Learn Hardcore Malay: Saya takut kena marah oleh bos di pejabat. - I am afraid of getting scolded by the boss at the office.

So Saya takut kena marah is very naturally “I’m afraid of getting scolded”, with kena marking that something unpleasant happens to the subject (here: saya).

What is the difference between kena marah and dimarahi?

Both can mean “to be scolded”, but they differ in style and nuance:

kena marah
- Very common in casual and neutral spoken Malay.
- Slightly more colloquial and vivid.
- Focuses on the experience of suffering something unpleasant.
- Saya takut kena marah. – I’m afraid of getting scolded.
dimarahi (or dimarah in some contexts)
- More formal and closer to the standard passive construction.
- Used more in writing, news, or formal speech.
- Sounds a bit more detached, like a straightforward passive.
- Saya takut akan dimarahi bos. – I am afraid that I will be scolded by the boss.

In everyday conversation, kena marah is usually more natural than dimarahi, especially when talking about personal feelings like fear.

Why is oleh bos used here? Is oleh necessary, and can we omit it?

oleh marks the doer / agent of a passive action, similar to “by” in English.

... kena marah oleh bos
→ “... get scolded by (the) boss”

In real-life Malay:

oleh is optional in many everyday sentences, especially in speech.
You can simply say:
Saya takut kena marah bos di pejabat.
This is very natural in conversation and means the same thing.

More options:

Saya takut kena marah oleh bos.
Saya takut kena marah bos.

Both are acceptable; the version without oleh is more common in casual speech.

Why is there no word like “will” or “going to”? How do we know it’s about the future?

Malay often leaves tense (past / present / future) to be understood from context, rather than marking it with a word like “will”.

Saya takut kena marah oleh bos di pejabat.
Literally: “I afraid get scolded by boss at office.”

Depending on context, it could mean:

“I’m afraid I’ll get scolded …” (future – very likely here)
In other contexts, it might be “I’m afraid of being scolded (in general).”

If you really want to make the future sense explicit, you could add akan:

Saya takut akan kena marah oleh bos di pejabat.

But in natural speech, most people just say Saya takut kena marah... and let context show it’s about something that might happen later.

Could we say Saya takut bos marah saya di pejabat instead? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can, and it’s grammatical:

Saya takut bos marah saya di pejabat.
Literally: “I’m afraid the boss gets angry at me at the office.”

Differences:

Structure
- Saya takut kena marah (oleh bos)
  → more passive-like: “I’m afraid of getting scolded (by the boss).”
- Saya takut bos marah saya
  → active: “I’m afraid the boss will scold me.”
Style / frequency
- kena marah feels very idiomatic and compact; it’s probably the most common way to say this.
- bos marah saya is fine but sounds slightly more explicit and less “set-phrase”-like.

Both are natural, but Saya takut kena marah (oleh bos) is the go-to pattern.

Is Saya takut kena marah oleh bos di pejabat formal, informal, or neutral?

It’s mostly neutral:

Saya – polite/neutral pronoun.
bos – slightly informal but very common even in offices.
kena marah – everyday, conversational Malay.
di pejabat – slightly more formal than di ofis, but both are common.

You could adjust the level:

More formal:
- Saya bimbang akan dimarahi oleh ketua di pejabat.
More casual:
- Aku takut kena marah dengan bos kat ofis.

The original sentence works fine in most normal office or daily-life situations.

What is the difference between takut, bimbang, and risau?

All can express negative feelings, but they’re not identical:

takut – fear / being afraid
- Often about something scary or unpleasant that might happen.
- Saya takut kena marah. – I’m afraid of being scolded.
bimbang – concern / apprehension
- Slightly more formal, often used for worries about outcomes, problems, etc.
- Saya bimbang bos tidak puas hati. – I’m concerned the boss isn’t satisfied.
risau – worried / anxious
- Very common in speech, softer than outright fear.
- Saya risau bos marah. – I’m worried the boss will get angry.

In Saya takut kena marah..., takut is appropriate because it’s about a negative event (getting scolded) that the speaker is afraid might happen.

What’s the difference between pejabat and ofis / office?

Both refer to “the office”, but differ in register:

pejabat
- Standard Malay.
- Common in writing, official contexts, and also in speech.
- di pejabat – at the office.
ofis / opis (from English office)
- Informal, everyday speech, especially in urban areas.
- kat ofis / dekat ofis – at the office (casual).

So:

Neutral / standard: Saya takut kena marah oleh bos di pejabat.
Very casual: Aku takut kena marah dengan bos kat ofis.

Can Saya be omitted here, like in some other languages?

In Malay, subject pronouns like saya are often kept, especially at the beginning of a sentence, because they help clarify who we’re talking about.

Saya takut kena marah oleh bos di pejabat. – clear and natural.

You can drop the subject if it’s very clear from context or in a longer conversation, but:

Just saying Takut kena marah oleh bos di pejabat.
still sounds like “(I’m) afraid of getting scolded by the boss at the office.”,
but it’s slightly more fragment-like and usually appears in informal speech or as a continuation of a previous statement.

For learners, it’s safer and clearer to keep Saya.

Can di pejabat be moved to another position in the sentence?

Yes. Malay word order is quite flexible for adverbial phrases like di pejabat. All of these are possible:

Saya takut kena marah oleh bos di pejabat.
Saya takut kena marah di pejabat oleh bos.
Di pejabat, saya takut kena marah oleh bos.

Differences:

The meaning is the same: “I’m afraid of getting scolded by my boss at the office.”
Fronting Di pejabat, ... adds emphasis to “at the office”, like “At the office, I’m afraid of getting scolded…”

The original order is the most typical and neutral.