Questions & Answers about Jam kerja kami fleksibel.
Literally:
- jam = hour / o’clock / time (in the sense of hours on a clock)
- kerja = work
So jam kerja literally means “work hours” or “working hours.”
You might also see:
- waktu kerja = working time
- jam kantor = office hours
Jam kerja is the most natural-and-common term for “working hours” (e.g., for a company, office, shop). Jam highlights the idea of clock hours, while waktu is broader “time” in general. In this context, jam kerja sounds more fixed and schedule-like.
Indonesian usually doesn’t use a verb like English “to be” (am/is/are) in simple equational sentences with adjectives or nouns.
The basic pattern is:
- [Subject] + [Adjective]
- Dia pintar. = He/She is smart.
- [Subject] + [Noun]
- Dia guru. = He/She is a teacher.
In the sentence:
- Jam kerja kami = our working hours (subject)
- fleksibel = flexible (adjective)
So you just put them together:
- Jam kerja kami fleksibel.
→ Literally: Our working hours flexible.
→ Natural English: Our working hours are flexible.
No extra verb is needed.
Both kami and kita mean “we / us”, but they differ in who is included:
- kami = we (excluding the person spoken to)
- kita = we (including the person spoken to)
So:
- Jam kerja kami fleksibel.
→ “Our working hours are flexible” (speaking about the group that does not include the listener, typically “our company/our team” talking to a customer or outsider).
If you say Jam kerja kita fleksibel, it can imply “our (including you) working hours are flexible,” possibly when speaking to a co‑worker or somebody who is part of the same group.
The natural subject in this sentence is jam kerja kami as a noun phrase:
- jam kerja = working hours
- kami = our
Together: jam kerja kami = our working hours.
In Indonesian, possessives (like -ku, -mu, -nya or saya, kami after a noun) often come after the noun:
- buku saya = my book
- mobil kami = our car
- jam kerja kami = our working hours
Putting kami in front (Kami jam kerja fleksibel) would be ungrammatical in this structure. If you start with Kami, it needs to function as the subject on its own:
- Kami bekerja dengan jam kerja fleksibel.
= We work with flexible working hours.
Here kami is the subject; jam kerja fleksibel is part of a prepositional phrase.
The normal order in Indonesian is:
- Noun + Adjective
Examples:
- rumah besar = big house
- mobil merah = red car
- jam kerja fleksibel = flexible working hours
In the sentence:
- Jam kerja kami = subject (a noun phrase)
- fleksibel = adjective that describes that subject
So it’s perfectly normal and expected that fleksibel comes at the end:
- Jam kerja kami fleksibel.
You generally do not say fleksibel jam kerja kami for this meaning.
Yes, fleksibel is a loanword from English flexible, adapted to Indonesian spelling and pronunciation.
Common alternatives include:
- jam kerja kami tidak kaku = our working hours are not rigid/stiff
- jam kerja kami luwes = our working hours are flexible/adaptable
- jam kerja kami bisa diatur = our working hours can be adjusted
In business and everyday modern Indonesian, fleksibel is very common and completely acceptable, especially in urban and professional contexts.
There are two very natural ways:
Add apakah at the beginning (more neutral/formal):
- Apakah jam kerja kami fleksibel?
= Are our working hours flexible?
- Apakah jam kerja kami fleksibel?
Use a rising intonation (in speech) and optionally add ya or nggak:
- Jam kerja kami fleksibel? (spoken with rising tone)
- Jam kerja kami fleksibel, ya? (implying you expect “yes”)
All of these can function as questions depending on context and intonation.
To negate an adjective like fleksibel, use tidak in front of it:
- Jam kerja kami tidak fleksibel.
= Our working hours are not flexible.
Pattern:
- [Subject] + tidak + [Adjective]
- Dia tidak sibuk. = He/She is not busy.
- Ruangannya tidak besar. = The room is not big.
- Jam kerja kami tidak fleksibel. = Our working hours are not flexible.
Indonesian does not mark tense the way English does. The sentence itself is timeless; the tense is understood from context.
Depending on context, Jam kerja kami fleksibel can mean:
- Our working hours are flexible. (present)
- Our working hours were flexible. (past, if context is past)
- Our working hours will be flexible. (future, if you are talking about a future arrangement)
If you want to be explicit, you can add time expressions:
- Dulu jam kerja kami fleksibel. = In the past, our working hours were flexible.
- Sekarang jam kerja kami fleksibel. = Now, our working hours are flexible.
- Mulai tahun depan, jam kerja kami fleksibel. = Starting next year, our working hours will be flexible.
This sentence is neutral and perfectly fine in a business or professional context.
- The vocabulary (jam kerja, kami, fleksibel) is standard.
- There is no slang or overly casual expression.
You could easily use this in:
- a job interview
- a company presentation
- a conversation with clients or customers
For written/company style, some might slightly expand it:
- Jam kerja di perusahaan kami fleksibel.
- Jam kerja karyawan kami fleksibel.
But the basic sentence is already appropriate and natural.
You just change the possessor:
- jam kerja saya = my working hours
- Jam kerja saya fleksibel. = My working hours are flexible.
Compare:
- Jam kerja saya fleksibel. = My working hours are flexible.
- Jam kerja kami fleksibel. = Our working hours are flexible.
- Jam kerja dia fleksibel. = His/Her working hours are flexible.
Yes, Jam kerja kami fleksibel is exactly how you would normally say “We have flexible working hours” in Indonesian.
Literal structure:
- Jam kerja kami = our working hours
- fleksibel = are flexible
Indonesian often uses this “X [adjective]” structure where English uses “we have X”:
- Gaji kami tinggi. = Our salary is high / We have a high salary.
- Fasilitas di sini lengkap. = The facilities here are complete / We have full facilities here.
So in natural English: Jam kerja kami fleksibel. → “We have flexible working hours.”