Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya berasa kecewa apabila laporan saya ditolak oleh bos. - I feel disappointed when my report is rejected by the boss.

berasa = to feel (an emotion or sensation) in a clear, slightly more formal way.
- Saya berasa kecewa → I feel disappointed.
rasa (without prefix) is very common and can mean:
- to feel: Saya rasa sedih (I feel sad),
- to think: Saya rasa dia betul (I think he’s right),
- to taste: Saya rasa sup itu (I taste the soup).

Using berasa avoids confusion with “I think” or “I taste”, and sounds slightly more careful or written. Saya rasa kecewa is still natural, especially in speech; Saya berasa kecewa just sounds a bit more formal/precise.

Can I just say Saya kecewa apabila laporan saya ditolak oleh bos without berasa?

Yes. Saya kecewa apabila laporan saya ditolak oleh bos is completely correct and very natural.

kecewa functions like an adjective (disappointed).
So Saya kecewa literally means I am disappointed.

Differences in nuance:

Saya kecewa = simple, direct: I am disappointed.
Saya berasa kecewa = I feel disappointed, slightly more descriptive/emotional, sometimes more formal or written.

Both are good; in everyday conversation, Saya kecewa is probably more common.

What is the difference between Saya rasa kecewa and Saya berasa kecewa?

Both can mean I feel disappointed, but there are some tendencies:

Saya rasa kecewa
- Very common in speech.
- Can mean either I feel disappointed or (less commonly here) I think [that I am] disappointed depending on context.
- rasa is very flexible and casual.
Saya berasa kecewa
- Sounds slightly more formal or written.
- Focuses clearly on the experience of the feeling.
- Cannot mean I think; it only means I feel.

If you want to be 100% clear you’re talking about an emotion (not an opinion), Saya berasa kecewa or Saya kecewa are safest.

What exactly does apabila mean, and how is it different from bila or ketika?

Apabila is a conjunction meaning “when” (often in the sense of whenever / at the time when).

apabila
- More neutral or formal.
- Common in writing and careful speech.
- Used for real events or conditions:
  - Saya berasa kecewa apabila laporan saya ditolak…
    I feel disappointed when my report is rejected…
bila
- Colloquial; used a lot in everyday speech.
- Can mean “when” (statement) or “when?” (question).
  - Saya kecewa bila laporan saya ditolak. (spoken)
  - Bila dia sampai? (When is he arriving?)
ketika
- Closer to “when/while (at the time that)”.
- Often used for a background time or state:
  - Saya sedang bekerja ketika bos menelefon.
    I was working when the boss called.

In your sentence, apabila is a good, standard choice. In casual speech many people would say bila instead.

Why is it laporan saya and not saya laporan for “my report”?

In Malay, the usual order is:

[noun] + [possessive pronoun]

So:

laporan saya = my report
bos saya = my boss
kereta mereka = their car

Saya on its own means “I / me”, but when it comes after a noun, it works like “my”:

saya (alone) → I / me
laporan saya → my report

Saya laporan is ungrammatical; the pronoun must follow the noun it possesses.

How do I say “my reports” (plural) instead of “my report” in this sentence?

Malay usually doesn’t force you to mark plural if it’s clear from context. Laporan saya can mean:

my report (singular), or
my reports (plural), depending on context.

If you specifically want to highlight plurality, you have a few options:

laporan-laporan saya – formal, explicit plural.
beberapa laporan saya – several of my reports.
semua laporan saya – all of my reports.

So you could say:

Saya kecewa apabila semua laporan saya ditolak oleh bos.
I am disappointed when all my reports are rejected by the boss.

Why is the passive form ditolak used here, instead of an active verb?

Ditolak is the passive form of tolak (to reject), built with the prefix di-.

Active: Bos menolak laporan saya.
The boss rejected my report.
Passive: Laporan saya ditolak oleh bos.
My report was rejected by the boss.

Using the passive has a few effects:

It puts laporan saya (my report) at the front, making it the topic/focus.
It makes the boss a secondary element (oleh bos), which can sound a bit less direct.
Passive is very common in Malay, especially in more formal or written style.

