Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Dia kelihatan tenang, tetapi itu belum tentu berarti tidak ada masalah; kadang dia menyembunyikan kejutan atau cerita lucu. - He/She looks calm, but that does not necessarily mean there is no problem; sometimes he/she hides a surprise or a funny story.

tampak – very similar to kelihatan, slightly more neutral/formal:
- Dia tampak tenang.
terlihat – also similar, a bit more formal and often “bookish”:
- Dia terlihat tenang.

In this sentence, you could say:

Dia kelihatan tenang.
Dia tampak tenang.
Dia terlihat tenang.

All are acceptable, but kelihatan sounds nicely natural and conversational. The core meaning does not change much; it’s mostly a style/register choice.

2. What does dia refer to? Is it specifically “he” or “she”? Can it mean “it”?

Dia is a gender‑neutral third‑person singular pronoun for people.

It can mean he or she:
- Dia kelihatan tenang. = He looks calm / She looks calm.
Indonesian does not mark gender in the pronoun itself, so you only know the gender from context.

Using dia for “it”:

Normally, dia is not used for “it” (objects, animals, etc.).
For animals that are treated personally (like a pet), a speaker might sometimes use dia emotionally, similar to using he/she for a pet in English.
For inanimate things, you would not use dia; you would just say the noun again or drop it if clear from context.

3. Why is itu used in “tetapi itu belum tentu berarti …”? What does itu refer to here?

Here, itu does not mean “that (object)” in a literal pointing sense; instead, it refers to the whole situation previously mentioned.

Dia kelihatan tenang, tetapi itu belum tentu berarti tidak ada masalah…
- Literally: He/She looks calm, but *that does not necessarily mean there is no problem…*
- itu = “that (fact / situation / appearance)”

So:

itu is a “dummy subject” referring back to the previous clause (“Dia kelihatan tenang”).
English does this with that:
- He looks calm, but *that doesn’t necessarily mean…*

Could you omit itu?

You can say:
- Dia kelihatan tenang, tetapi belum tentu berarti tidak ada masalah.
This is still understandable, but itu makes the sentence smoother and clearer, especially in written language, by clearly pointing back to the previous idea.

4. How should I understand the phrase “belum tentu berarti”?

Belum tentu berarti is a very common pattern:

belum tentu = not necessarily / not for sure / not certain yet
berarti = means / signifies

Together:

itu belum tentu berarti …
≈ that does not necessarily mean …
≈ that’s not automatically a sign that …

So in the sentence:

… tetapi itu belum tentu berarti tidak ada masalah…
- … but that does not necessarily mean there is no problem…

This structure is useful and reusable:

Kaya belum tentu berarti bahagia.
Being rich doesn’t necessarily mean being happy.

5. Why is tidak ada masalah used here and not bukan ada masalah or tidak masalah?

There are two important points: negation choice and the word ada.

Tidak vs bukan:
- tidak negates verbs and adjectives.
- bukan negates nouns / noun phrases / identities.
- ada is a verb meaning “there is / there are / to exist”, so you must use tidak:
  - ✅ tidak ada masalah = there is no problem
  - ❌ bukan ada masalah (ungrammatical here)
Why ada?
- ada masalah = there is a problem.
- tidak ada masalah = there is no problem / no problem.
Difference from tidak masalah:
- tidak masalah is more like it’s not a problem / no problem (it’s okay).
- tidak ada masalah emphasizes the (non‑)existence of any problem.
- In this sentence, we’re talking about whether problems exist or not, so tidak ada masalah is more precise.

So:

… belum tentu berarti tidak ada masalah …
= … does not necessarily mean there is no problem.

6. Why is there a semicolon ( ; ) before kadang dia menyembunyikan…? Could I use a comma or a period instead?

The semicolon ; is joining two closely related clauses:

… tidak ada masalah; kadang dia menyembunyikan kejutan atau cerita lucu.

You could rewrite it as:

With a period:
- … tidak ada masalah. Kadang dia menyembunyikan kejutan atau cerita lucu.
With dan (and):
- … tidak ada masalah, dan kadang dia menyembunyikan kejutan atau cerita lucu.

Using ; here:

Suggests a stronger link than a period, but more separation than a simple comma.
Is normal and correct in more polished or written Indonesian.

