Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Di rumah, ayah menonton berita di saluran televisi tanpa iklan panjang. - At home, Father watches the news on a TV channel without long advertisements.

Putting di rumah at the beginning slightly emphasizes the place (at home), while putting it after the verb is more neutral and feels closer to English word order. In everyday speech, Ayah menonton berita di rumah is probably more common.

Why is the word ayah used here? Is it “father” in general, or does it usually mean “my father”?

Ayah means father. In real conversation, it often functions like Dad / my father, depending on context.

Indonesian usually drops possessive pronouns when the context is clear. So in a normal narrative or conversation about your own family:

Ayah menonton berita.
→ understood as My dad watches the news.

If you want to be explicit, you can say:

Ayah saya menonton berita. = My father watches the news.

Other common words:

bapak: more formal/polite, can mean sir, Mr., or father
papa: more informal, like dad / papa
ayah: neutral, common in writing and speech

What is the difference between menonton, melihat, and nonton?

All three are related to seeing/watching, but they’re used differently:

menonton
- Means to watch (especially something like TV, movies, shows).
- More neutral/formal.
- Ayah menonton berita. = Dad watches the news.
melihat
- Means to see / to look at.
- More general; not specifically for TV or movies.
- Saya melihat burung. = I see a bird.
nonton
- Colloquial/short form of menonton.
- Very common in speech and informal writing.
- Ayah lagi nonton berita. = Dad is watching the news. (informal)

In your sentence, menonton is the standard, “textbook correct” choice.

Why is the preposition di used twice (di rumah, di saluran televisi), even though in English we say “at home” and “on a TV channel”?

Indonesian uses di as a general preposition for location, and it often covers several English prepositions like at, in, and on.

di rumah = at home / in the house
di sekolah = at school
di meja = on the table
di Jakarta = in Jakarta
di saluran televisi = on a TV channel

English changes prepositions depending on the noun; Indonesian mostly just uses di for “in/at/on (a place or medium).” Context tells you the appropriate English equivalent.

What exactly does saluran televisi mean? Is it the same as “TV station” or “TV channel”?

Saluran televisi literally means television channel.

saluran = channel (like a pathway or channel)
televisi = television

So:

di saluran televisi ≈ on a TV channel
You can also hear saluran TV (with TV) in everyday speech.

It is close in meaning to TV channel rather than TV station (which is more like stasiun TV in Indonesian).

Why is there no plural marker in tanpa iklan panjang even though the English meaning is “without long commercials”?

Indonesian usually does not mark plural unless it’s needed for emphasis or clarity. So:

tanpa iklan panjang
Literally: “without long advertisement(s)”
Natural translation: without long commercials or without long ads.

Plural can be shown if needed by:

Reduplication: iklan-iklan (ads)
Adding a quantifier: banyak iklan (many ads)

But here, tanpa iklan panjang is understood generically: without (any) long ads. No plural ending is required.

Why does the adjective panjang come after the noun iklan? Can I say panjang iklan?

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun:

iklan panjang = long advertisement
rumah besar = big house
mobil baru = new car

So iklan panjang is the normal, correct order.

Panjang iklan usually doesn’t mean long advertisement. It is more likely to be understood as:

“the length of the advertisement” (if used in a phrase like panjang iklan itu = the length of that ad)
or just sound unnatural without additional context.

For simple “adjective + noun,” always use noun + adjective in Indonesian.

What does tanpa do in this sentence? Is it like “with no” or “without”?

Tanpa means without.

tanpa gula = without sugar
tanpa suara = without sound
tanpa iklan panjang = without long commercials

It can usually be translated as without or with no:

Teh ini tanpa gula.
= This tea is without sugar. / This tea has no sugar.

In your sentence, tanpa iklan panjang means the TV channel does not have (any) long advertisements.

Is televisi always used, or can I say TV like in English?

Both are common:

televisi: more formal or neutral, often written in full in textbooks, news, official writing.
TV (pronounced te-ve): very common in speech and informal writing.

So these are all natural:

di saluran televisi
di saluran TV
nonton berita di TV (informal)

Is the comma after Di rumah necessary?

When a phrase like Di rumah (a fronted adverbial of place) comes at the beginning, adding a comma is good style and common in writing:

Di rumah, ayah menonton berita …

In everyday informal writing or text messages, people sometimes skip the comma:

Di rumah ayah menonton berita …

However, including the comma makes the sentence easier to read and is preferred in standard written Indonesian. In speech, there is usually a slight pause there, which the comma represents.