Saya kenal bos di pejabat itu.

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Breakdown of Saya kenal bos di pejabat itu.

• itu: that
• di: at
• pejabat: the office

Questions & Answers about Saya kenal bos di pejabat itu.

What exactly does kenal mean here, and how is it different from tahu?

Kenal means to know someone personally / to be acquainted with someone or something.
In this sentence, Saya kenal bos di pejabat itu = I know (am acquainted with) the boss at that office.

Tahu means to know (a fact, information, that something is true).

• Saya tahu bos di pejabat itu garang = I know (that) the boss at that office is strict.

So:

• kenal + person → you know them personally.
• tahu + fact/information → you know information about something.

Could you also say Saya tahu bos di pejabat itu with the same meaning?

Normally, no.

Saya tahu bos di pejabat itu sounds incomplete and odd, because tahu expects a fact or a clause after it. Native speakers would wait for something like:

• Saya tahu bos di pejabat itu baik. (I know the boss at that office is kind.)

To say I know the boss, you should use kenal, not tahu.

What does bos mean exactly, and how formal is it?