Bos akan umumkan bonus esok.

The boss will announce the bonus tomorrow.

Breakdown of Bos akan umumkan bonus esok.

• akan: will
• bos: the boss
• esok: tomorrow
• bonus: the bonus
• umumkan: to announce

Questions & Answers about Bos akan umumkan bonus esok.

What does Bos mean here, and is it Malay or English?

Bos in Malay is a borrowed word from English “boss”, but it’s fully accepted and very common in everyday Malay. It means your superior at work, the person in charge.

Key points:

• Spelling: Bos (one s) in Malay spelling, not boss.
• Register: quite informal or neutral. It can sound casual, sometimes even friendly.
• More formal alternatives:
  • ketua – leader, head
  • pengurus – manager
  • majikan – employer
  • tuan pengarah – Mr Director (very formal/specific)

So Bos here is just “the boss (at work)” in a casual/neutral tone.

Why is there no “the” before Bos? Shouldn’t it be “The boss”?

Malay doesn’t use articles like “a / an / the” in the same way as English. There is no separate word for “the” in this sentence.

Bos akan umumkan bonus esok can mean:

• “The boss will announce the bonus tomorrow.”
• “A boss will announce a bonus tomorrow.” (context decides)

In most real situations, context makes it clear you are talking about the boss everyone knows, so Malay simply says Bos without any article.

If you really need to be specific, you can add extra words:

• Bos saya akan umumkan bonus esok. – My boss will announce the bonus tomorrow.
• Bos syarikat akan umumkan bonus esok. – The company’s boss will announce the bonus tomorrow.

Can we add a subject pronoun like dia or beliau before bos?

No. You wouldn’t say Dia bos akan umumkan bonus esok. That’s ungrammatical.

In this sentence, Bos itself is the subject (a noun), so you don’t need dia / beliau.

Compare:

• Dia akan umumkan bonus esok. – He/She will announce the bonus tomorrow.
• Bos akan umumkan bonus esok. – The boss will announce the bonus tomorrow.

Both are fine, but you either use a pronoun (dia) or a noun (bos), not both together in that position. If you want to combine them, it has to be in a different structure:

• Dia ialah bos yang akan umumkan bonus esok. – He/She is the boss who will announce the bonus tomorrow.

What exactly does akan do in this sentence? Is it always necessary for future?

Akan is a future marker meaning roughly “will” or “going to”.

In Bos akan umumkan bonus esok:

• akan marks the event as happening in the future.

However, Malay is very flexible with time. Future can also be shown by:

• a time word (esok – tomorrow)
• or just understood from context.

So you could also say:

• Bos umumkan bonus esok.

This is still understood as future because of esok. Akan here just makes the future sense a bit clearer or more explicit, but it’s not strictly required.

What is the difference between umumkan and mengumumkan?

Both are related to “announce”, but there is a nuance in form and style.

• mengumumkan

  • Full standard verb with the prefix meN- and suffix -kan
  • Sounds more formal / standard
  • Example: Bos akan mengumumkan bonus esok.

• umumkan

  • This is the root umum
    • suffix -kan, without meN-
  • Often used in spoken Malay, headlines, instructions, casual language
  • Slightly more direct/brief

In everyday conversation or casual writing, Bos akan umumkan bonus esok is perfectly natural. In very formal writing (e.g. newspapers, official letters), mengumumkan is more common:

• Bos akan mengumumkan bonus esok.

What does the suffix -kan on umumkan do?

The -kan suffix often:

• turns a root into a transitive verb (takes an object),
• or adds a sense of “to cause / to make / to direct something”.

Here:

• umum – public, general
• umumkan – to make public, to announce something (to make it known)

So:

• Bos akan umumkan bonus esok.
  • Subject: Bos
  • Verb: umumkan
  • Object: bonus
  • Time: esok

The -kan helps show that bonus is the thing being “made public” (announced).

Why is bonus after umumkan? Can we change the word order?

Malay basic word order is S – V – O (Subject – Verb – Object), similar to English.

