Learn Hardcore Malay: Kerja sambilan saya ada dua syif, satu pada waktu petang dan satu pada waktu malam. - My part-time job has two shifts, one in the evening and one at night.

Saya kerja sambilan usually means I work part-time (i.e. saya is the subject, kerja sambilan is the verb phrase), not my part-time job.

You could also say:

Kerja sambilan saya ada dua syif… (natural, standard)
Saya mempunyai kerja sambilan yang ada dua syif… (more formal)

But for “my part-time job”, kerja sambilan saya is the simplest and most natural.

What is the function of ada in …saya ada dua syif? Does it mean “have” or “there are”?

Ada is very flexible in Malay. Here it works like “has / have”:

Kerja sambilan saya ada dua syif
= My part-time job has two shifts.

You can think of two main uses of ada:

Existence / presence – there is / there are
- Ada orang di luar. = There is someone outside.
Possession – have / has
- Saya ada kereta. = I have a car.

In this sentence, it’s the possession meaning: the job “possesses” two shifts.

A more formal alternative is mempunyai:

Kerja sambilan saya mempunyai dua syif… (correct but more formal).

Why isn’t there a classifier after dua, like dua orang, dua buah, etc.? Is dua syif correct?

Yes, dua syif is correct as it is.

Malay often uses classifiers (like orang, buah, ekor) before a noun that you are counting, but:

Many loanwords, especially for modern or technical things (like syif, kursus, projek), are often used without a classifier in everyday speech:
- dua syif (two shifts)
- tiga projek (three projects)
- dua kursus (two courses)

You could add a general classifier like dua buah syif, but it sounds a bit unnatural and is rarely said in real life. Dua syif is the standard everyday form.

What exactly is syif? Is it just the English word “shift” in Malay spelling?

Yes. Syif is a loanword from English “shift”, adapted to Malay spelling.

Usage:

syif pagi – morning shift
syif petang – evening shift
syif malam – night shift

You may also see:

shift (kept in English spelling) in informal writing or ads
more Malay-native words like giliran kerja or waktu kerja, but in practice syif is very common in work contexts.

Why is satu repeated: …ada dua syif, satu pada waktu petang dan satu pada waktu malam? Could we just list the times?

The repetition of satu breaks down the “two shifts” into two separate items:

…ada dua syif, satu pada waktu petang dan satu pada waktu malam.
= …there are two shifts: one in the evening and one at night.

It’s similar to English:
“There are two shifts, one in the evening and one at night.”

Grammatically, you can make it shorter:

Kerja sambilan saya ada dua syif: pada waktu petang dan pada waktu malam.

This is still correct, but the original with satu … dan satu … sounds more natural and clear in spoken Malay.

Do I really need both pada and waktu in pada waktu petang and pada waktu malam?

You don’t have to use both every time. All of these are grammatical, with slightly different styles:

pada waktu petang – at/in the evening (full, a bit more formal)
waktu petang – (during) the evening
petang – (in the) evening

So you could say:

Kerja sambilan saya ada dua syif, satu petang dan satu malam.
Kerja sambilan saya ada dua syif, satu waktu petang dan satu waktu malam.

The original pada waktu petang / pada waktu malam is clear and slightly more formal or careful, but in everyday speech people often shorten it to petang and malam.

What’s the difference between petang and malam in Malay? When does petang end and malam begin?

Roughly:

Petang ≈ late afternoon to early evening
Often about 4 p.m. – 7 p.m. (can vary a bit).
Malam ≈ night / evening after dark
Often from around 7 p.m. onward, once it’s properly dark.

So:

syif petang – shift starting late afternoon / early evening
syif malam – night shift, usually after the evening

There’s some flexibility depending on context, but petang is still “daylight/early evening”, while malam is clearly “night”.

There is no tense marker in the Malay sentence. How do we know if it’s present, past, or future?

Malay usually does not mark tense on the verb. Ada is the same form for present, past, and future. The time is understood from context or from added time words.

Kerja sambilan saya ada dua syif… could mean:

My part-time job has two shifts (present, default reading).
My part-time job had two shifts (if the surrounding context is past).
My part-time job will have two shifts (if talking about a future arrangement).

To be explicit, Malay speakers add time expressions:

Sekarang, kerja sambilan saya ada dua syif… (now – present)
Dulu, kerja sambilan saya ada dua syif… (before – past)
Nanti, kerja sambilan saya akan ada dua syif… (later – future)

Could I drop saya and just say Kerja sambilan ada dua syif…?

You could say Kerja sambilan ada dua syif…, but the meaning changes slightly.

Kerja sambilan saya ada dua syif…
= My part-time job has two shifts.
Kerja sambilan ada dua syif…
Sounds more like part-time work (in general) has two shifts
(or “the part-time job” when context is very clear).

So:

If you specifically mean your job, keep saya.
In a context where it’s already obvious whose job it is, people might drop saya, but it’s safer and clearer to keep it for learners.

Is kerja sambilan the only way to say “part-time job”? I’ve also seen kerja separuh masa.

Both are used and understood:

kerja sambilan
– very common, especially in everyday speech
– feels slightly more casual / everyday
kerja separuh masa
– more literal: half-time work
– seen more in formal writing, ads, official documents, etc.

Also heard in speech:

kerja part-time (code-mixed with English)

In this sentence, Kerja sambilan saya… is perfectly natural and common in Malaysia and Brunei. Kerja separuh masa saya… would also be correct, just a bit more formal or technical in tone.

Could I say Saya ada dua syif dalam kerja sambilan saya instead? Is that still natural?

Yes, that’s grammatical and understandable:

Saya ada dua syif dalam kerja sambilan saya, satu pada waktu petang dan satu pada waktu malam.

Difference in nuance:

Kerja sambilan saya ada dua syif…
– Focus on the job and how it is organized.
Saya ada dua syif dalam kerja sambilan saya…
– Focus more on you, and the fact that you have two shifts in that job.

Both are natural; the original is slightly more compact and job-focused.