Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Jawaban dia langsung dan jelas.

You don’t say dia jawaban for “his answer”; that would sound wrong.
The position of dia after jawaban is the regular, natural possessive order in Indonesian.

Can I say jawabannya langsung dan jelas instead of Jawaban dia langsung dan jelas? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say Jawabannya langsung dan jelas, but there is a nuance difference.

Jawaban dia langsung dan jelas.
→ focuses on “his/her answer” (we know whose answer it is).
Jawabannya langsung dan jelas.
→ jawabannya = the answer / the response (with -nya as a general “the/its/his/her” marker).
The owner is either obvious from context, or not important; it can also mean “the answer (in general) was direct and clear”.

So:

If you want to clearly point to a specific person:
→ Jawaban dia langsung dan jelas.
If the person is already very clear from context, or you’re talking about “the answer” in a more generic way:
→ Jawabannya langsung dan jelas.

Is dia really “his” or “her” here? I thought dia meant “he/she”.

Dia itself means he / she (subject) or him / her (object). Indonesian doesn’t change the form of dia for possession like English does.

Possession is shown by position, not by changing the word:

dia = he / she / him / her
jawaban dia = answer + he/she → his/her answer

So in this sentence:

dia on its own = he/she
jawaban dia = his/her answer

Indonesian has no grammatical gender, so dia can mean he or she; context tells you which.

Is it necessary to include dia? Could I just say Jawaban langsung dan jelas.?

You can say Jawaban langsung dan jelas, but it sounds more like a general statement:

Jawaban langsung dan jelas.
→ “(The) answers are direct and clear.” or “A direct and clear answer.” (very general or context-dependent)

To clearly say “His/Her answer was direct and clear”, you normally include dia (or another possessor):

Jawaban dia langsung dan jelas.
Jawaban guru itu langsung dan jelas. = That teacher’s answer was direct and clear.

Without any possessor or context, Jawaban langsung dan jelas feels slightly incomplete if you’re talking about a specific person’s answer.

Why is there no word for “was” here? Why not Jawaban dia adalah langsung dan jelas?

Indonesian often omits a “to be” verb (am/is/are/was/were) in this type of sentence.

Pattern:

[Noun] + [Adjectives]

The adjectives function as the predicate:

Jawaban dia langsung dan jelas.
= His/her answer was direct and clear.
Dia pintar.
= He/She is smart.
Film itu bagus.
= That movie is good.

You can use adalah in some situations, but it’s more common:

before nouns:
- Dia adalah guru. = He/She is a teacher.
for a more formal or emphatic tone.

With simple adjectives like langsung dan jelas, Indonesian speakers usually don’t say adalah:
Jawaban dia langsung dan jelas is the most natural form.

What exactly does langsung mean here? I thought it meant “immediately”.

Langsung has a couple of related meanings:

Direct / straightforward (no beating around the bush)
- Jawaban dia langsung dan jelas.
  → His/her answer was direct and clear.
- Dia orangnya langsung.
  → He/She is a very straightforward person.
Directly / immediately / without delay or detour
- Setelah sampai di rumah, saya langsung tidur.
  → After getting home, I immediately slept.
- Pesawat ini terbang langsung ke Tokyo.
  → This plane flies directly to Tokyo.

In your sentence, langsung describes the style of the answer:
not roundabout, not sugar-coated, but straight to the point → “direct / straightforward”.

Can I change the word order to something like Dia punya jawaban yang langsung dan jelas? Is that the same?

Dia punya jawaban yang langsung dan jelas is grammatically correct, but the nuance is a bit different.

Jawaban dia langsung dan jelas.
→ Direct, simple statement: “His/Her answer was direct and clear.”
Dia punya jawaban yang langsung dan jelas.
Literally: “He/She has an answer that is direct and clear.”
→ Feels a bit more elaborate, like you’re emphasizing that the person has such an answer (maybe compared to others who don’t).

In everyday speech, for commenting on a specific answer someone just gave, people very naturally say:

Jawaban dia langsung dan jelas.

The punya… yang… version is possible but less direct and usually unnecessary.

Is jawaban a verb or a noun? How is it related to jawab?

Jawaban is a noun meaning “answer” or “response”.

It’s formed from the base verb jawab (to answer) plus the suffix -an:

jawab = to answer
jawaban = answer (the thing/response)

Other similar patterns:

tanya (to ask) → pertanyaan (question)
baca (to read) → bacaan (reading, text)

So:

Dia menjawab. = He/She answered. (verb)
Jawaban dia bagus. = His/Her answer is good. (noun)

Can I say jawabannya dia langsung dan jelas?

This is grammatically possible, but it sounds redundant and is not the most natural choice.

jawaban
- -nya already marks something like “the answer / his/her answer / its answer”.
adding dia right after it is like double-marking the possessor.

You’ll usually hear either:

Jawabannya langsung dan jelas.
Jawaban dia langsung dan jelas.

Using both (jawabannya dia) is sometimes used for emphasis in spoken Indonesian, but it can sound a bit clumsy or emotional. For normal, neutral speech, pick one form.

Why do we use dan (“and”) here instead of just listing adjectives with commas like in English?

In Indonesian, when you list two adjectives describing the same noun, using dan is very normal and natural:

Jawaban dia langsung dan jelas.
Dia tinggi dan kurus. = He/She is tall and thin.
Rumah itu besar dan nyaman. = That house is big and comfortable.

You can see commas between adjectives in more literary or stylized writing:

Jawaban dia langsung, jelas, tegas.

But in everyday Indonesian, for two adjectives, dan is the standard connector. Writing “Jawaban dia langsung, jelas.” is understandable but feels slightly stylized or incomplete compared to langsung dan jelas.

Could I say Jawaban dia itu langsung dan jelas? What does itu do here?

Yes, you can say:

Jawaban dia itu langsung dan jelas.

Here, itu works like a demonstrative (“that”) or an emphasis marker:

Literally: “That answer of his/hers was direct and clear.”
Functionally: It makes the answer feel more specific, as if you’re pointing to a particular answer (maybe the one you just discussed).

Nuance:

Jawaban dia langsung dan jelas.
→ Neutral statement.
Jawaban dia itu langsung dan jelas.
→ Slight extra emphasis: “That answer of his/hers was really direct and clear (you know the one I mean).”

Both are correct; itu just adds a bit of pointing/emphasis.