Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya hantar laporan melalui emel kepada bos.

hantar = base verb (root).
- Very common in speech and in neutral, everyday writing.
- Sounds more direct and conversational.
- Saya hantar laporan… is perfectly natural in most real-life situations.
menghantar = verb with the meN- prefix.
- More formal, often preferred in official writing, reports, exams, and news.
- Feels a bit more “complete” or “standard” in formal Malay.
- Saya menghantar laporan… would be good in a formal email or document.

So you could say either:

Saya hantar laporan melalui emel kepada bos. (neutral / informal)
Saya menghantar laporan melalui e-mel kepada bos. (more formal)

Where is the past tense? How do we know Saya hantar means I sent, not I send or I will send?

Malay verbs usually do not change form for tense. Hantar can mean:

I sent
I have sent
I am sending
I will send

The tense is understood from context or from time words. For example:

Saya sudah hantar laporan… = I have already sent the report…
Saya tadi hantar laporan… = I sent the report just now / earlier.
Saya akan hantar laporan… = I will send the report…
Saya sedang hantar laporan… = I am sending the report (right now).

Without any markers, Saya hantar laporan melalui emel kepada bos is neutral; the listener works out the time from the surrounding conversation.

Why doesn’t Malay use words like “a” or “the” before laporan and bos?

Malay generally has no articles like a / an / the. Nouns appear “bare,” and specificity is given by context or extra words.

So:

Saya hantar laporan…
could be I sent a report… or I sent the report…, depending on context.

To make it more explicit, Malay might use:

sebuah laporan = a / one report (classifier for certain objects)
laporan itu = that report / the report
bos saya = my boss
kepada bos itu = to that boss / to the (mentioned) boss

Examples:

Saya hantar sebuah laporan melalui emel kepada bos saya.
I sent a report via email to my boss.

But in everyday speech, people usually keep it short and rely on context:
Saya hantar laporan melalui emel kepada bos.

Why is it kepada bos and not untuk bos or pada bos?

These three prepositions overlap a bit but have different core uses:

kepada
- Often used for a recipient (especially a person).
- Roughly “to” in English.
- Saya hantar laporan… kepada bos. = I sent the report to the boss.
untuk
- Means for, indicating purpose or intended beneficiary, not necessarily movement.
- Saya sediakan laporan untuk bos. = I prepared the report for the boss.
- It does not normally replace kepada as the indirect-object marker for “sending to someone.”
pada
- Mainly used for time and location (in/at/on), or for certain abstract usages.
- Mesyuarat pada pukul 3. = The meeting is at 3 o’clock.
- Dia marah pada saya. = He/she is angry at me.
- Hantar laporan pada bos is sometimes heard in casual speech, but kepada bos is more standard for “to the boss” as a recipient.

So for this sentence, kepada bos is the most natural and standard choice.

What does melalui mean here, and could we say dengan emel or guna emel instead?

Melalui means “through” / “via”. So:

melalui emel = through email / via email

Alternatives:

dengan emel
- Literally “with email.”
- Understandable, but melalui emel sounds more natural for the idea of a channel or medium.
guna emel or menggunakan emel
- guna = use (colloquial), menggunakan = to use (more formal).
- Saya hantar laporan guna emel (informal)
- Saya menghantar laporan menggunakan e-mel (formal)
- These highlight the tool you used rather than the route, but in practice both ideas overlap.

In standard, slightly formal Malay, melalui e-mel or melalui emel is very common for “via email.”

Is emel the same as email? Which spelling is correct?

Yes, emel is just the Malay spelling of email.

In Malaysia and in official Malay usage:
- e-mel is the older, very standard form (with a hyphen).
- emel is also widely accepted and used, especially in less formal texts.
Many people also casually write email, especially in mixed English–Malay contexts.

Pronunciation is roughly eh-mel (/e.mel/), with two clear syllables.

So you might see any of:

melalui e-mel (very standard)
melalui emel (common)
melalui email (informal / English-influenced)

They all refer to the same thing.

Can I change the word order and say Saya hantar laporan kepada bos melalui emel instead?

Yes. Both are grammatical and natural:

Saya hantar laporan melalui emel kepada bos.
Saya hantar laporan kepada bos melalui emel.

The meaning is essentially the same:
I sent the report to the boss via email.

