One of the absolute best things about learning Malay is that you can throw your conjugation charts out the window.

If you’ve ever struggled with Spanish, French, or even English verb tenses (eat, ate, eaten, eating), I have some very good news for you.

Malay verbs don’t change form.

The word for “eat” is makan.

It doesn’t matter if you ate yesterday, are eating right now, or will eat next year. The word remains makan.

So, how do we know when something happened?

We use Time Markers (also known as Aspect Markers).

These are small helper words placed before the verb to tell you if an action is completed, ongoing, or planned for the future.

In this guide, I’ll break down the most common Malay time markers so you can start telling stories about your past, present, and future.

Present markers: talking about “now”

In English, we usually add “-ing” to a verb to show that an action is happening right now (Progressive/Continuous aspect).

In Malay, we use the words sedang, tengah, or masih.

Sedang (Currently)

Sedang is the standard, formal way to say you are in the middle of doing something. You will see this in writing and formal speech.

Tengah (In the middle of)

Tengah literally means “middle”. In colloquial (spoken) Malay, this is much more common than sedang.

If you are chatting with friends, you would likely use tengah.

Masih (Still)

If an action started in the past and is still continuing, we use masih. This works exactly like the word “still” in English.

Past markers: talking about completed actions

Because Malay verbs don’t turn into a “past tense” form, we use markers to show that an action is finished or “perfected”.

Sudah (Already)

Sudah is the most common way to indicate the past. It literally means “already” or “done”.

Colloquial Note: In spoken Malay, sudah is almost always shortened to dah.

Telah (Have/Did)

Telah is very similar to sudah, but it is much more formal. You will mostly find this in newspapers, books, or formal speeches. It is rarely used in casual conversation.

Pernah (Have ever)

This is a very specific and useful marker. Pernah indicates that you have the experience of doing something at least once in your life. It translates to “have ever”.

If you want to say “I have been to Bali” (as an experience), you use pernah, not sudah.

Baru (Just / Recently)

If you just finished doing something a moment ago, use baru.

Future markers: talking about what will happen

Talking about the future is straightforward. There is primarily one word you need to know, though there is a colloquial variation.

Akan (Will)

Akan is the standard word for “will”. You place it before the verb to show it hasn’t happened yet.

Nak (Want / Going to)

Technically, nak is the short form of hendak, which means “want”.

However, in casual spoken Malay, nak is often used like the English “gonna” or “going to”. It implies intention or an immediate future action.

The “not yet” marker

This is one of the most important words in Malay grammar.

If someone asks you “Have you eaten?” (Sudah makan?), you cannot answer with “Tidak sudah” (No already). That doesn’t make sense in Malay.

Instead, you must use the word Belum.

Belum means “not yet”.

Summary table

Here is a quick cheat sheet to help you remember the differences between formal and colloquial use.