In everyday writing or speech, many Indonesians would just use a period and start a new sentence:

… tidak ada masalah. Kadang dia menyembunyikan kejutan atau cerita lucu.

7. What is the difference between kadang and kadang-kadang in kadang dia menyembunyikan…?

Both kadang and kadang‑kadang mean sometimes.

kadang-kadang is the full, slightly more emphatic form.
kadang is a shorter, very common spoken and written variant.

In practice:

Kadang dia menyembunyikan kejutan.
Kadang-kadang dia menyembunyikan kejutan.

Both mean:

Sometimes he/she hides a surprise.

Nuance:

Some speakers feel kadang-kadang sounds a bit more rhythmic or informal.
kadang may sound a bit more concise or slightly more neutral.

Grammatically, they’re interchangeable here.

8. Can kadang appear in other positions in the sentence, like “Dia kadang menyembunyikan…”? Is word order important?

Yes, kadang is flexible in position. All of these are natural:

Kadang dia menyembunyikan kejutan atau cerita lucu.
Dia kadang menyembunyikan kejutan atau cerita lucu.
Dia menyembunyikan kejutan atau cerita lucu kadang-kadang. (less common, but possible)

Most common patterns:

Kadang dia …
Dia kadang …

The meaning doesn’t change; it’s just a matter of style and emphasis. Placing kadang at the start can slightly emphasize the “sometimes” idea.

9. What exactly does menyembunyikan mean here, and how is it different from menyimpan or merencanakan?

Menyembunyikan comes from sembunyi (to hide) and means “to hide something”, especially to keep it from being known or seen.

Kadang dia menyembunyikan kejutan atau cerita lucu.
- Sometimes he/she hides a surprise or a funny story (keeps it secret / doesn’t reveal it yet).

Compared with:

menyimpan = to keep / to store / to save
- Dia menyimpan kejutan untuk saya.
  He/She keeps/saves a surprise for me. (less about secrecy, more about keeping)
merencanakan = to plan
- Dia merencanakan kejutan.
  He/She is planning a surprise.

So:

menyembunyikan kejutan emphasizes keeping the surprise secret.
menyimpan kejutan emphasizes keeping/holding onto the surprise.
merencanakan kejutan emphasizes preparing/planning it.

10. Does kejutan mean any kind of surprise, or specifically a pleasant one? How is it different from cerita lucu and lelucon?

Kejutan usually means a surprise event or thing, often neutral or pleasant, depending on context.

kejutan:
- kejutan ulang tahun = birthday surprise
- kejutan kecil = a little surprise
- Can be pleasant or unpleasant, but in everyday language often implies something nice unless context says otherwise.

Cerita lucu:

Literally “funny story”:
- cerita = story
- lucu = funny / cute
In this sentence, cerita lucu is like “a funny story (he/she wants to tell)”; it can function like a “joke”, but with story emphasis.

Lelucon:

More specifically “a joke” (as a joke unit, a gag):
- Dia suka membuat lelucon. = He/She likes making jokes.

So here:

kejutan = surprise (something unexpected, maybe a surprise action or event).
cerita lucu = funny story (which might itself be a kind of joke).
The sentence suggests that behind the calm appearance, there may be hidden fun things: a surprise or a funny story.

11. Why is it “tidak ada masalah” and not “ada tidak masalah”? Where does tidak usually go?

In Indonesian, tidak usually comes before the verb or adjective that it negates.

ada = there is / there are
To say “there is no X”, you negate ada:
- tidak ada X = there is no X

So:

✅ tidak ada masalah = there is no problem
❌ ada tidak masalah – this word order is not correct.

General pattern:

tidak + verb/adjective
- tidak tahu = don’t know
- tidak suka = don’t like
- tidak penting = not important
- tidak ada = does not exist / there is not

12. Is this sentence formal or informal? Could I replace tetapi with tapi?

The sentence as written is neutral‑to‑formal:

tetapi is the more formal/standard form of “but”.
tapi is more informal/colloquial, very common in speech and casual writing.

You could say:

Dia kelihatan tenang, tapi itu belum tentu berarti tidak ada masalah; kadang dia menyembunyikan kejutan atau cerita lucu.

This version sounds slightly more conversational, but still natural and correct. Structurally nothing changes; it’s just a style choice.