Learn Hardcore Malay: Dia ingatkan saya tentang janji itu, kan? - He/She reminded me about that promise, right?

ingat = to remember
- Saya ingat nama dia. = I remember his/her name.
ingatkan = to remind (someone), literally to make (someone) remember
- Dia ingatkan saya tentang janji itu. = He/She reminded me about that promise.

So in this sentence, there are two participants:

the person who does the reminding (dia), and
the person who is reminded (saya).

Because someone is causing another person to remember, Malay uses the -kan form (ingatkan) rather than the plain ingat.

In more formal Malay/Indonesian you may also see the full form with the meN- prefix:

Dia mengingatkan saya tentang janji itu.

In everyday speech, the prefix meN- is often dropped after a clear subject, so ingatkan is very common in conversation.

Is Dia ingatkan saya... past tense, present tense, or could it mean Remind me as an order?

Malay verbs do not change form for tense, so Dia ingatkan saya... can be understood as:

He/She reminded me... (past)
He/She is reminding me... (present)
He/She will remind me... (future) – with suitable context

To show time more clearly, Malay usually adds time words:

Past: Dia ingatkan saya tadi / semalam / minggu lepas...
Future: Nanti dia ingatkan saya...

Is it an order (Remind me…) here?
Usually, an imperative in Malay drops the subject:

Ingatkan saya tentang janji itu. = Remind me about that promise.

Because your sentence begins with Dia (he/she), it is understood as a statement about a third person, not a command to the listener.

What exactly does tentang mean here, and can I replace it with something else?

Tentang means about / regarding / concerning. It introduces the topic of what the reminder is about:

Dia ingatkan saya tentang janji itu.
He/She reminded me about that promise.

Common alternatives:

mengenai – also about/regarding, slightly more formal
- Dia ingatkan saya mengenai janji itu.
pasal – colloquial about, very common in spoken Malay
- Dia ingatkan saya pasal janji itu.

All of these are understandable; tentang is a safe, neutral choice in most situations.

You normally cannot just drop tentang here:

✗ Dia ingatkan saya janji itu. → feels incomplete/unnatural.

For this verb pattern, Malay prefers ingatkan seseorang tentang (atau mengenai/pasal) sesuatu.

Why is it janji itu instead of itu janji?

In Malay, demonstratives like ini (this) and itu (that) normally come after the noun they describe:

janji itu = that promise
janji ini = this promise

So:

Dia ingatkan saya tentang janji itu.
= He/She reminded me about that promise.

If you say itu janji, it usually means that is a promise or functions as a full clause, not as a noun phrase:

Itu janji saya. = That is my promise.

So, janji itu is the natural way to say that promise as an object in a sentence.

What does the final kan? mean, and how is it different from the -kan on ingatkan?

There are two separate kan here:

-kan (attached to ingat)
- This is a verb suffix that changes ingat (remember) to ingatkan (remind, make someone remember).
Final kan? (separated by a comma)
- This is a tag/question particle, similar to English right?, isn’t it?, yeah?
- It is used to ask for confirmation or agreement.

So:

Dia ingatkan saya tentang janji itu.
He/She reminded me about that promise.
Dia ingatkan saya tentang janji itu, kan?
He/She reminded me about that promise, right? / didn’t he/she?

The suffix -kan and the final kan? are written the same but have different functions and positions in the sentence.

Can I leave out the final kan?? How does that change the meaning?

Yes, you can leave out the final kan?:

Dia ingatkan saya tentang janji itu.
= He/She reminded me about that promise. (simple statement)
Dia ingatkan saya tentang janji itu, kan?
= He/She reminded me about that promise, right? / didn’t he/she?
(the speaker expects the listener to confirm or agree)

So kan? turns a statement into a confirmation question. Without it, you just have a plain statement.

When should I use kan? and when should I use bukan? as a tag question?

Both can work as tag-like elements, but they feel different:

kan?
- Very common in conversation.
- Soft, friendly request for confirmation.
- Can be used after positive or negative sentences.
Examples:
- Dia datang esok, kan?
  He/She is coming tomorrow, right?
- Dia tak datang semalam, kan?
  He/She didn’t come yesterday, right?
bukan?
- Literally not?
- Feels a bit more formal or emphatic, and more clearly tied to negation.
- Often used after a statement where you expect the listener to agree that it is true.
Example:
- Dia yang telefon tadi, bukan?
  It was he/she who called just now, wasn’t it?

In your sentence, kan? is more natural and typical in everyday speech:

Dia ingatkan saya tentang janji itu, kan?
He/She reminded me about that promise, right?

What does dia mean exactly? Does it specify gender?

Dia is the third-person singular pronoun and is gender-neutral:

It can mean he, she, or sometimes it (for people or animals, or occasionally personified things).

Malay does not mark gender in pronouns, so:

Dia ingatkan saya...
can be He reminded me... or She reminded me... depending on context.

If you need to clarify gender, you can add a noun:

dia lelaki itu = that man
dia perempuan itu = that woman

or just use the person’s name:

Ali ingatkan saya tentang janji itu.

Why is saya used here? Could I say aku instead?

Saya and aku both mean I / me, but they differ in politeness and context:

saya
- Neutral and polite.
- Safe to use in almost any situation: formal, semi-formal, with strangers, with older people, at work.
aku
- Informal, intimate.
- Used with close friends, family of similar age, or in casual contexts where everyone uses this style.

So:

Dia ingatkan saya tentang janji itu, kan?
is normal and neutral.

If you are talking to a close friend and your relationship naturally uses aku, you might say:

Dia ingatkan aku tentang janji itu, kan?

The grammar is the same; only the level of formality changes.

Is Dia ingatkan saya tentang janji itu the only correct word order? Could I say it another way?

The pattern in your sentence is:

Subject: Dia
Verb: ingatkan
Indirect object (person): saya
Preposition + noun (topic): tentang janji itu

This is the most natural active pattern:
ingatkan seseorang tentang sesuatu.

Some acceptable variants:

Dia mengingatkan saya tentang janji itu.
(more formal, with the meN- prefix)
Dia ingatkan saya mengenai janji itu.
(using mengenai instead of tentang)

You will also see more explicit patterns with kepada:

Dia mengingatkan saya akan janji itu. (more formal/literary)
Dia mengingatkan saya tentang janji itu kepada kamu. (less usual, and a bit clumsy)

But for the basic meaning He/She reminded me about that promise,
Dia ingatkan saya tentang janji itu (or Dia mengingatkan saya...) is the standard, natural word order.

How would this sentence look in the passive voice, and what difference would that make?

A common passive version is:

Saya diingatkan tentang janji itu, kan?

This means:

I was reminded about that promise, right?

Differences:

Active: Dia ingatkan saya tentang janji itu, kan?
- Focus on dia (the person who reminded me).
Passive: Saya diingatkan tentang janji itu, kan?
- Focus on saya (the person who was reminded).
- The person who did the reminding can be left out, or added with oleh:
  - Saya diingatkan tentang janji itu oleh dia. = I was reminded about that promise by him/her.

Malay often uses passives to highlight the recipient of the action or to avoid mentioning the agent.

Why is there a comma before kan?? Is it always written that way?

The comma before kan? marks a pause in speech, similar to English:

He reminded me about that promise, right?

In writing:

Dia ingatkan saya tentang janji itu, kan?
The comma is stylistically helpful but not absolutely required.
You will sometimes see it without a comma:
Dia ingatkan saya tentang janji itu kan?

Both are understandable. The version with a comma more clearly shows that kan? is a separate tag added to the end of a complete statement.