In Bos akan umumkan bonus esok:

• Subject: Bos
• Verb phrase: akan umumkan
• Object: bonus
• Time: esok

You normally cannot move the object before the verb in a simple sentence:

• ❌ Bos bonus akan umumkan esok. (incorrect)

But you can:

• add emphasis to the object using a cleft sentence:
  • Bonus itu bos akan umumkan esok. – It’s that bonus that the boss will announce tomorrow. (emphasises the bonus)
• or leave out the object if it’s obvious:
  • Bos akan umumkan esok. – The boss will announce (it) tomorrow.

Does esok always mean “tomorrow”? I’ve also seen besok.

Esok means “tomorrow”.

About besok:

• In standard Malay, esok is preferred.
• besok is widely used in Indonesia (Indonesian language).
• In some Malay informal speech, you might still hear besok, but esok is the safer choice in formal Malay.

So for Malay (e.g. in Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore), use:

• esok – tomorrow

Is Bos akan umumkan bonus esok formal, informal, or neutral?

It’s roughly neutral to slightly informal, mainly because of Bos and the shorter umumkan.

Formality scale:

• Very informal (chat with colleagues):
  • Bos nak umumkan bonus esok. (nak = want to, casual)
• Neutral / common:
  • Bos akan umumkan bonus esok.
• More formal / official:
  • Ketua jabatan akan mengumumkan bonus esok.
  • Pihak pengurusan akan mengumumkan bonus esok. – Management will announce the bonus tomorrow.

So the given sentence is fine in speech at work and in semi-casual writing (e.g. internal emails, WhatsApp messages among staff).

Can Bos be used as a way to address someone directly, like saying “Boss!” in English?

Yes. Bos can be:

• a subject noun (as in your sentence)
• a form of address (vocative), when speaking directly to someone.

Examples:

• Bos, bila bonus nak diumumkan? – Boss, when will the bonus be announced?
• Terima kasih, bos! – Thanks, boss!

In this sentence:

• Bos akan umumkan bonus esok.
  • Bos is not a direct address; it’s just the subject (the boss).

Could we say Bos akan buat pengumuman bonus esok instead? Is that the same?

Yes, that is another natural way to say it, but the structure changes slightly.

• Bos akan umumkan bonus esok.

  • Verb: umumkan (to announce)
  • Object: bonus (the thing announced)

• Bos akan buat pengumuman bonus esok.

  • Verb: buat (to make/do)
  • Object: pengumuman (announcement)
  • bonus here describes what the announcement is about.

Meaning-wise, they’re very close:

• First focuses on the action “announce the bonus”.
• Second focuses on “make an announcement about the bonus”.

Both are correct and natural; the original is shorter and more direct.

Why isn’t there any verb “to be” like is / will be in the sentence?

Malay often does not use a separate verb for “to be” in the way English does, especially with:

• adjectives
• nouns
• and sometimes in simple tense constructions.

In Bos akan umumkan bonus esok, the structure is:

• Bos – subject
• akan umumkan – verb phrase
• bonus – object
• esok – time

You don’t need anything like “will be” because:

• akan already signals future,
• umumkan is the main verb.

If you tried to insert a “be” verb, it would be incorrect:

• ❌ Bos akan adalah umumkan bonus esok.

So the idea “The boss will be announcing the bonus tomorrow” is fully carried by akan umumkan without any extra “be” verb.

How would I say this sentence more politely about a high-status person, like a company director?

You can:

1. Avoid Bos, and use a more formal title.
2. Use a more formal verb form.

Examples:

• Pengarah syarikat akan mengumumkan bonus esok.
  • The company director will announce the bonus tomorrow.
• Dato’ akan mengumumkan bonus esok. (if the person holds that title)
• Beliau akan mengumumkan bonus esok.
  • He/She will announce the bonus tomorrow. (beliau is a polite / respectful “he/she”)

Compared with:

• Bos akan umumkan bonus esok. – neutral / slightly informal.