In your sentence, the focus is on what happened to your report, so the passive ditolak is a natural choice.

What does the prefix di- in ditolak do?

The prefix di- is the standard passive voice marker for verbs.

Root verb: tolak = to push / reject.
Passive: ditolak = is/was rejected (or is/was pushed, depending on context).

Pattern:

tulis → ditulis (to write → is written)
baca → dibaca (to read → is read)
tolak → ditolak (to reject → is rejected)

So laporan saya ditolak literally means “my report is/was rejected”.

Is oleh necessary in ditolak oleh bos, or can I drop it?

Oleh means “by” in passive structures. In your sentence:

laporan saya ditolak oleh bos
= my report was rejected by the boss.

In actual usage:

With “oleh” → more explicit and formal:
Laporan saya ditolak oleh bos.
Without “oleh” → common in speech, especially if the agent is short and obvious:
Laporan saya ditolak bos.

Both are understandable. In more formal writing (reports, essays, exams), it’s safer to keep oleh; in everyday conversation, people often drop it.

How do we know this sentence is talking about the past if there is no tense marker like “was”?

Malay does not change the verb form for tense. Ditolak can mean is rejected, was rejected, or will be rejected depending on context.

In your sentence, we infer it’s about a past situation mainly from context and world knowledge:

Someone typically feels disappointed after their report has been rejected.
The structure apabila laporan saya ditolak can mean:
- when(ever) my report is rejected (general habit), or
- when my report was rejected (a specific past event).

If you want to make the past meaning explicit, you can add time/aspect words:

Saya berasa kecewa apabila laporan saya telah ditolak oleh bos.
Saya berasa kecewa apabila laporan saya tadi ditolak oleh bos.

Common markers:

sudah / telah – already (past)
tadi – a short while ago
semalam – yesterday, etc.

Could I say kerana instead of apabila, as in Saya berasa kecewa kerana laporan saya ditolak oleh bos?

Yes, and that changes the nuance slightly:

apabila = when / whenever (time/condition)
- Saya kecewa apabila laporan saya ditolak…
  → Focus on what you feel at the time when it is rejected (and it can imply a cause).
kerana = because (cause/reason)
- Saya kecewa kerana laporan saya ditolak…
  → Focus directly on the reason for your disappointment.

In English, “I am disappointed when my report is rejected” and “I am disappointed because my report is rejected” are both possible; Malay reflects a similar distinction with apabila vs kerana.

Is bos a Malay word, and should it be bos saya to mean “my boss”?

Bos is a common Malay borrowing from English “boss” and is widely used in speech and writing.

bos = boss (in general)
bos saya = my boss

In your sentence:

laporan saya ditolak oleh bos
literally: my report was rejected by the boss.

Even without saya, context usually makes it clear that bos is your boss. If you want to be explicit, you can say:

laporan saya ditolak oleh bos saya
my report was rejected by my boss.

Other, more formal alternatives to bos include ketua, pengurus, penyelia, depending on the workplace context.

Can I drop the first saya and just say Berasa kecewa apabila laporan saya ditolak oleh bos?

In everyday speech, you will sometimes hear sentences without an explicit subject, especially if context is clear. So:

Berasa kecewa apabila laporan saya ditolak oleh bos.

would be understood as [I] feel disappointed when my report is rejected by the boss.

However:

Grammatically and in standard written Malay, it is better to keep the subject:
- Saya berasa kecewa apabila laporan saya ditolak oleh bos.

Dropping saya at the start makes the sentence less complete and more like a note or fragment. For learners, it’s safer to include saya.

Does the sentence sound formal, neutral, or casual? How would a very casual version look?

Saya berasa kecewa apabila laporan saya ditolak oleh bos sounds neutral to slightly formal:

berasa and apabila lean towards a more careful or written style.

A more casual, spoken version might be:

Saya kecewa bila bos tolak laporan saya.

Changes:

berasa kecewa → kecewa (simpler)
apabila → bila (colloquial)
Passive laporan saya ditolak oleh bos → active bos tolak laporan saya

Your original sentence is very good for polite conversation, emails, or writing. The casual version suits informal chats among colleagues or friends.