Subtle differences:

Malay often places shorter / more tightly linked elements earlier.
Many speakers slightly prefer melalui emel earlier if they’re thinking about the method of sending first, and kepada bos earlier if they’re emphasizing the recipient.

In everyday speech, both orders are fine and commonly used.

Can I drop Saya and just say Hantar laporan melalui emel kepada bos?

Yes, you can omit Saya, but the feel changes:

Hantar laporan melalui emel kepada bos.
- Without a subject, this sounds like an instruction or a note:
  “Send the report via email to the boss.”
- It can be used as a written reminder, on a to‑do list, or as a command in speech.
Saya hantar laporan melalui emel kepada bos.
- Clearly a statement about what you (I) do or did.

Malay often drops pronouns when context is clear, but doing so can easily turn a neutral statement into something that feels like an order.

Does laporan mean just “report”, or can it also mean “reports”?

Laporan is number-neutral in Malay. It can mean:

a report
the report
reports

Context tells you whether it’s singular or plural. To make it explicit:

satu laporan = one report
beberapa laporan = several reports
banyak laporan = many reports
laporan-laporan = reports (plural, with reduplication for emphasis on plurality)

Example:

Saya hantar beberapa laporan melalui emel kepada bos.
I sent several reports via email to the boss.

In your original sentence, laporan can be interpreted as “the/my report” if the context is clear.

Is bos a formal word in Malay? Are there more formal alternatives?

Bos is a loanword from English “boss” and is very common in everyday Malay.

Formality:

bos
- Neutral–informal, widely used at work in speech.
- Can be used for your direct superior in many workplaces, especially in casual conversation or chat.

More formal or specific alternatives:

ketua = leader / head
pengurus = manager
penyelia = supervisor
majikan = employer
ketua jabatan = head of department

For a more formal sentence, you might write:

Saya menghantar laporan melalui e-mel kepada ketua jabatan.
I sent the report via email to the head of department.

But in everyday office talk, bos is completely normal.

How would I make the whole sentence sound more formal, like something I’d write in a report or official email?

To make it more formal, you’d typically:

Use the meN- verb form.
Use a more standard spelling for “email.”
Possibly specify which report and which boss.

For example:

Saya telah menghantar laporan tersebut melalui e-mel kepada ketua jabatan.
- telah = has / have (formal perfective marker)
- laporan tersebut = that report / the said report
- e-mel = standard spelling
- ketua jabatan = head of department

A slightly less formal but still polite and standard version:

Saya sudah menghantar laporan itu melalui emel kepada bos saya.

Compared to your original sentence, these versions feel more suitable for official writing.

If I want to say “I will send the report via email to my boss”, how should I change the sentence?

To indicate future meaning clearly, add akan (will) and optionally saya for possession:

Saya akan hantar laporan melalui emel kepada bos saya.
or
Saya akan menghantar laporan melalui e-mel kepada bos saya. (more formal)

Both mean:
I will send the report via email to my boss.

You can also say:

Nanti saya hantar laporan melalui emel kepada bos.
- nanti = later (implies future, but more casual).

Could I use the English verb “email” inside Malay, like Saya email bos laporan itu?

In informal spoken Malay, especially in Malaysia and Singapore, people often mix in English verbs:

Saya email bos laporan itu.
= I’ll email the boss the report.

This is common in casual conversation, chats, or among bilingual speakers. However:

It is not considered standard or formal Malay.
In formal writing or exams, you should use Malay verbs and nouns:
- Saya hantar laporan itu melalui e-mel kepada bos.
- Saya menghantar laporan itu melalui e-mel kepada bos.

So yes, it’s used colloquially, but avoid it in formal contexts.

Where could I add a time word like “yesterday” (semalam) in this sentence?

Common positions for semalam are:

At the beginning of the sentence:
- Semalam, saya hantar laporan melalui emel kepada bos.
After the subject:
- Saya semalam hantar laporan melalui emel kepada bos. (possible, but less common in careful speech; feels more conversational/emphatic)
At the end:
- Saya hantar laporan melalui emel kepada bos semalam.

The most natural and neutral are usually:

Semalam saya hantar laporan melalui emel kepada bos.
Saya hantar laporan melalui emel kepada bos semalam.

Both mean: Yesterday I sent the report via email to the boss.