful”)? Could we say it in a different way?

Malay does not sharply separate verbs and adjectives the way English does. Many words play both roles depending on context, and sakit is one of them.

Here:

mata saya tidak sakit
can be understood as
- my eyes are not painful (adjectival), or
- my eyes do not hurt (verbal).

Both interpretations are fine; the structure is the same in Malay.

Alternative, slightly different expressions:

…supaya mata saya tidak rasa sakit.
= …so that my eyes don’t feel pain.
…supaya mata saya tidak pedih.
= …so that my eyes don’t sting.
…supaya mata saya tidak letih.
= …so that my eyes don’t get tired.

The original mata saya tidak sakit is common and natural for general eye discomfort.

How does the word order in Skrin komputer terlalu terang work? Why skrin komputer and not something like komputer skrin?

Malay word order in noun phrases is generally:

HEAD noun + modifiers

In skrin komputer:

skrin = screen (HEAD noun)
komputer = computer (modifier, specifying type)

So skrin komputer = computer screen (literally screen [of] computer).

You do not say komputer skrin for this meaning; that would be unnatural, like saying “computer of screen” in English.

The full clause:

Skrin komputer terlalu terang.
- Subject (noun phrase): Skrin komputer
- Predicate (adjective phrase): terlalu terang = too bright

So literally: Computer screen too bright.
Malay doesn’t need a separate verb “to be” in this type of sentence.

There’s no tense marking in the Malay sentence. How would I say “was too bright” or “will be too bright”?

Malay typically does not mark tense on the verb. Tense and time are shown by:

Context
Time words like semalam (yesterday), tadi (just now), nanti (later), akan (will), etc.

Your original sentence is neutral; it can be understood as present or general truth:

Skrin komputer terlalu terang…
= The computer screen is too bright…

To make it clearly past:

Tadi skrin komputer terlalu terang, jadi saya kurangkan cahaya…
= Earlier the computer screen was too bright, so I reduced the light…

To make it clearly future:

Nanti skrin komputer akan terlalu terang, jadi saya akan kurangkan cahaya…
= Later the computer screen will be too bright, so I will reduce the light…

Commonly, people just add akan before the verb for future, or a time adverb, but in many contexts, no tense marker is needed at all.

Why is saya used? Could we use aku here instead?

Both saya and aku mean “I / me”, but they differ in formality and social context:

saya
- More polite, neutral, and formal.
- Used with people you don’t know well, in professional contexts, or in writing.
- Fits this sentence well; it sounds neutral and polite.
aku
- More informal and intimate.
- Used with close friends, family (depending on family style), or in casual speech.
- You can say:
  - …jadi aku kurangkan cahaya supaya mata aku tidak sakit.
    But the whole sentence then sounds more casual.

So yes, aku is grammatically fine, but it changes the tone. For learners, saya is usually the safest default in most situations.