Di film itu, roket terbang di angkasa.

In that movie, the rocket flies in space.

Breakdown of Di film itu, roket terbang di angkasa.

• itu: that
• di: in
• film: the movie
• terbang: to fly
• roket: the rocket
• angkasa: the space

Questions & Answers about Di film itu, roket terbang di angkasa.

What does di mean in di film itu, and why is it used here?

Di is a preposition that usually means “in / at / on” when talking about location.

In di film itu, it means “in that movie”—it locates the action inside the context of the movie.
So:

• di film itu ≈ in that movie
  You use di before nouns to show where something happens: di rumah (at home), di sekolah (at school), di film itu (in that movie).

What is the difference between di film itu and dalam film itu? Can I use both?

Both are possible, but there is a nuance:

• di film itu – very natural, neutral, everyday; simply means in that movie.
• dalam film itu – a bit more formal or “inside”-sounding; also in that movie, but it slightly emphasizes inside the contents of the movie.

In casual speech, people much more often say di film itu. Dalam is common in more formal writing or when you want to emphasize “inside.”

Why is there a comma after itu: Di film itu, roket terbang di angkasa?

The phrase Di film itu is an introductory phrase giving the context (in that movie).
In Indonesian, it’s common (especially in writing) to put a comma after an introductory adverbial phrase, just like in English:

• Di film itu, roket terbang di angkasa.
• Di rumah, saya belajar. (At home, I study.)

In casual writing you might also see it without a comma, but the comma is good style.

Why is the word order Di film itu, roket terbang di angkasa and not something like Roket di film itu terbang di angkasa?

Both orders are grammatically possible, but they sound a bit different:

• Di film itu, roket terbang di angkasa.

  • First gives the context (“in that movie”), then tells what happens. Very natural.

• Roket di film itu terbang di angkasa.

  • Sounds more like you are contrasting this rocket with rockets in other movies.
  • Literally: The rocket in that movie flies in space (emphasis on which rocket).

For a simple description of what happens in the movie, Di film itu, roket terbang di angkasa is the most natural.

What does roket mean exactly? Is it “a rocket” or “the rocket”?

Indonesian does not use articles like a or the. The bare noun roket can mean:

• a rocket
• the rocket
• rockets (in general), depending on context.

In this sentence, context (talking about a specific movie scene) will usually make you understand it as “a rocket” or “the rocket” in that movie. There is no change in the Indonesian form.

How can terbang mean “flew / is flying / flies”? There’s no tense marker—how do I know the time?

Indonesian verbs usually do not change form for tense. Terbang is just the base verb “to fly”. The time is understood from context or from extra words:

• kemarin roket terbang – yesterday the rocket flew (past)
• sekarang roket terbang – now the rocket is flying (present)
• nanti roket akan terbang – later the rocket will fly (future)

In your sentence, because we’re talking about a movie’s content, English might translate it as “flies”, “is flying”, or “flew”, depending on how you want to describe movie events. Indonesian itself just uses terbang.

What is the difference between terbang and menerbangkan? Why is it roket terbang, not roket menerbangkan?

• terbang = to fly (intransitive: no direct object).

  • roket terbang – the rocket flies

• menerbangkan = to fly something / to make something fly (transitive).

  • pilot itu menerbangkan roket – the pilot flies the rocket

In your sentence, the rocket is the thing that flies by itself, so Indonesian uses terbang, not menerbangkan.

What does angkasa mean, and how is it different from luar angkasa or langit?

• angkasa – “the sky / the heavens / the vast space above”, and often implies outer space, especially with modern contexts like rockets.
• luar angkasa or angkasa luar – explicitly outer space.
• langit – more like the sky you see above you (with clouds, sun, etc.).

In this sentence, di angkasa is understood as “in space” because a rocket is involved. If you said di luar angkasa, it would be even more clearly “in outer space,” and is also very natural.

Why is it di angkasa and not ke angkasa?

• di = at / in / on (location; where something is).
• ke = to / toward (direction; where something is going).

Your sentence describes where the rocket flies (its location):

• roket terbang di angkasa – the rocket flies in space.

If you want to emphasize movement toward space, you would use ke:

• roket itu terbang ke angkasa – the rocket flies to space.

Is di angkasa a fixed expression, or could I just say di luar angkasa instead?

Both are fine, but there’s a nuance:

• di angkasa – can mean “in the sky / in space,” depending on context. With a rocket, people will usually take it as “in space.”
• di luar angkasa – very clearly “in outer space”; slightly longer, very common in speech and writing.

So you can say either:

• roket terbang di angkasa
• roket terbang di luar angkasa

The second one is just more explicit.

What does itu add in di film itu? Could I say just di film?

Itu means “that” and points to a specific thing already known from context.

• di film itu – in that movie (a particular movie both speaker and listener know).
• di film alone sounds incomplete; you’d expect di film apa? (in which movie?).

So itu works like a demonstrative (“that”), similar to “that movie” in English, and makes the reference specific.