Mak cik saya selalu perap ayam dengan halia, tetapi hari ini dia mahu perap udang pula.

Here, mak cik means aunt or auntie.

In Malay, mak cik can mean:

• your actual aunt
• a polite way to refer to or address an older woman

Because the sentence says mak cik saya, it clearly means my aunt here.

You may also see it written as makcik. Both spellings are common.

Malay usually shows possession with this pattern:

noun + possessor

So:

• mak cik saya = my aunt
• rumah saya = my house
• kawan saya = my friend

So although it sounds like aunt my literally, the natural English translation is my aunt.

Selalu means always or usually.

In Malay, words like selalu often come before the verb:

• dia selalu datang = she always comes
• saya selalu makan di sini = I always eat here

So:

• mak cik saya selalu perap ayam... = my aunt always marinates chicken...

Perap is the base verb meaning to marinate.

In everyday Malay, especially in casual speech and cooking contexts, it is very common to use the base form perap.

The form memerap also exists and sounds more formal or careful. So:

• selalu perap ayam = very natural in conversation
• selalu memerap ayam = also possible, but more formal

After mahu, the base verb is especially common:

• mahu perap udang = wants to marinate shrimp

Malay does not need an infinitive marker like English to.

So:

• mahu perap = want to marinate
• mahu makan = want to eat
• boleh pergi = can go

This is very normal in Malay. You just put the next verb after mahu.

Dengan means with, and halia means ginger.

So dengan halia means with ginger.

In this sentence:

• perap ayam dengan halia = marinate chicken with ginger

The thing being marinated is ayam. The phrase dengan halia tells you what it is marinated with.

Both mean but.

The difference is mostly style:

• tetapi = more neutral, complete, slightly more formal
• tapi = shorter, more conversational

So in this sentence, tetapi is perfectly natural and a little more polished than tapi.

Dia can mean either he or she.

Malay third-person singular pronouns do not usually show gender the way English does. You understand the gender from context.

Here, dia refers back to mak cik saya, so in English it becomes she.

Pula is a very common Malay word with several related uses, so it often confuses learners.

In this sentence, pula gives a sense of contrast or switching to something else. A natural English idea is:

• instead
• this time
• on the other hand

So:

• hari ini dia mahu perap udang pula
  roughly means
• but today she wants to marinate shrimp instead or
• but today she wants to marinate shrimp this time

It shows a change from ayam to udang.

Malay usually does not use articles the way English does.

So:

• ayam can mean chicken, a chicken, or the chicken
• udang can mean shrimp, a shrimp, or the shrimp

The exact meaning depends on context.

In cooking sentences, English often uses ingredient nouns without an article too, so ayam = chicken and udang = shrimp/prawns sounds natural.

Malay nouns often do not change form for singular and plural.

So udang can mean:

• a shrimp
• shrimp
• prawns

Context tells you which meaning is intended.

In this sentence, because it is about cooking, udang most naturally means shrimp/prawns as an ingredient in general.

Yes.

In Malay, udang can refer to what English speakers may call shrimp or prawns. The exact translation often depends on the variety of English being used and the size/type of the animal.

So either of these can be a good translation:

• marinate shrimp
• marinate prawns

Yes:

• Mak cik saya = my aunt
• selalu = always
• perap = marinate
• ayam = chicken
• dengan = with
• halia = ginger
• tetapi = but
• hari ini = today
• dia = she
• mahu = wants to
• perap = marinate
• udang = shrimp / prawns
• pula = instead / this time / on the other hand

So the sentence structure is:

Mak cik saya | selalu perap ayam dengan halia, | tetapi hari ini | dia mahu perap udang pula.