Learn Hardcore Malay: Dia bercakap jujur dengan bos di pejabat. - He/She speaks honestly with the boss at the office.

You know whether it’s “he” or “she” only from context (previous sentences, the situation, or knowing who is being talked about). If you really need to make the gender clear, Malay speakers might say something like:

dia (lelaki) – he (male)
dia (perempuan) – she (female)

But in normal conversation, just dia is used and context does the work.

What tense is bercakap here? Does it mean “speaks”, “is speaking”, or “spoke”?

Bercakap itself has no tense. Malay verbs do not change form for past, present, or future.

So Dia bercakap jujur dengan bos di pejabat can mean:

He/She speaks honestly with the boss at the office.
He/She is speaking honestly with the boss at the office.
He/She spoke honestly with the boss at the office.

The tense comes from context or from extra time words, for example:

Tadi dia bercakap jujur… – Earlier he/she spoke honestly…
Sekarang dia bercakap jujur… – Now he/she is speaking honestly…
Esok dia akan bercakap jujur… – Tomorrow he/she will speak honestly…

Why is it bercakap jujur and not bercakap dengan jujur like “speak with honesty”?

In Malay, adjectives are very often used directly as adverbs, without adding anything.

So:

jujur = honest / honestly
lancar = fluent / fluently
perlahan = slow / slowly

Therefore:

bercakap jujur = speak honestly

You can say bercakap dengan jujur, and it is correct. It sounds a bit more formal or slightly more emphatic, similar to “speak with honesty” or “speak in an honest way”. In everyday speech, bercakap jujur is shorter and very natural.

What is the difference between bercakap and cakap?

Both are related to “talk/speak”, but usage differs slightly:

bercakap
- More standard/formal.
- Common in writing, news, more careful speech.
- Example: Dia bercakap dengan bos.
cakap
- More colloquial, very common in casual conversation.
- Often used as a verb by itself: Dia cakap dengan bos.
- Also used as a noun meaning “speech/what someone says” in some contexts.

In this sentence, Dia bercakap jujur… sounds neutral and correct. In casual spoken Malay, many people would say:

Dia cakap jujur dengan bos dia kat pejabat.

Why is it dengan bos (“with the boss”) and not kepada bos (“to the boss”)? Are both possible?

Both dengan and kepada can appear with speaking verbs, but they are not always interchangeable.

dengan = with
- Focuses more on interaction / two-way contact.
- bercakap dengan bos = talk/speak with the boss (a conversation).
kepada = to
- Focuses on direction / giving something to someone.
- Common with telling, giving, explaining:
  - beritahu kepada bos – tell the boss
  - terangkan kepada bos – explain to the boss
- bercakap kepada bos is grammatically possible but sounds more formal and less natural than bercakap dengan bos in most everyday contexts.

So for a normal “having a conversation with the boss”, dengan bos is the natural choice.

Is bos a normal Malay word? Is it polite enough for “boss”, or is there a more formal word?

Bos is fully accepted in Malay and very common in everyday speech. It comes from English boss, but is now part of ordinary Malay.

Level of formality:

Neutral / informal office talk: bos
More formal or written:
- majikan – employer
- ketua – chief / head
- pengurus – manager

In a sentence like Dia bercakap jujur dengan bos di pejabat, bos sounds natural and acceptable in most real-life work situations. In a formal letter or official document, you might see majikan or a specific title instead.

What does di pejabat literally mean, and why is there no “the” as in “at the office”?

Literally:

di = at / in / on (location preposition)
pejabat = office

So di pejabat = at the office / in the office.

Malay normally does not use articles like the or a/an. Whether you translate it as “the office” or “an office” in English depends entirely on context.

So:

di pejabat can be either:
- at the office (speaker’s usual office) or
- at an office (some office), depending on the situation.

Can I move di pejabat to the front, like Di pejabat, dia bercakap jujur dengan bos? Is that still natural?

Yes, that is natural.

Malay word order is flexible when you move time/place phrases for emphasis or to set the scene. Both are correct:

Dia bercakap jujur dengan bos di pejabat.
Di pejabat, dia bercakap jujur dengan bos.

Putting di pejabat at the front slightly emphasizes the location, similar to English:

“At the office, he/she spoke honestly with the boss.”

Why isn’t there any word for “his” or “her” before bos? Shouldn’t it be “with his boss”?

Malay often omits possessive pronouns (my, your, his, her) when the relationship is obvious from context.

dengan bos can easily be understood as:

with his boss
with her boss
with the boss

If you need to be explicit, you can say:

dengan bosnya – with his/her boss (the suffix -nya is a general 3rd-person possessor)
dengan bos dia – with his/her boss (more colloquial)
dengan bos saya – with my boss

In many contexts, just dengan bos is enough and perfectly natural.

How do you pronounce Dia bercakap jujur dengan bos di pejabat?

Approximate pronunciation (using English-like spelling):

Dia – “dee-ah”
bercakap – “ber-CHA-kap”
- c is always like ch in church
jujur – “JU-joor”
- both j like j in jam
dengan – “der-ngan” (the ng as in sing)
bos – like English “boss” but shorter
di – “dee”
pejabat – “per-JA-bat”
- pe like “per”
- ja like “jah”
- final t is usually pronounced, but can be soft in fast speech

Stress is relatively even, but you can slightly emphasize the second syllable in bercakap (ber-CHA-kap) and pejabat (pe-JA-bat).