Bos akan luluskan permohonan kerja saya esok.

The boss will approve my job application tomorrow.

Breakdown of Bos akan luluskan permohonan kerja saya esok.

• akan: will
• bos: the boss
• saya: my
• esok: tomorrow
• permohonan: the application
• kerja: job
• luluskan: to approve

Questions & Answers about Bos akan luluskan permohonan kerja saya esok.

What does akan mean in this sentence? Do I really need it if esok already means “tomorrow”?

Akan is a future marker, roughly like “will / going to” in English.

• Bos akan luluskan… = The boss *will approve…*
• Without akan: Bos luluskan permohonan kerja saya esok.
  
  • Still understandable as future because esok (tomorrow) is there.

So:

• With akan: slightly more explicit and “planned” future.
• Without akan: very normal too, especially in speech; the time word (esok) is enough.

You do not have to use akan whenever talking about the future, but it’s common and completely correct here.

Is Bos a Malay word or just the English word “boss”? Is it formal enough?

Bos is a loanword from English “boss”, but it’s fully accepted and very common in Malay.

• Meaning: direct supervisor, manager, or “the boss”.
• Register:
  
  • Neutral–informal in everyday speech.
  • Acceptable in many workplaces, but not very formal.

More formal alternatives in Malay might be:

• ketua – leader / head
• majikan – employer
• pengurus – manager

For example, in a formal letter you might write:

• Ketua akan meluluskan permohonan kerja saya esok.
  (The head will approve my job application tomorrow.)

In speech with colleagues, Bos is perfectly natural:

• Bos akan luluskan permohonan kerja saya esok.

What exactly does luluskan mean? How is it different from lulus and meluluskan?

The base word is lulus, which usually means “to pass (an exam / check)” or “to be approved”.

The form luluskan has the suffix -kan, which usually makes it transitive / causative – “to cause something to pass / approve something”.

• lulus (intransitive/neutral):
  
  • Permohonan saya lulus.
    – My application passed / was approved.
• luluskan (with -kan, transitive):
  
  • Bos luluskan permohonan saya.
    – The boss approves my application.

You will also see meluluskan:

• meN- (here me-
  • lulus + -kan) is the standard active verb prefix.
• Bos meluluskan permohonan saya.
  – The boss approves my application. (more standard/neutral)

Difference in practice:

• meluluskan – more standard / written / formal Malay.
• luluskan – very common in spoken Malay after a clear subject, especially in Malaysia:
  
  • Bos akan luluskan permohonan…

So in your sentence, Bos akan luluskan… sounds natural in everyday speech.
In a formal document, Bos akan meluluskan… would be more textbook-standard.

Why is it permohonan kerja saya and not saya permohonan kerja for “my job application”?

In Malay, possession usually goes:

[thing owned] + [owner]

So:

• permohonan – application
• kerja – work / job (here modifying permohonan)
• saya – I / me / my

permohonan kerja saya literally = “application job my” → my job application.

General pattern:

• kereta saya – my car
• rumah mereka – their house
• telefon cikgu – the teacher’s phone

So you don’t say saya permohonan kerja.
The pronoun comes after the noun phrase it possesses.

How does saya work here? How can it mean “my” instead of “I”?

Saya is the polite/neutral “I / me” in Malay, but it also works as a possessive “my” when placed after a noun:

• saya = I / me
• buku saya = my book
• permohonan kerja saya = my job application

Malay doesn’t change the form of the pronoun for possessive like English (I → my).
It relies on position instead:

• Saya di sini. – I am here.
• Ini buku saya. – This is my book.

You might also hear saya punya in speech for “my”:

• permohonan kerja saya punya – my application (very informal / spoken)

But permohonan kerja saya is the standard and safest form.

Why is esok at the end? Can I move “tomorrow” to another position?

Yes, you can move esok; Malay word order for time expressions is fairly flexible.

Your sentence:

• Bos akan luluskan permohonan kerja saya esok.
  – The boss will approve my job application tomorrow.

Other natural options:

1. Esok bos akan luluskan permohonan kerja saya.
   
   • Puts extra focus on “tomorrow” (good as an answer to When?).
2. Bos esok akan luluskan permohonan kerja saya.
   
   • Possible in spoken Malay, but less standard; option (1) and the original are better.

Very common patterns are:

• [Subject] [verb] [object] [time] – like your sentence.
• [Time] [subject] [verb] [object] – to emphasize the time.

So keeping esok at the end is completely natural.

Is this sentence formal, casual, or somewhere in between?

Bos akan luluskan permohonan kerja saya esok. is:

• Neutral–informal in tone.
• Very natural in spoken Malay at work.

To make it more formal / written, you might say:

• Ketua akan meluluskan permohonan kerja saya esok.
• Majikan saya akan meluluskan permohonan kerja saya esok.

To make it even more casual, you could also change the pronoun and wording in speech:

• Bos akan luluskan permohonan kerja aku esok.
  – The boss will approve my job application tomorrow. (very casual, using aku)

Could I make this sentence passive, like “My job application will be approved by the boss tomorrow”?

Yes. A common passive version is:

• Permohonan kerja saya akan diluluskan oleh bos esok.
  – My job application will be approved by the boss tomorrow.

Key points:

• di-…-kan = passive form of luluskan / meluluskan:
  
  • meluluskan → diluluskan
• oleh bos = by the boss (often optional; can be dropped if obvious).

You can also say:

• Permohonan kerja saya akan diluluskan esok.
  – My job application will be approved tomorrow.

The passive sentence shifts the focus onto the application rather than the boss.

Why isn’t it akan meluluskan here? Textbooks usually teach meN- verbs like meluluskan.

You’re right: textbook standard Malay usually uses meN- prefixes for active verbs:

• meluluskan = to approve (actively)
• Bos akan meluluskan permohonan kerja saya esok.

However, in spoken Malay, especially in Malaysia, it is very common to drop the meN- prefix when:

• There is a clear subject before the verb, and
• The meaning is still obvious.

So we often hear:

• Bos akan luluskan permohonan saya.
• Saya nak hantar borang. (instead of menghantar)

Both Bos akan luluskan… and Bos akan meluluskan… are acceptable;

• meluluskan – more standard / formal / written
• luluskan – more colloquial / spoken

Is there any difference between esok and besok, or can I use both?

Both esok and besok can mean “tomorrow”, but usage depends on region and register.

In standard Malay (Malaysia):

• esok is the standard form.
• besok is common in colloquial speech and informal writing (especially influenced by Indonesian / older usage).

In everyday Malaysian speech, many people say besok:

• Bos akan luluskan permohonan kerja saya besok. (very common in conversation)

In formal writing or exams in Malaysia, esok is the safer, standard choice.

So for learning standard Malay, stick with esok, but be aware that you’ll hear besok a lot in casual contexts.