Tiba di pejabat, saya buat senarai semak untuk semua tugasan harian.

Arriving at the office, I make a checklist for all the daily tasks.

Breakdown of Tiba di pejabat, saya buat senarai semak untuk semua tugasan harian.

• saya: I
• di: at
• untuk: for
• pejabat: the office
• tugasan: the task
• semua: all
• tiba: to arrive
• buat: to make
• harian: daily
• senarai semak: the checklist

Questions & Answers about Tiba di pejabat, saya buat senarai semak untuk semua tugasan harian.

Why does the sentence start with “Tiba di pejabat” and not “Apabila saya tiba di pejabat”?

“Tiba di pejabat” is a shortened form of a time clause, roughly like “(When) I arrive at the office” or “Upon arriving at the office”.

Malay often drops the subject and connecting word (like apabila = when) if they are obvious from context and match the subject of the main clause. A more explicit version would be:

• Apabila saya tiba di pejabat, saya buat senarai semak...
  When I arrive at the office, I make a checklist...

All of these are grammatically fine:

• Tiba di pejabat, saya buat… (short, natural in writing)
• Apabila tiba di pejabat, saya buat… (still omits saya in the first part)
• Apabila saya tiba di pejabat, saya buat… (fully explicit)

The sentence you have is quite natural in narratives, diary entries, and informal–neutral writing.

Is “tiba” the same as “sampai”? Could I say “Sampai di pejabat…”?

“Tiba” and “sampai” both mean “to arrive”, but:

• tiba is slightly more formal or neutral
• sampai is more informal and common in speech

You can say:

• Tiba di pejabat, saya buat senarai semak… (neutral, fine in writing)
• Sampai di pejabat, saya buat senarai semak… (sounds a bit more casual, but still acceptable)

In careful formal writing (official letters, reports), tiba is usually preferred, but sampai is very common in daily conversation.

Why is it “tiba di pejabat” and not “tiba ke pejabat”?

In Malay:

• ke is used for movement toward a place (to, towards)
• di is used for location / position at a place (in, at)

“Tiba” implies you have already reached the location, so the focus is being at the place, not moving to it. Therefore:

• tiba di pejabat = arrive at the office (correct)
• pergi ke pejabat = go to the office (movement)

So “tiba ke pejabat” sounds odd; it mixes the arrival verb with the “to” preposition. Use di with tiba.

Why is the verb just “buat” and not “membuat”?

Both buat and membuat mean “to do / to make”, but:

• buat is the base verb, common in conversation and neutral writing
• membuat is the meN- form, often felt as more formal or slightly heavier

In your sentence:

• Saya buat senarai semak… – perfectly natural in everyday language, and still acceptable in many written contexts.
• Saya membuat senarai semak… – sounds more formal, like in reports or official documents.

So you can choose based on tone:

• Informal/neutral: saya buat…
• Formal/written: saya membuat…

What exactly does “senarai semak” mean? Is it one word or two, and is it the same as “checklist”?

“Senarai semak” is a two-word noun phrase:

• senarai = list
• semak = to check / review

Literally: “check list” → a checklist.

You may also see:

• senarai semak – standard phrase for checklist (common in Malaysia)
• Borrowed English “ceklist” / “checklist” is also used informally, but senarai semak is more standard in formal Malay.

So “buat senarai semak” = make a checklist.

What is the difference between “tugas” and “tugasan” here?

Both relate to tasks / duties, but there is a nuance:

• tugas – base noun: duty, task, responsibility
• tugasan – derived noun with -an, often used for:
  • assigned tasks
  • sets of tasks
  • a task as an item of work (e.g. school assignment, job tasks)

In “semua tugasan harian”, tugasan emphasizes the individual tasks / assignments you have to do that day.

You could also say:

• semua tugas harian – all my daily duties (slightly broader, more like “responsibilities”)

Both are understandable, but tugasan harian sounds like the concrete tasks on your to‑do list.

Where does “harian” go, and what exactly does it mean?

“harian” means “daily”. It’s formed from:

• hari = day
• -an = makes an adjective/noun related to day → harian = daily, everyday

In “tugasan harian”, the order is:

• tugasan (noun: tasks) + harian (adjective: daily)
  → daily tasks

Malay usually puts the descriptive word after the noun it describes. So:

• tugasan harian = daily tasks
• senarai semak tugasan harian = a checklist of daily tasks

What does “untuk” do in “untuk semua tugasan harian”? Could I leave it out?

“Untuk” roughly means “for”. In your sentence it shows purpose:

• senarai semak untuk semua tugasan harian
  = a checklist for all (my) daily tasks

Without untuk, it becomes less clear:

• senarai semak semua tugasan harian
  This can sound like “a checklist of all daily tasks”, which is still understandable but slightly different in feel.

Both are grammatically possible, but:

• ... senarai semak untuk semua tugasan harian
  clearly marks that the checklist is for those tasks (purpose/relation).

So untuk here is helpful and natural.

Why is there a comma after “Tiba di pejabat,”?

The comma separates the initial time phrase/clause from the main clause:

• Tiba di pejabat, (When I arrive at the office,)
• saya buat senarai semak... (I make a checklist...)

Malay, like English, often uses a comma when a time clause or introductory phrase comes before the main clause. If you reverse the order, you normally drop the comma:

• Saya buat senarai semak apabila saya tiba di pejabat.
  (I make a checklist when I arrive at the office.)

So the comma marks the boundary between the “when” part and the “what I do” part.

How is tense expressed here? How do we know if this is a habit or something happening right now?

Malay verbs do not change form for tense (no -ed, -s, etc.). The tense/aspect is understood from:

• context
• time words (e.g. semalam = yesterday, setiap hari = every day, sekarang = now)

In “Tiba di pejabat, saya buat senarai semak untuk semua tugasan harian.”, it can mean:

• habitual present:
  “When I (usually) arrive at the office, I make a checklist…”
  (most natural reading, especially with harian = daily)
• narrative past (in a story, with past context):
  “When I arrived at the office, I made a checklist…”

If you want to make it clearly habitual, you can add something like Setiap hari (every day):

• Setiap hari, tiba di pejabat, saya buat senarai semak untuk semua tugasan harian.
  Every day, when I arrive at the office, I make a checklist for all my daily tasks.

Is “pejabat” the only word for “office”? Can I use “ofis” instead?

Both are used, but they differ in formality:

• pejabat – standard Malay for office, used in formal and neutral contexts (official, written, everyday)
• ofis – borrowing from English office, more colloquial/informal

In your sentence:

• Tiba di pejabat, saya buat senarai semak… – neutral/standard
• Sampai di ofis, saya buat senarai semak… – very casual speech

For writing (especially anything semi-formal or above), pejabat is the safer, more standard choice.