Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Di dinding kelas, ada poster besar pahlawan nasional dengan nama dan tahun lahirnya. - On the classroom wall, there is a big poster of a national hero with his or her name and year of birth.

Starting with Di dinding kelas emphasizes the location first: “On the classroom wall, there is…” This is very common in Indonesian when you want to set the scene or context before mentioning what is there.

If you start with Ada poster besar…, the focus is first on the existence of the poster: “There is a big poster… (and it happens to be on the wall).”

Grammatically, both are correct; it’s a matter of emphasis and style.

Why is di used with dinding to mean on the wall? I thought di means in/at.

Di is a general preposition for location: it can correspond to in, on, or at, depending on the noun and context.

di rumah = at home
di meja = on the table
di jalan = on the road / in the street
di dinding = on the wall

Indonesian does not usually distinguish between in/on/at with separate basic prepositions like English does. Di simply marks a location; English chooses in/on/at depending on what sounds natural.

What exactly does ada do in this sentence?

Ada here is an existential verb meaning there is / there are.

Ada poster besar… = There is a big poster…

It does not mean “to have” in this sentence. It just states the existence or presence of something in a place.

Compare:

Di meja, ada buku. = On the table, there is a book.
Di dinding kelas, ada poster besar… = On the classroom wall, there is a big poster…

Why is it dinding kelas and not kelas dinding? How does this noun order work?

In Indonesian, the basic pattern is:

HEAD NOUN + modifying noun

So:

dinding = wall
kelas = class / classroom
dinding kelas = the wall of the classroom / classroom wall

The first noun (dinding) is the main thing; the second noun (kelas) narrows down what kind of wall it is.

If you said kelas dinding, it would be strange, like saying “wall class” and doesn’t mean “classroom wall.”

Why is poster besar pahlawan nasional in that order? Where do adjectives go?

Word order here is:

poster (noun) + besar (adjective) + pahlawan nasional (noun phrase acting like “of a national hero”)

Key points:

Adjectives usually come after the noun they modify:
- poster besar = big poster
- pahlawan nasional = national hero
- poster besar ≈ a big poster
pahlawan nasional here works like a noun phrase specifying whose poster it is:
- poster (besar) pahlawan nasional ≈ a (big) poster of a national hero

So poster besar pahlawan nasional ≈ a big poster of a national hero.
If you wanted to be extra explicit, you could say poster besar seorang pahlawan nasional, but that seorang (a / one person) is optional.

Is pahlawan nasional singular or plural here?

On its own, pahlawan nasional is number-neutral. It could mean:

a national hero
the national hero
national heroes

Indonesian often doesn’t mark plural explicitly; context tells you.

To be more explicit:

seorang pahlawan nasional = a/one national hero (singular, person)
para pahlawan nasional = national heroes (plural, people)
banyak pahlawan nasional = many national heroes

In the given sentence (with no extra context), an English translation would usually choose a national hero in singular.

What does dengan mean here in dengan nama dan tahun lahirnya?

Dengan literally means with, and in this sentence it introduces additional accompanying details of the poster:

dengan nama dan tahun lahirnya ≈ with his/her name and year of birth.

So the structure is:

poster besar pahlawan nasional
dengan (with)
nama dan tahun lahirnya (its/his/her name and year of birth)

This is a common way to add descriptive information:

Saya membeli buku dengan gambar-gambar menarik.
I bought a book with interesting pictures.

What does the -nya in tahun lahirnya mean exactly?

-nya is a pronoun suffix that can mean his / her / its / their (and sometimes the).
In tahun lahirnya:

tahun lahir = year of birth
-nya = his/her/its

So tahun lahirnya = his/her/its year of birth.

Because the sentence already talked about a national hero, -nya refers back to that hero:

nama dan tahun lahirnya = his/her name and year of birth.

You don’t need to repeat pahlawan or dia; -nya is enough.

Could we say nama dan tahun kelahirannya instead of tahun lahirnya? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can, and it’s still correct:

tahun lahirnya
tahun kelahirannya

Differences:

lahir is a verb / stative (to be born; born).
kelahiran is a noun (birth), formed with the prefix ke- and suffix -an.

Meaning:

tahun lahirnya = literally his/her year of being-born
tahun kelahirannya = literally his/her year of birth

In practice, they mean the same thing in this context. Tahun lahirnya sounds a bit simpler and more common in everyday language.

Why is it tahun lahirnya and not tahun dia lahir?

You can say:

…dengan nama dan tahun dia lahir.

It would still be understood, but it sounds more like spoken, casual Indonesian and a bit less compact.

Tahun lahirnya is:

More concise
More formal / neutral
Very typical in written descriptions (e.g., on posters, in biographies, in textbooks)

So for something like a poster with biographical details, tahun lahirnya is the style you’d usually see.

Is kelas here “class” (group of students) or “classroom” (the room)?

In Indonesian, kelas can mean both, depending on context:

Group of students / class:
- kelas 3A = class 3A (the group)
Classroom:
- masuk kelas = go into the classroom
- di dalam kelas = in the classroom

In dinding kelas, it clearly refers to the classroom wall, i.e., the wall of the room used for classes. So here kelas ≈ classroom.

Do we need yang in poster besar pahlawan nasional? For example: poster yang besar?

Yang is often used to:

Mark a relative clause
Highlight or specify a particular noun

You can say poster yang besar (= the poster that is big), but:

poster besar is the default way to say big poster.
Adding yang usually adds some extra nuance, like contrast or emphasis, e.g.:
- Saya memilih poster yang besar, bukan yang kecil.
  I chose the big poster, not the small one.

In your sentence, there’s no need for that extra emphasis.
Poster besar pahlawan nasional (without yang) is the normal, natural phrasing.

Is the comma after kelas necessary in Di dinding kelas, ada poster besar…?

In actual Indonesian writing:

The comma here is optional.
It’s often used when a prepositional phrase (like Di dinding kelas) comes at the beginning, to mark a slight pause:
- Di dinding kelas, ada poster besar…

Without the comma it’s still correct:

Di dinding kelas ada poster besar pahlawan nasional…

So it’s a punctuation choice, not a grammar requirement.