Selepas makan tengah hari, saya menyambung kerja di pejabat.

Selepas means after. In this sentence, Selepas makan tengah hari works like After lunch in English and sets the time for the main action.

Malay often puts time expressions at the beginning of the sentence, especially when giving context first. So:

Selepas makan tengah hari, saya menyambung kerja di pejabat.
= After lunch, I continued my work / resumed work at the office.

You could also move the time phrase later in some contexts, but putting it first is very natural.

Malay commonly uses the phrase makan tengah hari for lunch.

It breaks down like this:

• makan = eat / meal
• tengah hari = midday / noon

So literally it is something like midday meal.

In everyday Malay, this whole phrase functions as the normal word for lunch. Learners should usually treat it as a fixed expression.

Tengah hari means midday, noon, or the middle part of the day.

In makan tengah hari, it helps specify that the meal is the one eaten around noon, so the phrase means lunch.

Compare:

• pagi = morning
• tengah hari = noon / midday
• petang = late afternoon
• malam = night

Malay does not use articles like the or a/an the way English does.

So:

• di pejabat = at the office / in the office
• saya membaca buku = I read a book / the book, depending on context

Malay often leaves definiteness to context. If the speaker and listener both know which office is meant, di pejabat naturally means at the office.

Menyambung here means to continue, to resume, or to carry on with something.

In this sentence, it suggests that the speaker went back to work after lunch. So in English, depending on context, you might translate it as:

• continued working
• resumed work
• carried on working

So yes, it is close to continue, but in this sentence it has a very natural resume after a break feeling.

Both are possible, but they are slightly different.

• bekerja = to work
• menyambung kerja = to continue/resume work

So:

Selepas makan tengah hari, saya bekerja di pejabat.
= After lunch, I worked at the office.

Selepas makan tengah hari, saya menyambung kerja di pejabat.
= After lunch, I resumed/continued work at the office.

The sentence with menyambung emphasizes returning to work after lunch.

Malay often leaves out possessive words like my, your, or his/her when the meaning is obvious from context.

So menyambung kerja literally looks like continue work, but naturally means:

• continue my work
• continue working

Because the subject is saya (I), it is already clear whose work is being talked about.

If needed, Malay can be more explicit:

• saya menyambung kerja saya = I continued my work

But this is often unnecessary and can sound repetitive.

Di is a preposition meaning at, in, or sometimes on, depending on context.

Here:

• di pejabat = at the office / in the office

Some examples:

• di rumah = at home
• di sekolah = at school
• di meja = on the table / at the table, depending on context

Malay prepositions are often broader than English ones, so the exact translation depends on the situation.

The word order is actually quite close to English once you break it down:

• Selepas makan tengah hari = After lunch
• saya = I
• menyambung kerja = continued/resumed work
• di pejabat = at the office

So the structure is:

After lunch, I continued work at the office.

That is very similar to English. The main thing that may feel different is that Malay often uses compact noun phrases and leaves out words like the, my, and sometimes helping words that English requires.

Sometimes yes, but not always.

Malay does allow the subject to be dropped in some situations when it is already clear from context, especially in conversation. For example, if it is obvious who is speaking, someone might say:

Selepas makan tengah hari, menyambung kerja di pejabat.

But in normal full written sentences, especially for learners, including saya is better and more natural: Selepas makan tengah hari, saya menyambung kerja di pejabat.

So omitting saya is possible in casual speech, but keeping it is the safer standard choice.

The comma is used because Selepas makan tengah hari is an introductory time phrase.

So:

Selepas makan tengah hari, saya menyambung kerja di pejabat.

This is similar to English punctuation in: After lunch, I resumed work at the office.

In casual writing, people may omit the comma, but using it is clear and standard.

Yes, in many everyday contexts.

• selepas = more standard/formal
• lepas = very common in speech and informal writing

So:

• Selepas makan tengah hari, saya menyambung kerja di pejabat.
• Lepas makan tengah hari, saya menyambung kerja di pejabat.

Both are natural. Learners should recognize both, but selepas is a good standard form to learn first.

Menyambung comes from the root sambung, which has meanings related to connect, continue, or resume.

The prefix meN- changes form depending on the first sound of the root. With sambung, it becomes:

• sambung → menyambung

This prefix often forms active verbs.

So:

• sambung = continue / connect
• menyambung = to continue / to resume / to connect something

In this sentence, it is the active verb meaning to continue/resume work.

Yes. English gives a few natural options here.

Di pejabat can be translated as:

• at the office
• in the office

And menyambung kerja can be rendered as:

• continued work
• resumed work
• continued working

So depending on style, this sentence could naturally be translated as:

• After lunch, I resumed work at the office.
• After lunch, I continued working in the office.

The exact English wording may change, but the Malay sentence itself is perfectly natural.