Learn Hardcore Malay: Dia janji akan hantar laporan kepada bos esok. - He/She promises to send the report to the boss tomorrow.

In Malay, dia is a gender‑neutral third-person singular pronoun. It can mean he, she, or even they (referring to one person whose gender you don’t want to specify).

Malay normally doesn’t mark gender in pronouns, so you know the gender only from context, not from the word dia itself. For example:

Dia janji akan hantar laporan kepada bos esok.
→ Could be He promised… or She promised… depending on who you’re talking about.

If you really need to specify gender, you usually add a noun like:

dia lelaki itu – that man
dia perempuan itu – that woman

But in everyday speech, context is usually enough.

Why is there no change to the verb for tense? How do we know this is future?

Malay verbs don’t change form for tense. Instead, Malay shows time mainly by:

Time words
- esok = tomorrow
  That already tells you it’s in the future.
Auxiliary words like akan
- akan often corresponds to English will / shall / going to.

In the sentence:

Dia janji akan hantar laporan kepada bos esok.

We know it’s future because of both akan and esok.

If you remove akan, it can still be understood as future because esok is there:

Dia janji hantar laporan kepada bos esok.
→ Still means he/she promised to send it tomorrow.

What exactly does akan do here? Is it necessary?

Akan is a future marker or modal, similar to will / shall / going to in English.

In this sentence:

Dia janji akan hantar laporan…
→ He/She promised (that he/she) will send the report…

Without akan, you still get the idea from context and esok:

Dia janji hantar laporan kepada bos esok.

Both are acceptable. Differences:

With akan:
- Slightly more explicit, often a bit more careful or standard.
- Feels closer to “will send”.
Without akan (but with esok):
- More colloquial, especially in speech.
- Feels like “(is going to) send” tomorrow.

In more formal written Malay, akan is quite common when expressing future actions.

Why is it janji and not berjanji? Are they different?

Both janji and berjanji are used, but there’s a nuance:

janji (root form)
- Literally promise (can be a noun or a bare verb).
- In sentences like Dia janji…, it’s a slightly informal/colloquial way of saying He/She promised….
berjanji (with ber- prefix)
- More clearly a verb: to promise.
- Sounds more formal or standard.

So you could say:

Dia janji akan hantar laporan… (informal / neutral speech)
Dia berjanji akan menghantar laporan… (more formal / careful language)

Meaning-wise, they’re the same here: He/She promised to send the report…
The difference is mainly level of formality and style.

Why is it hantar and not menghantar? Are both correct?

Yes, both hantar and menghantar are correct, but they’re used slightly differently:

hantar – root form, often used in everyday speech.
menghantar – with the meN- prefix, more formal/standard verb form.

In casual conversation, you’ll hear:

Dia janji akan hantar laporan…

In more formal writing or very careful speech, you might prefer:

Dia berjanji akan menghantar laporan…

In many contexts, people will understand both the same way.
The meN- prefix (meng- here) is part of Malay’s verbal system, but in conversational Malay it is often dropped without changing the basic meaning.

Why is there only one dia? In English we say “He promised he will send…”.

Malay doesn’t need to repeat the subject if it’s clear that it’s the same person.

English:

He promised he will send the report…

Malay can say:

Dia janji akan hantar laporan…

Here, it’s understood that the subject of janji and akan hantar is the same dia.

You can say:

Dia janji dia akan hantar laporan…

This is also correct, but the second dia is usually omitted in natural Malay when it’s clearly the same person. Keeping it short is normal and sounds natural.

What’s the function of kepada here? Could we use pada instead?

Kepada is a preposition that often corresponds to to in English, especially when the object is a person.

In this sentence:

…hantar laporan kepada bos…
→ send the report to the boss

General guideline:

kepada – typically used with people or person-like recipients.
pada – used more for time, location, abstract things, or sometimes people in less careful speech.

So:

kepada bos – standard and natural: to the boss
pada bos – can be heard in colloquial speech, but kepada bos is preferred as standard.

For example:

Saya beri hadiah kepada dia. – I gave a present to him/her.
Mesyuarat pada hari Isnin. – The meeting is on Monday.

What about laporan? How do we say a report vs the report?

Malay doesn’t always mark a vs the like English does. Laporan by itself can mean:

a report
the report

depending on context.

If you want to be more specific:

a report / one report
- satu laporan – literally one report
the report (already mentioned or specific)
- laporan itu – literally that report
- laporan berkenaan – the report in question (more formal)

In everyday speech, people often just say laporan, and context makes it clear whether it’s a or the. In this sentence, the learner is probably told the meaning already, e.g. the report.

Is bos a Malay word? Is it formal enough?

Bos is a loanword from English boss, but it’s fully accepted in Malay and is very common in informal and semi-formal contexts.

About formality:

Everyday speech at work:
- bos is very common:
  - Saya dah bagi laporan kepada bos.
More formal / official / written contexts, you might see or prefer:
- ketua – chief, head
- pengurus – manager
- majikan – employer

But bos is widely understood and used, especially when referring to your immediate supervisor. In the sentence given, bos is fine and sounds natural in normal conversation.

Can the word order change? For example, can esok go at the beginning?

Yes, Malay word order is quite flexible, especially for time expressions.

Base sentence:

Dia janji akan hantar laporan kepada bos esok.

You can move esok:

Esok dia janji akan hantar laporan kepada bos.
→ Slight emphasis on tomorrow.
Dia janji esok akan hantar laporan kepada bos.
→ Emphasises tomorrow as the time of sending.

All are understandable. The most neutral and common is usually to put the time word at the end, as in the original sentence.

Malay tends to keep the basic order Subject – Verb – Object – (Prepositional Phrases) – Time, but time and place phrases can be moved to the front to emphasise them.

How would I say this more formally?

A more formal version would use the full verb forms and sometimes a slightly different structure:

Dia berjanji akan menghantar laporan kepada ketuanya esok.
→ He/She promised to send the report to his/her superior tomorrow.

Or, very formal:

Beliau berjanji akan menghantar laporan tersebut kepada ketuanya esok.

Notes:

berjanji instead of janji
menghantar instead of hantar
beliau – a respectful third-person pronoun often used for superiors, officials, or in formal writing
laporan tersebut – that report / the said report (formal)
ketuanya – his/her superior

How do I negate this? For example, “He promised he will not send the report to the boss tomorrow.”

To negate akan hantar, you normally put tidak before akan:

Dia janji tidak akan hantar laporan kepada bos esok.
→ He/She promised (he/she) will not send the report to the boss tomorrow.

Colloquial alternatives:

Dia janji takkan hantar laporan kepada bos esok.
- takkan = tidak akan fused in speech.
You might also hear:
Dia janji esok dia tak hantar laporan kepada bos.

Key point: tidak (or tak) negates verbs/adjectives, and usually comes before akan or before the verb if there is no akan.