Learn Hardcore Malay: Permohonan kerja saya sedang diproses di pejabat itu. - My job application is being processed at that office.

You can say permohonan pekerjaan, and it is grammatically correct and slightly more formal. In everyday use, permohonan kerja is very common and perfectly natural.

What is the function of saya here? Why is it placed after permohonan kerja?

Saya means “I / me,” but as a possessive it also means “my.”

In Malay, possessives normally come after the noun phrase.
So permohonan kerja saya is literally “job application my” → “my job application.”

You generally don’t say saya permohonan kerja for “my job application”; that word order is wrong.
An informal alternative you might hear in speech is permohonan kerja saya punya, but permohonan kerja saya is the standard form.

What does sedang add to the sentence? Could we leave it out?

Sedang marks a progressive / ongoing action, similar to “is currently / is in the process of” in English.

So:

Permohonan kerja saya diproses di pejabat itu.
= “My job application is processed at that office.” (grammatically OK, but sounds more like a general statement)
Permohonan kerja saya sedang diproses di pejabat itu.
= “My job application is being processed at that office (right now / currently).”

In real-life usage, sedang is often used to emphasize that the action is in progress. You can omit sedang, and context will sometimes still imply the progressive meaning, but with sedang it is explicit.

Why is it diproses and not memproses? How does the di- prefix work here?

Diproses is the passive form: di- + proses → “is processed / being processed.”

Memproses is the active form: mem- + proses → “to process” (someone does the processing to something).

Permohonan kerja saya sedang diproses di pejabat itu.
Literally: “My job application is being processed at that office.” (passive; focus on the application)
Mereka sedang memproses permohonan kerja saya di pejabat itu.
“They are processing my job application at that office.” (active; focus on they)

Malay often uses the di- passive when:

the doer (agent) is unknown or unimportant, or
you want to focus on the thing being acted on (here, the application).

Can I say Permohonan kerja saya sedang diproseskan instead of diproses?

You might hear diproseskan in some contexts, but in standard, natural usage sedang diproses is preferred and fully complete in itself.

Diproses already means “is being processed.”
Adding -kan (→ diproseskan) can sound redundant or awkward here, and is not normally needed.

So for a neutral, correct sentence, stick with sedang diproses.

What does di mean in di pejabat itu, and how is it different from di- in diproses?

In di pejabat itu, di is a preposition meaning “at / in / on,” depending on context:

di pejabat = “at the office / in the office.”

In diproses, di- is a prefix attached to a verb root to form a passive verb:

proses → “process”
diproses → “is processed / being processed.”

They look the same, but:

standalone di before a noun → preposition (“at / in / on”)
di- attached to a verb → passive prefix.

What does pejabat itu mean exactly? Is itu “the” or “that”?

Pejabat = “office.”
Itu = “that” (demonstrative).

Pejabat itu literally means “that office.” However, when both speaker and listener already know which office is meant, pejabat itu often functions like “the office” in English.

Key point: in Malay, itu comes after the noun:

pejabat itu = that/the office
Not itu pejabat (that’s ungrammatical for this meaning).

How would I say “in this office” instead of “in that office”?

Use ini instead of itu:

di pejabat ini = “in this office / at this office.”
di pejabat itu = “in that office / at that office.”

Again, the demonstrative (ini / itu) comes after the noun.

Why is the word order “Permohonan kerja saya sedang diproses di pejabat itu”? Could I start with the place: Di pejabat itu, permohonan kerja saya sedang diproses?

The given order is the most neutral: subject → predicate → place.

Permohonan kerja saya (subject)
sedang diproses (verb phrase)
di pejabat itu (location)

You can front the location:

Di pejabat itu, permohonan kerja saya sedang diproses.

This is also correct and natural. It puts extra emphasis on “at that office”, like “At that office, my job application is being processed.”

Is kerja here a noun or a verb? How is it different from bekerja?

In permohonan kerja, kerja is a noun meaning “work / job.”

Bekerja is the verb “to work.”

kerja = work / job (noun)
- permohonan kerja = job application
bekerja = to work (verb)
- Saya bekerja di pejabat itu. = “I work at that office.”

Because we need a noun (something you apply for), the phrase must use kerja, not bekerja.

Is there any difference in politeness or formality if I replace saya with aku in this sentence?

Yes. Saya is the standard, polite, and neutral “I / me,” suitable for almost all situations: work, formal writing, talking to strangers, etc.

Aku is more informal / intimate, used with close friends, family, or in certain regional/casual contexts.

So:

Permohonan kerja saya sedang diproses di pejabat itu. → appropriate in formal and polite contexts.
Permohonan kerja aku sedang diproses di pejabat itu. → informal; might sound too casual or childish in a job-related context.

Could this sentence mean more than one job application, even though there is no plural form?

Yes. Malay generally doesn’t mark plurals the way English does; context determines whether something is singular or plural.

Permohonan kerja saya could mean:

“my job application” (one), or
“my job applications” (several),

depending on what was being discussed. If you want to be explicit about plurality, you can add a word like beberapa (several) or banyak (many):

Beberapa permohonan kerja saya sedang diproses di pejabat itu.
= “Several of my job applications are being processed at that office.”