Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Kadang-kadang saya mencampur tanah dan air di ember kecil hanya untuk relaksasi, bukan eksperimen kimia sungguhan. - Sometimes I mix soil and water in a small bucket just for relaxation, not a real chemistry experiment.

kadang-kadang: Slightly more emphatic or rhythmic; very common in both spoken and written Indonesian.
kadang: A bit shorter and more casual; often used in spoken language.

In most contexts, you can switch them without changing the meaning much:

Kadang-kadang saya mencampur...
Kadang saya mencampur...

Both are fine here.

Why is the subject written as saya mencampur, not mencampur saya?

Indonesian basic word order is Subject – Verb – Object, similar to English.

saya = I (subject)
mencampur = mix (verb)
tanah dan air = soil and water (object)

So:

saya mencampur tanah dan air = I mix soil and water.

mencampur saya would mean “mix me”, which is wrong here because it makes saya the object, not the subject.

What exactly does tanah mean here? Is it “earth”, “ground”, or “soil”?

The word tanah is flexible and can mean:

soil/dirt (what you mix with water)
ground (the surface you stand on)
land (as in property or territory)
Earth (in some contexts, like planet bumi is more common, but tanah air for “homeland”)

In this sentence, tanah is best understood as soil or dirt being mixed with water in the bucket.

Why do we say di ember kecil and not dalam ember kecil? What’s the difference between di and dalam?

Both di and dalam can translate to “in”, but they have different uses:

di = general location marker (at / in / on).
dalam = inside (emphasizes the interior).

Here:

di ember kecil = in/at the small bucket (completely natural, common).
dalam ember kecil = inside the small bucket (slightly more explicit about being inside).

In everyday speech, di ember kecil is perfectly fine and very natural.
You could say dalam ember kecil without sounding wrong; it just focuses more on “inside.”

Why is it ember kecil, not kecil ember? Where do adjectives go in Indonesian?

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun:

ember kecil = small bucket
rumah besar = big house
mobil baru = new car

So the pattern is:

Noun + Adjective

kecil ember would be incorrect in standard Indonesian.

What does hanya untuk relaksasi mean exactly? Could I also say cuma untuk relaksasi or sekadar untuk relaksasi?

hanya untuk relaksasi means “only for relaxation / just for relaxation”.

You can also say:

cuma untuk relaksasi – more informal, very common in speech.
sekadar untuk relaksasi – sounds a bit more formal or literary; emphasizes “merely / just”.

All three have the same core idea: the purpose is only relaxation, nothing serious or professional.

Why is it bukan eksperimen kimia sungguhan and not tidak eksperimen kimia sungguhan?

Indonesian has two main words for “not”:

tidak – negates verbs and adjectives
- tidak suka (don’t like)
- tidak besar (not big)
bukan – negates nouns (and works like “is not / am not / are not” before a noun)
- bukan dokter (not a doctor)
- bukan masalah (not a problem)

Here, eksperimen kimia sungguhan is a noun phrase (“a real chemistry experiment”), so we must use bukan:

bukan eksperimen kimia sungguhan = it’s not a real chemistry experiment.

tidak eksperimen kimia sungguhan is grammatically wrong in standard Indonesian.

What nuance does sungguhan add? How is it different from sebenarnya or nyata?

sungguhan here means “real / genuine (not just for fun)”.

eksperimen kimia sungguhan = a real chemistry experiment (serious, legitimate).

Compare:

sebenarnya = actually / in fact / truly
- bukan eksperimen kimia yang sebenarnya = not a real/proper chemistry experiment (more formal).
nyata = real, concrete, not imaginary
- eksperimen kimia nyata can work, but is less common in casual speech here.

In this context, sungguhan sounds natural and colloquial, fitting the relaxed, personal tone of the sentence.

Is relaksasi a common word, or would people more often say bersantai or untuk santai?

relaksasi is a loanword from English relaxation, and it is understood and used, especially in:

health/wellness contexts (relaksasi otot, teknik relaksasi)
somewhat more formal or neutral descriptions.

In casual everyday speech, many people might say:

hanya untuk santai
hanya untuk bersantai

The nuance:

relaksasi = “relaxation” (slightly more technical/formal-sounding)
santai / bersantai = “to relax / chilling” (more casual, conversational)

So:

hanya untuk relaksasi = just for relaxation
hanya untuk santai = just to relax / just for chilling

Why is the verb mencampur and not just campur? What’s the difference?

campur is the base word.
mencampur is the meN- form, often used for active transitive verbs (verbs that take a direct object).

mencampur tanah dan air = to mix soil and water (you are actively mixing something).

Differences:

mencampur: more standard for “to mix (something)” in sentences like this:
- Saya mencampur gula dan garam.
campur: can appear alone in casual speech, or as an adjective/description:
- rasanya campur aduk (the feeling is mixed up)
- Very informal: Saya campur tanah dan air (people might say this in speech, but mencampur is more correct/standard.)

So in a clear, correct sentence with saya as the subject and tanah dan air as the object, mencampur is the best choice.