Breakdown of Dalam permohonan kerja, mereka tanya umur saya dan jenis pengalaman kerja yang saya ada.
Questions & Answers about Dalam permohonan kerja, mereka tanya umur saya dan jenis pengalaman kerja yang saya ada.
“Dalam permohonan kerja” literally means “in a job application / in the job application process.”
- dalam = in / inside / within / during (depending on context)
- pada = at / on / in (more point-like, often with time or specific points)
Here, “dalam” is natural because you’re talking about something within the context/contents of the job application.
You could say “Dalam proses permohonan kerja” (“In the process of applying for a job”), still using dalam.
Using pada here (e.g. “Pada permohonan kerja”) is grammatically possible but sounds less natural and more stiff. For this context, “dalam permohonan kerja” is the usual, idiomatic choice.
Yes, “permohonan kerja” is a standard way to say “job application” in Malay.
- permohonan = application (from the verb mohon, to request/apply)
- kerja = work / job
So “permohonan kerja” literally means “application for a job.”
You may also see:
permohonan pekerjaan – slightly more formal, using pekerjaan (employment/job) instead of kerja.
In everyday Malay, “permohonan kerja” is clear and common.
In Malay, the person being asked is often understood from context and does not need to be stated explicitly.
- mereka tanya umur saya
= literally “they ask my age”
= naturally understood as “they asked me my age.”
You can say:
- mereka tanya saya umur saya – “they asked me my age”
This is also correct, just more explicit and a bit heavier.
Both are grammatical. The original sentence is more natural and concise, and “umur saya” already makes it clear who is being asked about.
Both come from the same root and relate to “asking,” but they’re used a bit differently.
tanya (verb root, used as bertanya or in informal speech):
- mereka tanya umur saya – colloquial / neutral
- Sounds natural in everyday spoken Malay.
bertanya (intransitive verb, “to ask / to ask a question”):
- Typically followed by kepada (to) or just context:
- Mereka bertanya tentang umur saya. – They asked about my age.
- Mereka bertanya kepada saya. – They asked me.
- It sounds a bit more formal/polished.
- Typically followed by kepada (to) or just context:
So:
- mereka tanya umur saya – very natural, especially in speech.
- mereka bertanya tentang umur saya – more formal and explicitly “asked about my age.”
“Mereka bertanya umur saya” without tentang sounds off; you’d normally include tentang (“about”) if you use bertanya with a topic like this.
“umur” and “usia” both mean “age.”
umur – very common, neutral, used in everyday speech:
- Umur saya 25 tahun. – My age is 25.
usia – slightly more formal or literary, often seen in official writing, announcements, forms:
- Sila nyatakan usia anda. – Please state your age.
In casual or neutral sentences like this, “umur” is the most natural choice:
- mereka tanya umur saya – they asked my age.
You could say “usia saya” and it’s still correct, just a bit more formal-sounding.
“jenis pengalaman kerja” literally means “type(s) of work experience.”
Breakdown:
- jenis = type / kind / category
- pengalaman = experience
- kerja = work / job
So:
- pengalaman kerja = work experience
- jenis pengalaman kerja = what kinds of work experience
We include “jenis” because the sentence is not only asking whether you have experience, but what kind:
- customer service, teaching, programming, management, etc.
Compare:
- Mereka tanya pengalaman kerja saya.
They asked about my work experience (more general). - Mereka tanya jenis pengalaman kerja yang saya ada.
They asked what type of work experience I have (more specific).
Yes. “yang saya ada” is a relative clause and corresponds directly to “that I have” or “which I have.”
Structure:
- jenis pengalaman kerja – the noun phrase: “types of work experience”
- yang – relative pronoun: “that / which”
- saya ada – “I have”
Put together:
- jenis pengalaman kerja yang saya ada
= “the types of work experience that I have”
This structure is very common in Malay:
- buku yang saya baca – the book that I read
- orang yang saya jumpa – the person whom I met
- syarikat yang saya kerja – the company that I work for
So yes, think of “yang saya ada” as “that I have.”
You can say “jenis pengalaman kerja saya”, and it’s grammatical, but the nuance is slightly different:
jenis pengalaman kerja saya
= “my types of work experience”
More like a simple possessive phrase: “my work experience types.”jenis pengalaman kerja yang saya ada
= “the types of work experience that I have”
Explicitly focuses on what you possess/have done.
In actual usage, both can communicate the same idea, and people do say “jenis pengalaman kerja saya”.
However, “yang saya ada” makes the “have” part explicit and sounds very natural when explaining what kind of experience you possess in a context like job applications.
Malay generally does not change the verb form to mark past, present, or future. “tanya” stays the same.
Time is understood from context or from optional time words/markers:
- mereka tanya umur saya
Can mean:- they ask my age (present/general)
- they asked my age (past)
depending on context.
If you want to be explicitly past, you can add:
- telah or sudah (have / already):
- Mereka telah tanya umur saya. – They have asked my age.
- Tadi mereka tanya umur saya. – They asked my age just now.
In the given sentence, “Dalam permohonan kerja” clearly sets a context that usually refers to something that happened or happens during an application process, so English naturally uses past tense (“asked”), but Malay doesn’t need to change the verb form.
In this context—talking about a job application—“saya” is definitely the most appropriate:
saya – polite, neutral, standard in formal and semi‑formal situations, including:
- job applications
- interviews
- talking to strangers, superiors, or in writing
aku – informal, used with close friends, family, or people your own age in casual contexts.
So:
- Dalam permohonan kerja, mereka tanya umur saya… – sounds properly polite and professional.
- …umur aku… would sound too casual and unprofessional in this topic/context.
Use “saya” for anything related to jobs, official matters, or when in doubt.