Hari Ahad, kami jarang pergi ke pejabat.

Breakdown of Hari Ahad, kami jarang pergi ke pejabat.

pergi
to go
ke
to
pejabat
the office
kami
we
jarang
rarely
hari Ahad
Sunday
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Questions & Answers about Hari Ahad, kami jarang pergi ke pejabat.

What does “Hari Ahad” literally mean, and why isn’t there a word like “on” (as in “on Sunday”)?

Literally, hari = day, Ahad = Sunday.
So Hari Ahad = Sunday (day) / the day Sunday.

Malay usually doesn’t need a separate preposition like “on” before days of the week.
So:

  • Hari Ahad, kami jarang pergi ke pejabat.
    = On Sunday, we rarely go to the office.

You can add pada (a general preposition, often translated as “on/at”) if you want, but it’s optional here:

  • Pada hari Ahad, kami jarang pergi ke pejabat. (also correct)

Is there any difference between “Hari Ahad” and “pada hari Ahad”?

Grammatically, both are correct and mean the same thing in this sentence:

  • Hari Ahad, kami jarang pergi ke pejabat.
  • Pada hari Ahad, kami jarang pergi ke pejabat.

Differences:

  • Without “pada”: Slightly more informal and very common in speech and writing.
  • With “pada”: Can sound a bit more formal or careful, and is very common in writing (essays, official texts, etc.).

Meaning-wise: no real difference here.


Can I say “Pada Ahad, kami jarang pergi ke pejabat” and drop the word “hari”?

Yes, you can say:

  • Pada Ahad, kami jarang pergi ke pejabat.

This is understood and used, especially in Malaysia. However:

  • “pada hari Ahad” and “Hari Ahad” are more typical and slightly clearer, because hari explicitly marks it as a day.
  • Just “Ahad” without hari is fine in many contexts, especially in speech:

    • Ahad kami jarang pergi ke pejabat. (also acceptable in casual speech)

All of these are understandable as “On Sundays, we rarely go to the office.”


Why is there a comma after “Hari Ahad”?

The comma shows that “Hari Ahad” is a time expression placed at the beginning of the sentence:

  • Hari Ahad, (On Sundays,)
    kami jarang pergi ke pejabat. (we rarely go to the office.)

You could also put the time phrase at the end:

  • Kami jarang pergi ke pejabat pada hari Ahad.
    (No comma needed.)

So the comma isn’t about grammar rules for “Hari Ahad” itself; it’s just normal punctuation when you front a time expression.


What exactly is the difference between “kami” and “kita”? Could I use “kita” here?

Both kami and kita mean “we/us”, but:

  • kami = we (excluding the listener)
    → the person you’re talking to is not part of the group.
  • kita = we (including the listener)
    → the person you’re talking to is part of the group.

In the sentence:

  • Hari Ahad, kami jarang pergi ke pejabat.

This means: “On Sundays, we (not including you) rarely go to the office.”

If you want to include the listener (for example, you and your colleague together), you could say:

  • Hari Ahad, kita jarang pergi ke pejabat.
    = On Sundays, we (you and I) rarely go to the office.

So whether “kita” is correct depends on who is included in “we.”


What does “jarang” mean exactly? Is it like “rarely” or “sometimes”?

Jarang means “rarely / seldom”, i.e. not often.

Some rough frequency words in Malay:

  • selalu = always / very often
  • kerap = frequently / often
  • kadang-kadang = sometimes
  • jarang = rarely / seldom
  • tidak pernah / tak pernah = never

So:

  • Hari Ahad, kami jarang pergi ke pejabat.
    = On Sundays, we rarely go to the office. (We do go, but not often.)

Where does “jarang” normally go in a sentence? Can I put it somewhere else?

In Malay, adverbs of frequency like jarang usually go before the verb:

  • Kami jarang pergi ke pejabat. (We rarely go to the office.)
    • kami (we)
    • jarang (rarely)
    • pergi (go)
    • ke pejabat (to the office)

Other common positions:

  • At the start, for emphasis (more marked):
    • Jarang kami pergi ke pejabat hari Ahad.
      = Rarely do we go to the office on Sundays.

You normally don’t put jarang at the end like English “we go to the office rarely”; that sounds odd in Malay.


There’s no tense marker like “do” or “did”. How do I know if this means “we rarely go” or “we rarely went”?

Malay usually does not mark tense with verb changes. Time is understood from:

  • Context, and
  • Time words like semalam (yesterday), esok (tomorrow), setiap hari (every day), etc.

In your sentence:

  • Hari Ahad, kami jarang pergi ke pejabat.

The default interpretation is habitual / present-like:

  • “On Sundays, we rarely go to the office.” (general habit)

If you want to make past or future clearer, you add extra words:

  • Dulu, hari Ahad kami jarang pergi ke pejabat.
    = In the past, on Sundays we rarely went to the office.
  • Mulai bulan depan, hari Ahad kami jarang akan pergi ke pejabat.
    = From next month, on Sundays we will rarely go to the office.

So the base sentence is time-neutral; context decides.


Why do we say “pergi ke pejabat” and not just “pergi pejabat”?

Pergi = to go
Ke = to / towards (preposition of direction)
Pejabat = office

So pergi ke pejabat = go to the office.

In standard Malay, ke is normally used before a place noun:

  • pergi ke sekolah = go to school
  • pergi ke rumah = go to the house/home
  • pergi ke Kuala Lumpur = go to Kuala Lumpur

Native speakers sometimes drop ke in casual speech (especially with some place words), but for learners and in writing, include “ke”:

  • pergi ke pejabat (standard and safe)
  • pergi pejabat (colloquial at best, may sound wrong in formal contexts)

What does “pejabat” mean, and how is it different from “ofis”?
  • pejabat = office (more formal, standard Malay)
  • ofis / opis = office (colloquial, from English “office”)

In the sentence:

  • Hari Ahad, kami jarang pergi ke pejabat.

This is neutral and suitable for spoken and written Malay.

If you’re speaking very casually, you might hear:

  • Hari Ahad, kami jarang pergi ofis.

But in proper writing, “pejabat” is preferred.


If “kami jarang pergi ke pejabat” is “we rarely go to the office”, how would I say “we never go to the office on Sunday”?

Use tidak pernah or tak pernah (informal) for “never”:

  • Hari Ahad, kami tidak pernah pergi ke pejabat.
    = On Sundays, we never go to the office.

Compare:

  • jarang = rarely (sometimes, but not often)
  • tidak pernah = never (0 times)

Is there any plural marker for “pejabat”? How do I know it’s “to the office” and not “to the offices”?

Malay nouns usually do not change form for singular vs plural.

  • pejabat can mean “office” or “offices”, depending on context.

In:

  • Hari Ahad, kami jarang pergi ke pejabat.

Most natural reading is: “…go to the office” (your/the usual office).
If you want to make it clearly plural, you can specify:

  • Hari Ahad, kami jarang pergi ke pejabat-pejabat.
    (reduplication can mark plurality)
  • Hari Ahad, kami jarang pergi ke semua pejabat.
    = …go to all the offices.

But normally, “pejabat” alone is enough; context tells you whether it’s singular or plural.