Adik perempuan saya gaul kubis dengan mayonis, tetapi saya lebih suka kubis dengan cuka.

Malay usually puts:

• the main noun first
• descriptions after it
• possession after the whole noun phrase

So:

• adik = younger sibling
• perempuan = female
• saya = my / I

Literally, adik perempuan saya is something like younger sibling female my, which natural English turns into my younger sister.

This same pattern appears in many simple phrases:

• rumah saya = my house
• kawan baik saya = my good friend
• kereta merah itu = that red car

Malay often talks about siblings in terms of relative age first.

Common words are:

• adik = younger sibling
• kakak = older sister / older female sibling
• abang = older brother / older male sibling

So adik perempuan specifically means younger sister. If the gender is already clear from context, people may simply say adik.

This is different from English, where sister does not automatically tell you whether she is older or younger.

In Malay, the same pronoun can often mean either:

• I when it stands alone as the subject
• my when it comes after a noun

So:

• saya suka kubis = I like cabbage
• adik saya = my younger sibling
• rumah saya = my house

Malay does not need a separate word like English my in this structure.

Here gaul means mix, toss, or stir together, especially with food.

In this sentence, gaul kubis dengan mayonis suggests mixing the cabbage with mayonnaise so the mayonnaise coats it.

Compared with campur:

• gaul often feels more like physically tossing or combining ingredients
• campur is more general: mix, combine, include

So both can relate to mixing, but gaul is a good choice for food preparation like salads.

This is a very common learner question.

In more formal or careful Malay, active verbs often take a meN- prefix:

• gaul → menggaul

But in everyday spoken Malaysian Malay, that prefix is often dropped, especially in casual style. So:

• Adik perempuan saya gaul kubis... sounds conversational
• Adik perempuan saya menggaul kubis... sounds more formal or textbook-like

Both are understandable, but the version without the prefix is very common in casual speech.

Dengan means with, and it appears twice here.

1. gaul kubis dengan mayonis
   Here it marks what the cabbage is being mixed with.

2. kubis dengan cuka
   Here it describes cabbage served or combined with vinegar.

So the core meaning is the same in both places: association or combination.

Literally, lebih means more, and suka means like.

So lebih suka is literally like more, which English normally expresses as prefer.

Examples:

• Saya suka teh. = I like tea.
• Saya lebih suka teh. = I prefer tea.

In your sentence, tetapi saya lebih suka kubis dengan cuka means the speaker likes the vinegar version better.

Repeating the noun is very normal in Malay and often makes the sentence clearer.

• kubis dengan mayonis
• kubis dengan cuka

This creates a neat contrast between two versions of the same thing.

If you said saya lebih suka dengan cuka, that could sound incomplete or less clear, because lebih suka usually needs something specific after it. Repeating kubis avoids ambiguity.

Yes. Tetapi is a standard, correct word for but.

In casual speech, many people often use:

• tapi

So:

• tetapi = more formal / standard
• tapi = very common in everyday conversation

The meaning is basically the same.

Malay usually does not use articles the way English does.

So:

• kubis can mean cabbage, the cabbage, or some cabbage
• context tells you which meaning is intended

That is why the sentence can sound complete without words corresponding to a or the.

The sentence mostly follows a Subject-Verb-Object pattern.

First clause:

• Adik perempuan saya = subject
• gaul = verb
• kubis = object
• dengan mayonis = prepositional phrase

Second clause:

• saya = subject
• lebih suka = verb phrase
• kubis dengan cuka = what is preferred

So overall, the structure is quite close to English word order.

Not directly. Malay verbs do not change form for tense the way English verbs do.

So this sentence could mean something like:

• a present habit
• a general preference
• something happening now

The time usually comes from context or from extra time words such as:

• sekarang = now
• semalam = yesterday
• esok = tomorrow

Without those, the sentence is naturally understood from the situation.