Saya janji saya akan kembali sebelum mesyuarat bermula.

I promise I will return before the meeting starts.

Breakdown of Saya janji saya akan kembali sebelum mesyuarat bermula.

• saya: I
• sebelum: before
• akan: will
• mesyuarat: the meeting
• bermula: to start
• janji: to promise
• kembali: to return

Questions & Answers about Saya janji saya akan kembali sebelum mesyuarat bermula.

Why is saya repeated? Could we just say Saya janji akan kembali sebelum mesyuarat bermula?

The second saya is not strictly necessary; it’s there for clarity and emphasis.

• Saya janji saya akan kembali sebelum mesyuarat bermula.
  – Very clear, a bit more emphatic: “I promise I will come back…”

• Saya janji akan kembali sebelum mesyuarat bermula.
  – Also natural; the subject of akan kembali is understood to be saya.

Malay often drops repeated subjects when it’s clear from context. Keeping the second saya is fine and sounds natural; omitting it is also fine and slightly more compact.

Do we need akan to show the future? Could we say Saya janji saya kembali sebelum mesyuarat bermula?

Malay doesn’t have verb conjugation for tense. The future is shown by:

• context,
• time expressions (e.g. esok, nanti),
• or the particle akan.

In this sentence, akan makes the future meaning explicit:

• Saya janji saya akan kembali sebelum mesyuarat bermula.
  = “I promise I will come back…”

You could say Saya janji saya kembali sebelum mesyuarat bermula, and people would still understand it as future from context, but it sounds a bit off or incomplete. Adding akan is the most natural way to phrase a promise about the future here.

What is the difference between janji and berjanji? Should it be Saya berjanji instead?

Both are possible, but they differ slightly in formality and feel:

• janji

  • Noun: “promise” (e.g. Itu janji saya – “That’s my promise”)
  • Verb in everyday speech: “to promise” (e.g. Saya janji – “I promise”)

• berjanji

  • Verb: “to promise” in a more explicitly verbal, slightly more formal way.
  • Saya berjanji akan kembali… sounds more formal / careful.

So:

• Saya janji saya akan kembali… – Neutral, very common in speech.
• Saya berjanji akan kembali… – More formal, good in writing, speeches, or polite situations.

Both are correct; the given sentence is natural in regular spoken and informal written Malay.

Can saya janji go at the end, like “I’ll be back before the meeting starts, I promise”?

Yes. You can move saya janji to the end:

• Saya akan kembali sebelum mesyuarat bermula, saya janji.

This sounds very natural in speech. You can also shorten it:

• Saya akan kembali sebelum mesyuarat bermula, janji.

Here janji works like English “promise” as a tag. Intonation (a slight pause before janji) signals that it’s added for emphasis.

What’s the difference between kembali, balik, and pulang? Could we use them here?

All three can translate as “return / go back,” but they have different nuances:

• kembali

  • Neutral, standard “to return / come back”.
  • Good in both spoken and written Malay.
  • Fits perfectly in this sentence: Saya janji saya akan kembali…

• balik

  • Very common in everyday speech; slightly more casual.
  • Can mean “go back” or “go home”, depending on context.
  • Saya janji saya akan balik sebelum mesyuarat bermula. – Very natural in casual conversation.

• pulang

  • More formal / literary, often “return (home)”.
  • Used in news, formal speech, or when specifically talking about going home.
  • Saya janji saya akan pulang sebelum mesyuarat bermula. – Also correct, a bit more formal and suggests “go home” rather than just “come back”.

In your sentence, kembali is a safe, neutral choice.

In English we say “I promise that I will return…”. Why is there no that here? Can we add something like bahawa?

Malay often leaves out the equivalent of “that” in this kind of sentence. So:

• Saya janji saya akan kembali…
  literally: “I promise I will return…”

You can add bahawa (the usual word for “that” in reported speech and formal writing):

• Saya janji bahawa saya akan kembali sebelum mesyuarat bermula.

This is correct and sounds more formal or written. In normal speech, people usually omit bahawa and say it the way in your sentence.

In sebelum mesyuarat bermula, why do we use bermula instead of mula?

bermula is the standard intransitive verb “to begin / to start”:

• Mesyuarat bermula pukul 9. – “The meeting starts at 9.”

mula can be:

• a noun/adjective (“start / beginning”), or
• a verb, but more often used with an object or in certain patterns, e.g. mula kerja (“start work”).

So:

• sebelum mesyuarat bermula – “before the meeting starts” (standard, very natural)
• sebelum mesyuarat mula – you may hear this, but it’s more colloquial / regional and less standard.

For learners, bermula is the safest and most correct choice here.

What exactly is sebelum here? Does it always go before a verb with ber-?

sebelum means “before”. It can be:

• a preposition before a noun phrase:
  
  • sebelum mesyuarat – “before the meeting”
• a conjunction before a clause:
  
  • sebelum mesyuarat bermula – “before the meeting starts”

It does not require a verb with ber-. Examples:

• sebelum makan – “before eating”
• sebelum saya tidur – “before I sleep”
• sebelum hujan turun – “before the rain falls”

In your sentence, mesyuarat bermula is a clause (“the meeting starts”), and sebelum links it as “before …”.

Is mesyuarat the only word for “meeting”? How formal is it?

mesyuarat is the standard word for a formal or semi‑formal meeting, especially in work or organizational contexts:

• staff meetings
• committee meetings
• board meetings

Other words you might see:

• perjumpaan – “gathering / meet‑up”; can be more social.
• pertemuan – “encounter / meeting”, often more general or formal.
• meeting (English loan) – used casually in some workplaces.

In this sentence, mesyuarat suggests a work/official meeting and sounds neutral and appropriate.

Can we drop the first saya and say Janji saya akan kembali sebelum mesyuarat bermula?

You can, but the nuance changes slightly.

• Saya janji saya akan kembali…
  – “I promise I will return…” (subject + verb structure)

• Janji saya akan kembali…
  – Feels more like “(My) promise is that I will return…” or like you’re jumping straight into the promise without introducing the subject first.
  – In speech, it can sound a bit abrupt unless context is very clear.

More common alternatives:

• Saya janji akan kembali sebelum mesyuarat bermula.
• Saya berjanji akan kembali sebelum mesyuarat bermula.

These keep saya clearly as the subject and sound more natural.

Can we move sebelum mesyuarat bermula to the front of the sentence?

Yes. Time expressions can go at the beginning to give them emphasis:

• Sebelum mesyuarat bermula, saya janji saya akan kembali.

This is fully correct. The meaning is the same; starting with Sebelum mesyuarat bermula emphasizes the time condition (“Before the meeting starts, …”).

Spoken Malay often uses both orders, depending on what you want to highlight first.

How formal or informal is the whole sentence? Is it natural in everyday speech?

The sentence as given is neutral and works in both spoken and written Malay:

• Saya janji saya akan kembali sebelum mesyuarat bermula.

It’s natural in everyday conversation at work, and also acceptable in emails or simple written texts.

If you want:

• more casual:
  Saya janji saya akan balik sebelum mesyuarat mula.
• more formal:
  Saya berjanji akan kembali sebelum mesyuarat bermula.

But the original sentence is already good, natural, and widely usable.