Learn Hardcore Malay: Di pejabat, asap rokok tidak dibenarkan kerana ia menjejaskan kesihatan. - At the office, cigarette smoke is not allowed because it affects health.

Malay normally does not use articles like “a” or “the”. Whether it means “the office” or “an office” depends on context. In this sentence, di pejabat is naturally understood as “in the office / at the office” in a general sense (e.g. “In the office, cigarette smoke is not allowed…”).

If you really need to specify a particular office, you can add something else, e.g. di pejabat ini (in this office), di pejabat itu (in that office), di pejabat kami (in our office), etc.

Why is there a comma after di pejabat? Is that required?

The comma is there because di pejabat functions like an introductory phrase (“In the office,”) that sets the scene before the main clause.

Di pejabat, = In the office,
asap rokok tidak dibenarkan kerana ia menjejaskan kesihatan. = cigarette smoke is not allowed because it harms health.

In Malay, the comma is optional here but very common and stylistically nice. You can also write:

Di pejabat asap rokok tidak dibenarkan kerana ia menjejaskan kesihatan.

Both are acceptable; the version with a comma is clearer and closer to English punctuation style.

What does asap rokok mean literally, and why not just say rokok for “smoking”?

Asap rokok literally means “cigarette smoke”:

asap = smoke
rokok = cigarette

So asap rokok = smoke of cigarette(s).

If you just say rokok, that’s “cigarette(s)”, not the smoke.

Rokok tidak dibenarkan = Cigarettes are not allowed. (e.g. you can’t bring or use them)
Asap rokok tidak dibenarkan = Cigarette smoke is not allowed. (focus on the smoke, the act of smoking)

This sentence is specifically about smoke, not merely possessing cigarettes.

Why is tidak used here and not bukan? What’s the difference?

In Malay, both tidak and bukan mean “not”, but they’re used in different structures:

tidak is used with verbs and adjectives.
bukan is used with nouns, pronouns, and for equative / identification (“X is not Y”).

In the sentence:

tidak dibenarkan
- dibenarkan (is allowed) is a verb phrase (passive form).
- So the correct negator is tidak.

Examples:

Dia tidak sihat. = He/She is not healthy. (adjective → tidak)
Itu bukan pejabat saya. = That is not my office. (noun → bukan)
Masuk lewat tidak dibenarkan. = Late entry is not allowed. (verb phrase → tidak)

What exactly does tidak dibenarkan mean, and how is it formed?

Tidak dibenarkan means “is not allowed / is not permitted”.

Breakdown:

benar = true / right (root)
membenarkan = to allow / to permit (active verb: “to make it right / okay”)
dibenarkan = is allowed / is permitted (passive verb: something is allowed)
tidak dibenarkan = is/are not allowed

So asap rokok tidak dibenarkan = “cigarette smoke is not allowed.”

This di-…-kan pattern is common for passives based on verbs with meN-…-kan:

menggunakan → digunakan (to use → is used)
membenarkan → dibenarkan (to allow → is allowed)

What does kerana mean, and can I replace it with sebab?

Kerana means “because”.

kerana ia menjejaskan kesihatan = because it harms health

You can generally replace kerana with sebab; both mean “because”. The differences:

kerana → a bit more formal / neutral, common in writing.
sebab → slightly more informal / conversational.

So you could also say:

Di pejabat, asap rokok tidak dibenarkan sebab ia menjejaskan kesihatan.

Grammatically fine, just a touch more informal.

What is the difference between ia and dia? Why use ia here?

Both ia and dia can mean “he / she / it”, but they differ in usage:

dia
- Very common in spoken Malay.
- Usually refers to people.
- More informal / neutral.
ia
- More common in written Malay (especially formal writing).
- Can refer to things, animals, or abstract ideas, not just people.
- Sounds more formal.

In kerana ia menjejaskan kesihatan:

ia refers to asap rokok (cigarette smoke) in the previous clause.
Using ia is natural and a bit formal, fitting the overall tone.

