Permohonan kerja saya ditolak.

My job application was rejected.

Breakdown of Permohonan kerja saya ditolak.

• saya: my
• permohonan: the application
• ditolak: to be rejected
• kerja: job

Questions & Answers about Permohonan kerja saya ditolak.

What do permohonan and kerja each mean literally, and how do they combine into permohonan kerja?

Permohonan comes from the root mohon (to request / to apply), with the circumfix per-…-an, which turns the verb into a noun. So permohonan means “request” or “application”.

Kerja means “work” or “job”.

Putting them together, permohonan kerja literally means “request for work”, i.e. “job application”.

Why is it permohonan kerja and not permohonan pekerjaan? Are both correct?

Both are grammatically correct, but they differ slightly in feel:

• kerja = work, job (very common, neutral)
• pekerjaan = job, occupation, employment (more clearly a noun, often a bit more formal)

So:

• permohonan kerja ≈ job application (very common in speech and writing)
• permohonan pekerjaan ≈ application for employment (sounds a bit more formal/bureaucratic)

You can usually use either, but permohonan kerja is more everyday and very widely used.

Why is saya placed after kerja instead of before the noun phrase like in English?

In Malay, possessive pronouns normally come after the noun phrase they possess, not before it.

• permohonan kerja saya
  = my job application
  (literally: application work my)

Putting saya at the front, as in saya permohonan kerja, is not correct for possession. To say “my X”, the normal pattern is:

[noun phrase] + saya

Examples:

• rumah saya – my house
• telefon baharu saya – my new phone
• permohonan kerja saya – my job application

In this sentence, what is the subject, and what is the verb?

The sentence is:

Permohonan kerja saya ditolak.

• Subject: permohonan kerja saya (“my job application”)
• Verb (predicate): ditolak (“was rejected / is rejected”)

So the structure is:

[My job application] [was rejected].

Malay does not need a separate word for “was”; the verb form ditolak carries the meaning “be rejected” in context.

What does the prefix di- in ditolak do, grammatically?

di- is the main passive prefix in Malay.

• Root: tolak (to push away / to reject / to decline)
• Passive: di
  • tolak → ditolak (be rejected, be declined)

So ditolak means “is/was rejected” (depending on context), showing that the subject permohonan kerja saya is the one receiving the action, not doing it.

Active vs passive:

• Syarikat itu menolak permohonan kerja saya.
  – The company rejected my job application. (active, meN- prefix)

• Permohonan kerja saya ditolak.
  – My job application was rejected. (passive, di- prefix)

How would I say this in an active sentence like “The company rejected my job application”?

A natural active version is:

Syarikat itu menolak permohonan kerja saya.

Breakdown:

• syarikat itu – that company / the company
• menolak – rejected (active form: meN-
  • tolak)
• permohonan kerja saya – my job application

So:

Permohonan kerja saya ditolak.
→ Syarikat itu menolak permohonan kerja saya.

How do I say “My job application was rejected by the company”?

The most straightforward passive-with-agent version is:

Permohonan kerja saya ditolak oleh syarikat itu.

• oleh = by (marks the agent in passive sentences)
• syarikat itu = that company / the company

So the pattern is:

[patient/thing affected] + di-verb + oleh + [agent]

e.g. Permohonan kerja saya ditolak oleh syarikat itu.

How do I show that this happened in the past, like “was rejected”, if Malay verbs don’t change for tense?

Malay verbs generally don’t change form for tense. You add time markers instead. Common ones:

• sudah – already (informal–neutral)
• telah – already / has, had (more formal)
• tadi / semalam / tahun lepas – just now / yesterday / last year, etc.

For this sentence:

• Permohonan kerja saya sudah ditolak.
• Permohonan kerja saya telah ditolak.

Both clearly mean “My job application has already been rejected / was rejected.”

Without sudah or telah, context usually makes the time clear, but adding them makes the past aspect explicit.

Is there a softer or more polite way to say this than using ditolak?

Yes. ditolak is direct (“rejected”). Formal letters and polite speech often use softer expressions such as:

• Permohonan kerja saya tidak berjaya.
  – My job application was not successful.

• Permohonan kerja saya tidak diluluskan.
  – My job application was not approved.

• Permohonan kerja saya tidak dapat dipertimbangkan.
  – My job application could not be considered.

These sound more diplomatic than ditolak, especially in written communication from companies.

Can I omit kerja and just say Permohonan saya ditolak? Does it still sound natural?

Yes, that is grammatical and natural if the context is clear.

• Permohonan saya ditolak.
  – My application was rejected.

Without kerja, permohonan is a general “request/application”. Listeners would understand what kind of application you mean from context (job, scholarship, visa, etc.).

If you specifically want to emphasise “job application” and the context isn’t obvious, it’s safer to keep kerja.

Can I drop saya and just say Permohonan kerja ditolak? What changes in meaning?

You can say Permohonan kerja ditolak, but the meaning changes:

• Permohonan kerja saya ditolak.
  – My job application was rejected. (clearly yours)

• Permohonan kerja ditolak.
  – The job application was rejected. / Job applications are rejected.
  (no owner specified; it could be generic or refer to someone/something mentioned earlier)

So dropping saya removes the information about whose application it is. In real communication, you normally keep the pronoun unless the owner is already very clear.

How would I say “Our job applications were rejected”?

You mainly need to change the pronoun and, if you like, add a word to show plurality more clearly.

Basic, natural version:

• Permohonan kerja kami ditolak.
  – Our job applications were rejected.
  (literally: our job application(s) were rejected)

To emphasise “all of them”:

• Semua permohonan kerja kami ditolak.
  – All our job applications were rejected.

Note:

• kami = we/us/our (excluding the listener)
• kita = we/us/our (including the listener)

Choose kami or kita depending on whether you want to include the person you’re talking to.