Learn Hardcore Malay: Bos menyapa kami dengan hangat di pejabat. - The boss greets us warmly at the office.

It usually means your immediate superior at work, like "my boss" in English.
It can also be used loosely to address someone in a familiar or friendly way (like calling a shopkeeper "boss"), but that’s more colloquial.

Spelling & capitalization:

Normally written bos (lowercase) in the middle of a sentence.
In your example it’s capitalized because it’s the first word of the sentence.
It’s not a name or title like "Mr." or "Dr." here, just a common noun meaning "the boss" (the article "the" is implied in Malay).

Why is there no word for “the” before bos or pejabat?

Malay does not use articles like “a/an/the”.

Bos = "a boss" / "the boss" depending on context.
Pejabat = "an office" / "the office" depending on context.

The definiteness (whether it’s "the boss" or "a boss") is understood from context.
In your sentence, we naturally understand it as “the boss greeted us warmly in the office.”

What is the root of menyapa, and what does the prefix meN- do?

The root verb is sapa, which means "to greet / to address someone / to say hello".

The verb menyapa is formed as:

meN- (a common verb prefix) + sapa
Because the root starts with s, the prefix takes the form meny-, so:
meN- + sapa → menyapa

Function of meN- here:

It turns the root into an active verb: menyapa = "to greet (someone)".
It usually implies the subject is actively doing the action.

So bos menyapa literally = "the boss greets / greeted".

Is menyapa different from just “saying hello” or “speaking”?

Yes. Menyapa specifically means to greet someone, especially as the first contact in an interaction.

menyapa: to greet, to say hi/hello to someone, to acknowledge someone’s presence.
bercakap / berbual: to talk, to chat.
mengucapkan salam / memberi salam: to give a greeting (often with a religious/formal nuance, e.g. "Assalamualaikum").

So bos menyapa kami is like “the boss greeted us / said hi to us”, not "the boss chatted with us".

Why is kami used instead of kita for “us”?

Malay distinguishes between inclusive and exclusive "we":

kami = we / us (not including the listener)
→ "we (my group) but not you."
kita = we / us (including the listener)
→ "we (you and I / you and us)."

In bos menyapa kami, the idea is:

The boss greeted our group, and the listener is not part of that group. If the speaker wanted to include the listener (e.g. talking to someone who was also there), they might say:
Bos menyapa kita tadi.
"The boss greeted us (you and me) earlier."

How do I know kami is plural if there’s no "-s" or other plural marker?

Kami is always plural in Malay; it never means a single person.

Malay usually doesn’t add extra plural endings like English -s. Instead, plurality often comes from:

Pronouns: kami, mereka (they), etc.
Context: numbers, quantifiers, or just the situation.

If you want to be explicit, you can say:

kami berdua – the two of us
kami bertiga – the three of us
kami semua – all of us

What does dengan hangat literally mean, and is it the normal way to say “warmly”?

Literally:

dengan = with
hangat = warm (temperature) / warm (figuratively)

So dengan hangat = “with warmth”, which corresponds to “warmly” as an adverb.

This “dengan + adjective” pattern is very common for turning adjectives into adverbs:

dengan perlahan – slowly (with slowness)
dengan sopan – politely
dengan lembut – gently

So bos menyapa kami dengan hangat is a very natural way to say: > "The boss greeted us warmly."

Can I drop dengan and just say bos menyapa kami hangat?

That would sound unnatural in Malay.

To express an adverbial meaning like "warmly", you normally:

Use dengan + adjective: dengan hangat, dengan mesra, etc., or
Use an explicitly adverbial word if one exists.

Without dengan, hangat sounds more like it is directly describing a noun (e.g. teh hangat – warm tea) rather than modifying the verb. So keep dengan here:

✅ Bos menyapa kami dengan hangat.

Could I change the word order and say Bos menyapa kami di pejabat dengan hangat?

You can, and it’s still grammatically correct:

Bos menyapa kami dengan hangat di pejabat.
Bos menyapa kami di pejabat dengan hangat.

Both are acceptable. The usual pattern is:

[Subject] [Verb] [Object] [Manner] [Place]

So dengan hangat (manner) before di pejabat (place) feels a bit more default, but the meaning is basically the same. In everyday speech, both orders would be understood without any problem.

What does di pejabat mean exactly, and is there any difference from di ofis?

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

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

About di pejabat vs. di ofis:

pejabat is the standard Malay word.
ofis is more colloquial / informal, borrowed from English "office".

In formal writing or exams, di pejabat is preferred. In casual speech, di ofis is very common:

Formal: Bos menyapa kami dengan hangat di pejabat.
Informal: Bos say hi kat kami dengan mesra kat ofis. (lots of informal forms here)

How do we know if this sentence is past, present, or future, since there’s no tense marker?

Malay verbs do not change form for tense. Menyapa stays the same for past, present, and future.

The tense is inferred from:

Context: what you’re talking about.
Time words, if needed.

Examples:

Bos menyapa kami dengan hangat di pejabat.
Could mean "The boss greets us..." or "The boss greeted us..." depending on context.
Tadi bos menyapa kami dengan hangat di pejabat.
"Earlier, the boss greeted us warmly in the office." (clearly past)
Nanti bos akan menyapa kami di pejabat.
"Later the boss will greet us in the office." (clearly future, with akan).

Is it polite or rude to call someone bos in Malay?

Bos is generally casual but not rude.

In many workplaces, staff naturally call their superior bos, similar to "boss" in English.
It’s friendlier and less formal than using full titles like Encik, Puan, Tuan, Doktor, etc.

However, in very formal or traditional settings, people might avoid bos and use:

tuan / puan (sir / madam)
specific job titles (e.g. pengarah – director, ketua jabatan – head of department)

In the given sentence, bos is perfectly normal for a neutral, everyday work context.