Pada awal mesyuarat, bos menjelaskan tugas saya.

At the beginning of the meeting, the boss explains my task.

Breakdown of Pada awal mesyuarat, bos menjelaskan tugas saya.

• bos: the boss
• saya: my
• pada: at
• mesyuarat: the meeting
• menjelaskan: to explain
• tugas: the task
• awal: the beginning

Questions & Answers about Pada awal mesyuarat, bos menjelaskan tugas saya.

What does pada mean here, and how is it different from di?

Pada is a preposition often used with:

• time expressions: pada awal mesyuarat (at the beginning of the meeting), pada pukul tiga (at three o’clock)
• more abstract points or events: pada hari itu (on that day)

Di is used more for physical locations:

• di pejabat – at the office
• di rumah – at home

In this sentence, pada awal mesyuarat is a time phrase (at the beginning of the meeting), so pada is more natural than di.

Can I put pada awal mesyuarat at the end of the sentence instead?

Yes. You can say:

• Pada awal mesyuarat, bos menjelaskan tugas saya.
• Bos menjelaskan tugas saya pada awal mesyuarat.

Both are correct and have the same basic meaning. Starting with pada awal mesyuarat puts extra focus on when it happened. Putting it at the end sounds a bit more neutral, like in English: The boss explained my task at the beginning of the meeting.

What is the function of awal in awal mesyuarat?

Awal means early or beginning.

• awal mesyuarat literally: the beginning/early part of the meeting
• pada awal mesyuarat: at the beginning of the meeting

Other examples:

• awal pagi – early morning
• awal tahun – the beginning of the year / early in the year

What does mesyuarat mean, and is it formal?

Mesyuarat means meeting (a formal or semi-formal meeting, often work-related or organizational).

It is fairly neutral and commonly used in workplaces, schools, and official contexts. Other related words:

• bermesyuarat – to hold/have a meeting
• bilik mesyuarat – meeting room / conference room

Is bos a Malay word, and is it too informal?

Bos is a loanword from English boss, but it’s very common in Malay.

• In many workplaces, bos is acceptable and widely used, especially in speech.
• More formal options:
  
  • ketua – leader/head
  • pengurus – manager
  • penyelia – supervisor

In this sentence, bos sounds like normal, everyday workplace Malay.

What is the structure and meaning of menjelaskan?

Menjelaskan comes from the root jelas (clear) with the prefix meN- and suffix -kan:

• jelas – clear
• menjelaskan – to make clear, to explain

So bos menjelaskan tugas saya = the boss explained / made my task clear.

Related forms:

• penjelasan – explanation
• jelaskan – explain (often in instructions: Sila jelaskan... – Please explain...)

What’s the difference between menjelaskan and menerangkan?

Both can mean to explain, and in many contexts they’re interchangeable.

• menjelaskan – to make something clear; slightly more neutral/common in workplace explanations.
• menerangkan – to explain, also literally to illuminate (from terang = bright/clear); sometimes used for explaining in more detail or making something understandable.

In this sentence, bos menerangkan tugas saya would also be acceptable and natural. The difference is subtle and mostly stylistic.

Why is it tugas saya and not saya tugas?

In Malay, the normal order for possession is:

[thing owned] + [possessor]

So:

• tugas saya – my task
• kerja saya – my job
• kereta saya – my car

Saya tugas would be ungrammatical. Saya as a pronoun comes after the noun it owns.

What exactly does tugas mean, and how is it different from kerja?

Tugas means task, duty, or assignment, often something specific you are responsible for.

Kerja is more general: work, job, or occupation.

Compare:

• tugas saya – my task / my duty / what I have to do
• kerja saya – my job (in general), or my work

So bos menjelaskan tugas saya suggests the boss explained a particular responsibility or assignment you have.

Why is there no word for the in awal mesyuarat or tugas saya?

Malay does not have articles like the or a/an. Definiteness is understood from context, not from a specific word.

• awal mesyuarat can mean the beginning of the meeting or a meeting’s beginning, depending on context.
• tugas saya means my task; the my makes it definite enough.

If you need extra clarity, you can add words like:

• mesyuarat itu – that meeting / the meeting (already known)
• tugas saya yang baru – my new task

How do we know this sentence is in the past, if there is no tense marking?

Malay verbs don’t change form for tense. Menjelaskan is the same for past, present, and future. Time is understood from context, or from time expressions.

Here, likely context (a narrative, or you’re telling what happened) makes it past:

• Pada awal mesyuarat, bos menjelaskan tugas saya.
  – At the beginning of the meeting, the boss explained my task.

If you want to make the past explicit, you can add words like:

• tadi – earlier / just now
• semalam – yesterday

Example: Pada awal mesyuarat tadi, bos menjelaskan tugas saya. – Earlier at the beginning of the meeting, the boss explained my task.

Is there a passive version of this sentence, and would it sound natural?

Yes, a passive version is:

• Pada awal mesyuarat, tugas saya dijelaskan oleh bos.

Here:

• dijelaskan – is/was explained (passive form of menjelaskan)
• oleh – by

This is grammatically correct and fairly formal. In everyday speech, the active version (bos menjelaskan tugas saya) is more common and sounds more natural.