Learn Hardcore Malay: Tolong nasihatkan saya tentang kerja itu.

In Tolong nasihatkan saya…, it softens the request and makes it polite.
You can drop it: Nasihatkan saya tentang kerja itu. This is still grammatically correct, but it can sound more direct or even slightly brusque depending on tone and context.

Using “tolong” is a common, neutral way to make a request sound polite and natural in everyday Malay.

What is the difference between “tolong” and “sila”?

Both can be translated as “please”, but they’re used a bit differently:

tolong
- Literally “help”.
- Used when you’re asking someone to do something for you.
- Feels more personal and request-like.
- Example: Tolong buka pintu. – Please (help) open the door.
sila
- More formal and impersonal, closer to “kindly” / “please” in notices or polite invitations.
- Often used in announcements, instructions, signs, or very formal speech.
- Example: Sila duduk. – Please be seated.

In your sentence, Sila nasihatkan saya tentang kerja itu is possible, but it sounds more formal or official. Tolong is more typical in everyday conversation.

Why is it “nasihatkan” and not just “nasihat”?

nasihat = advice (noun)
nasihatkan = to advise (someone) (verb)

Malay often turns a noun into a transitive verb using the suffix -kan.

nasihat (advice) → nasihatkan (to give advice to someone, to advise)
In nasihatkan saya, saya is the object (“advise me”).

If you said Tolong nasihat saya, it would usually be understood as “my advice” (e.g. my advice about something), not “advise me”. To clearly mean “advise me”, you typically use nasihatkan saya or beri nasihat kepada saya.

Can I say “beri nasihat kepada saya tentang kerja itu” instead? Is it more natural?

Yes, that’s perfectly correct and common:

Tolong beri nasihat kepada saya tentang kerja itu.
= Please give advice to me about that job.

Comparing the two:

Tolong nasihatkan saya tentang kerja itu.
- Slightly more compact.
- Uses the verb nasihatkan (“advise”).
Tolong beri nasihat kepada saya tentang kerja itu.
- Literally “please give advice to me”.
- A bit more explicit and very natural in speech and writing.

Both are good; you can use either without sounding strange.

What exactly does “tentang” mean, and can I replace it with other words?

tentang means “about / regarding / concerning”.

You can often replace it with:

mengenai – about, regarding
berkenaan (dengan) – concerning, regarding (slightly more formal)
pasal – about (more informal/colloquial)

So, these are all possible, with minor style differences:

Tolong nasihatkan saya tentang kerja itu.
Tolong nasihatkan saya mengenai kerja itu.
Tolong nasihatkan saya berkenaan kerja itu. (more formal)
Tolong nasihatkan saya pasal kerja itu. (more casual)

What does “kerja itu” imply exactly? Does it mean “that job”, “my job”, or just “work” in general?

kerja = work / job / task
itu = that (referring to something specific and known in the context)

So kerja itu means “that job / that work”, something specific you and the listener both know about (e.g. a job offer you mentioned, a position you’re applying for, a particular project, etc.).

If you mean work in general, you might say just kerja or tentang kerja (about work).
For “my job” you could say kerja saya.
For a more formal “job” (as a position), you might see pekerjaan instead of kerja:
- Tolong nasihatkan saya tentang pekerjaan itu.

Can I omit “saya” and just say “Tolong nasihatkan tentang kerja itu”?

You can say Tolong nasihatkan tentang kerja itu, but it sounds incomplete or vague, because “nasihatkan” normally needs an object (whom to advise).

nasihatkan saya = advise me
nasihatkan dia = advise him/her
nasihatkan mereka = advise them

Without an object, it can sound like: “Please advise (in general) about that job,” which is a bit odd. In natural speech, people would normally specify who is receiving the advice.

So keep “saya” if you mean “advise me”.

Is the word order fixed, or can I move parts of the sentence around?

The normal, natural order is:

Tolong + verb + object + prepositional phrase
Tolong nasihatkan + saya + tentang kerja itu.

You cannot freely move the words around like in English. These are unnatural or incorrect:

✗ Tolong nasihatkan tentang kerja itu saya.
✗ Tolong saya nasihatkan tentang kerja itu.

However, you can:

Omit “tolong” (more direct):
- Nasihatkan saya tentang kerja itu.
Change “tentang kerja itu” to a synonymous phrase:
- Nasihatkan saya mengenai kerja itu.

But the core order [verb] [object] [about-phrase] should remain.

Is this sentence formal, informal, or neutral?

Tolong nasihatkan saya tentang kerja itu. is neutral and polite:

Suitable for spoken Malay, including in an office context.
Not slangy, not very formal; good as an all-purpose polite sentence.

To make it more formal, you might say:

Bolehkah tuan/puan nasihatkan saya tentang kerja itu?
Saya mohon tuan/puan memberi nasihat kepada saya tentang kerja itu.

To make it more casual, you might hear:

Boleh tak tolong nasihatkan saya pasal kerja tu?
(colloquial “tu” instead of “itu”, and pasal instead of tentang)

Could “tolong” sound bossy, like “do this for me”?

It depends on tone and context, but generally:

Tolong + verb is the standard polite way to ask for help.
It can sound bossy only if your tone is sharp or the context is very hierarchical (e.g. a boss talking to staff in a very direct way).

In normal friendly or neutral speech, Tolong nasihatkan saya… is not rude; it’s a normal polite request. If you want to soften it further, you can add “boleh”:

Boleh tolong nasihatkan saya tentang kerja itu?
= Can you please advise me about that job?

How can I use “nasihatkan” in other sentences?

Some patterns:

[Subject] nasihatkan [object] tentang [something]
- Doktor menasihatkan pesakit tentang pemakanan.
  = The doctor advised the patient about diet.
Tolong nasihatkan dia tentang perkara itu.
= Please advise him/her about that matter.
Saya dinasihatkan supaya berhati-hati.
= I was advised to be careful.
(Here you see the passive dinasihatkan.)

So you can think of nasihatkan roughly as “advise (someone)”.

Is “nasihat” countable in Malay, like “piece of advice” in English?

In Malay, nasihat is usually treated as a mass noun (“advice” in general), similar to English:

Saya perlukan nasihat.
= I need advice.

If you want to be explicit, you can use a classifier:

satu nasihat or satu bentuk nasihat
= one piece of advice / one kind of advice

But day to day, people often just say nasihat without specifying “piece(s) of”. In beri nasihat kepada saya, it’s understood as “give (some) advice to me”.