Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Dia menjawab singkat, seolah-olah maksud pertanyaan itu sudah ia mengerti. - He/She answers briefly, as if he/she already understood the meaning of that question.

Indonesian allows fronting the object for topicalization or emphasis. Putting maksud pertanyaan itu first highlights “the gist of the question.” Both orders are correct:

Neutral: Ia sudah mengerti maksud pertanyaan itu.
Topicalized/emphatic: Maksud pertanyaan itu sudah ia mengerti.

Is it okay to change the word order inside the “as if” clause to the more common S–V–O?

Yes: Dia menjawab singkat, seolah-olah ia sudah mengerti maksud pertanyaan itu. This is the most neutral order in everyday speech. The original is a bit more written/formal or emphatic.

What does sudah do here? Is it past tense?

Sudah marks completion (“already/has”). Indonesian has no tense; context supplies time. Alternatives:

telah = more formal/literary
udah = colloquial Meaning is the same: the understanding was already in place at that time.

Why does the sentence switch from Dia to ia? Are dia and ia different?

They refer to the same third-person singular (he/she). Differences:

dia: common in speech and writing; works as subject or object.
ia: more formal/literary; generally used as a subject (not as a direct object). Mixing them in one sentence is acceptable stylistically, though many editors prefer consistency.

What role does singkat play after menjawab? Is it an adverb?

Yes—Indonesian often uses adjectives adverbially. Menjawab singkat = “answer briefly.” You can also say:

menjawab secara singkat (neutral, slightly more formal)
menjawab dengan singkat (also acceptable) The bare adjective is the most concise and idiomatic.

Could I say pendek instead of singkat?

Prefer singkat for brevity in speech/answers. Pendek is “short” in length/height and is less idiomatic for answers. Use jawaban singkat, not “jawaban pendek.”

What’s the nuance of maksud in maksud pertanyaan? Why not arti pertanyaan?

maksud = intention/gist/purpose behind a question (what the asker is getting at).
arti = lexical meaning/definition. Here, maksud pertanyaan is better because it’s about the intended point of the question, not dictionary meaning. You might also hear inti pertanyaan (the core/gist).

Why is there a comma before seolah-olah? Is it required?

A comma is conventional to set off the subordinate clause introduced by seolah-olah (“as if”). In shorter sentences it’s sometimes omitted, but using it improves clarity.

Can I use seolah, seakan, or seakan-akan instead of seolah-olah?

Yes, they’re near-synonyms.

seolah-olah and seakan-akan: standard and slightly more formal.
seolah and seakan: a bit shorter/colloquial. Meaning and structure are the same: they introduce a clause.

Does seolah-olah imply the thing isn’t actually true?

Often it does suggest an appearance that may not be real (like English “as if”). Context decides. You can make the contrast explicit with padahal (“even though/whereas”):
… seolah-olah ia sudah mengerti, padahal belum.

Could I use a passive construction instead?

Yes. Two natural options:

Dia menjawab singkat, seolah-olah maksud pertanyaan itu sudah dimengertinya.
Dia menjawab singkat, seolah-olah maksud pertanyaan itu sudah ia pahami. The second uses memahami (to understand something) and avoids passive voice while sounding very natural.

Why not include the object after menjawab (e.g., menjawab pertanyaan itu)?

You can—Dia menjawab pertanyaan itu singkat…—but Indonesian often omits obvious objects. Here the “as if” clause already refers to the question, so repeating it after menjawab isn’t necessary.

What’s the function of itu after pertanyaan?

Itu post-nominal marks a specific/known referent (“that/the aforementioned question”). If you drop itu, it becomes generic/indefinite. In formal writing, tersebut can replace itu: pertanyaan tersebut (“the said question”).

Is it okay to say seolah-olah bahwa…?

No. Don’t add bahwa after seolah-olah. Just follow it with a clause: seolah-olah ia sudah mengerti…

Any common colloquial rewrite?

Yes: Dia jawab singkat, seolah dia udah ngerti maksud pertanyaan itu. Features:

jawab (no prefix) = casual speech
dia instead of ia
udah for sudah
ngerti for mengerti (very colloquial)

Are there good synonyms for mengerti here?

paham (stative/adjective-verb): ia sudah paham maksud…
memahami (transitive): ia sudah memahami maksud… All are common; mengerti and paham feel slightly more casual than memahami.