Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Dalam episode keempat, ada adegan singkat di mana aktris utama tertawa sendiri di taman. - In the fourth episode, there is a short scene where the main actress laughs by herself in the park.

Dalam episode keempat = In the fourth episode (within the content of that episode)
- dalam focuses more on inside/within something.
- It sounds a bit more neutral/formal and is very common in written or narrated descriptions.
Di episode keempat = At the fourth episode / in episode four
- di is more about location/point, and is very common in speech.
- Many native speakers casually say di episode keempat, and it’s acceptable.

So:

For narration / written descriptions: Dalam episode keempat is very natural.
For everyday speech: Di episode keempat is also commonly heard and understood.

Why is it episode keempat and not keempat episode?

In Indonesian, ordinal numbers (first, second, third, fourth…) are usually formed with ke- + the number, and they normally come after the noun:

episode keempat = the fourth episode
bab kedua = the second chapter
hari ketiga = the third day

So the pattern is:

noun + ke- + number

Saying keempat episode would sound wrong in standard Indonesian.
You can think of keempat here as an adjective that must follow the noun.

What is the role of ada in this sentence?

ada here functions like English “there is / there are”.

The structure is:

ada + [noun phrase] = there is/are [noun phrase]

In the sentence:

ada adegan singkat = there is a short scene

So the overall beginning:

Dalam episode keempat, ada adegan singkat…
≈ In the fourth episode, there is a short scene…

Other examples:

Ada masalah. = There is a problem.
Ada dua restoran di sini. = There are two restaurants here.

Without ada, episode keempat, adegan singkat… would feel incomplete and unnatural in this meaning.

Why is it adegan singkat and not singkat adegan? How does adjective order work?

In Indonesian, adjectives almost always come after the noun:

adegan singkat = short scene
rumah besar = big house
film lucu = funny movie

So the pattern is:

noun + adjective

Putting the adjective first (singkat adegan) is not natural Indonesian.

Also, note the nuance:

singkat = short in duration or concise
pendek = short in length/height (physically) or sometimes time, depending on context

For a scene in a movie/episode, adegan singkat is the normal choice.

What exactly does di mana do here? Is it the same as the question word “where”?

In this sentence, di mana introduces a relative clause, roughly like English “where / in which”:

adegan singkat di mana aktris utama tertawa sendiri di taman
≈ a short scene where the main actress laughs by herself in the park
(literally: a short scene in which the main actress laughs…)

So di mana here links the noun adegan singkat to extra information about that scene.

Compare:

As a question word:
- Di mana dia? = Where is he/she?
As a relative connector:
- rumah di mana saya tinggal = the house where I live
- episode di mana mereka bertemu = the episode where they meet

In careful writing, di mana is written as two words. You will often see dimana (one word) online, but di mana (two words) is the standard form.

Why is there no “that” like in English “a short scene that shows the main actress…”? Does di mana replace “that”?

Indonesian often doesn’t need a word like English “that”.
In this sentence, di mana plays the role of “where / in which”, not exactly “that”, but it serves a similar connective function.

The structure is:

adegan singkat [di mana + clause]
= a short scene [where + clause]

If you wanted something closer to “that”, you might rewrite the Indonesian:

…ada adegan singkat yang menampilkan aktris utama tertawa sendiri di taman.
(…there is a short scene that shows the main actress laughing by herself in the park.)

Here, yang works more like English “that/which/who”, while di mana is more like “where/in which” tied to a place/scene context.

Why is there no dia before aktris utama tertawa? Could I say …di mana dia tertawa sendiri…?

The subject of the clause is already aktris utama (the main actress), so dia is not needed:

…di mana aktris utama tertawa sendiri…
= …where the main actress laughs by herself…

Adding dia would actually create a problem:

✗ di mana dia aktris utama tertawa… → ungrammatical
di mana dia tertawa sendiri di taman → grammatical, but now you are only saying “where she laughs by herself” without explicitly saying she is the main actress in that clause.

So either you:

keep aktris utama as the subject, or
replace it with dia, but then you lose the explicit “main actress” reference in that part of the sentence.

The original version keeps it clear and natural.

What does tertawa sendiri literally mean? Is it “laugh alone” or “laugh to herself”?

tertawa sendiri can suggest both:

She is physically alone when laughing.
She is laughing by herself / to herself, not with others, even if others are around.

In context, it usually feels like “laughs by herself” or “laughs alone”.
Some related expressions:

tertawa sendiri = laughs by herself / to herself
tertawa sendirian = more clearly laughs alone (emphasizing being alone)
tertawa seorang diri = more literary/formal; also laughs alone

All are understandable; tertawa sendiri is very common and natural in everyday language.

Could I say tertawa sendirian instead of tertawa sendiri? Is there a nuance difference?

Yes, you can say tertawa sendirian, and it would still be natural:

aktris utama tertawa sendiri di taman
aktris utama tertawa sendirian di taman

Nuance:

sendiri is a bit more general: by oneself / on one’s own / oneself.
sendirian tends to emphasize being alone, sometimes with a slight emotional nuance (e.g., “all alone”).

In many contexts they overlap, and native speakers freely use both.
Here, tertawa sendiri feels slightly more neutral; tertawa sendirian might suggest more clearly that no one else is with her in the park.

Why is it di taman and not ke taman at the end?

di and ke show different kinds of location:

di = at / in / on (static location, where something is)
ke = to (movement toward a place)

In this sentence:

tertawa sendiri di taman
= laughs by herself in/at the park (she is already there)

If you said ke taman, it would mean movement:

pergi ke taman = go to the park
berjalan ke taman = walk to the park

So di taman is correct because it describes where she is laughing, not where she is going.