In everyday speech, many people would use dia or even drop the pronoun entirely:

… sebab (asap rokok) menjejaskan kesihatan.

What does menjejaskan mean, and how is it different from just jejaskan or other verbs like merosakkan?

Menjejaskan means roughly “to affect negatively / to harm / to impair” (often used with health, performance, reputation, etc.).

Breakdown:

jejas (root) → “to damage / to harm / to impair”
menjejaskan = to harm / to negatively affect (transitive verb)
jejaskan is the same verb without the prefix, often used in casual speech or imperatives:
- Jangan jejaskan kesihatan kamu. = Don’t harm your health.

Nuance compared to similar verbs:

menjejaskan kesihatan = adversely affect health (quite general and common)
merosakkan kesihatan = damage health (often sounds stronger)
membahayakan kesihatan = endanger health (emphasizes danger)

So menjejaskan kesihatan is the typical, relatively neutral phrase for “harm / affect health negatively.”

What does kesihatan mean, and how is it related to sihat?

Kesihatan means “health” (the noun).

sihat = healthy (adjective)
kesihatan = health (noun)

Malay often forms nouns from adjectives using ke-…-an:

sihat → kesihatan (healthy → health)
penting → kepentingan (important → importance / interest)
baik → kebaikan (good → goodness / benefit)

So menjejaskan kesihatan = to harm health.

How would I say this sentence in a more casual, spoken way?

A common, more casual version might be:

Dekat pejabat, tak boleh merokok sebab asap rokok tak elok untuk kesihatan.

Changes compared to the original:

Dekat instead of di (very common in speech).
tak instead of tidak (informal contraction).
Use tak boleh merokok (“cannot smoke”) instead of the passive asap rokok tidak dibenarkan.
Add tak elok untuk kesihatan = “not good for health” (colloquial way of saying it harms health).

The original sentence is more formal / written; the example here reflects natural spoken Malay.

If I put the reason first, would “Kerana ia menjejaskan kesihatan, asap rokok tidak dibenarkan di pejabat.” be correct?

Yes, that’s grammatically correct and natural:

Kerana ia menjejaskan kesihatan, asap rokok tidak dibenarkan di pejabat.
= Because it harms health, cigarette smoke is not allowed in the office.

Points to note:

Kerana-clause (reason) comes first, followed by the main clause.
Comma after the kerana-clause is good style.
You moved di pejabat to the end; that’s fine and still clear.

Both word orders are acceptable:

Di pejabat, asap rokok tidak dibenarkan kerana ia menjejaskan kesihatan.
Kerana ia menjejaskan kesihatan, asap rokok tidak dibenarkan di pejabat.

Choice depends on what you want to emphasize first (location vs reason).

How would I say “Smoking is not allowed in the office because it harms health” using a verb for “to smoke” instead of “cigarette smoke”?

You can use the verb merokok (to smoke):

Di pejabat, merokok tidak dibenarkan kerana ia menjejaskan kesihatan.

Here:

merokok = to smoke
merokok tidak dibenarkan = smoking is not allowed

You could also specify rokok (cigarettes):

Di pejabat, merokok rokok tidak dibenarkan… → sounds redundant and odd.
Better is either merokok (smoking) or asap rokok (cigarette smoke), not both.

So the best versions are:

Di pejabat, merokok tidak dibenarkan kerana ia menjejaskan kesihatan.
Di pejabat, asap rokok tidak dibenarkan kerana ia menjejaskan kesihatan.

How would I change the sentence to the past tense, like “was not allowed”?

Malay generally doesn’t change the verb form for tense. Instead, it relies on context or adds time words.

To show past tense, you can add a past-time marker:

Dulu, di pejabat, asap rokok tidak dibenarkan kerana ia menjejaskan kesihatan.
= In the past, in the office, cigarette smoke was not allowed because it harmed health.

Or:

Semalam / Tadi / Tahun lepas, di pejabat, asap rokok tidak dibenarkan…

The verb tidak dibenarkan itself stays the same; the time expression tells you it’s past.