Learn Hardcore Indonesian: Di malam hari, saya menonton konser kecil band kampus di halaman fakultas. - At night, I watch a small concert of the campus band in the faculty courtyard.

Di malam hari – literally at night-time.
- di = at/in/on (preposition, usually for place, but can be used with times of day in more literary or narrative style).
- Common in storytelling, written language, or slightly formal speech.
Pada malam hari – literally on/at the night-time.
- pada is the “safe” preposition for time expressions.
- This is the most neutral and grammatically “textbook” way to say at night.
Malam hari (without any preposition)
- Often works as a time adverbial on its own: Malam hari saya belajar. = “At night I study.”
- Shorter and natural in speech.

So the sentence could also be:

Pada malam hari, saya menonton… (very correct, neutral)
Malam hari saya menonton… (natural, a bit simpler)

Using di malam hari is acceptable and gives a slight narrative/formal feel, especially in written texts.

Is the word hari really necessary in malam hari? Can I just say di malam?

You’ll hear and see all of these:

di malam hari – a bit more formal / complete.
di malam – more casual and shorter.
malam hari – also common and natural.
malam – often enough on its own.

In everyday speech, Indonesians very often just say:

Malam saya menonton konser… or
Saya menonton konser… malam-malam.

So hari is not mandatory. It adds a slightly more formal or “narrative” tone, but di malam and malam are both fine in natural conversation.

How is the phrase konser kecil band kampus structured? Why is kecil after konser?

In Indonesian, adjectives usually come after the noun:

konser kecil = small concert (literally: concert small)
rumah besar = big house
buku baru = new book

Then you can add another noun after that whole phrase:

konser kecil band kampus
- konser kecil = small concert
- band kampus = campus band

So konser kecil band kampus is roughly: the small concert (of) the campus band.

You cannot normally say kecil konser for small concert; the natural order is konser kecil.

What exactly does band kampus mean? Is kampus being used like an adjective?

Yes, this is a very common pattern in Indonesian: Noun + Noun, where the second noun works like a descriptor of the first:

band kampus = campus band (a band that belongs to / is based at the campus)
mobil sekolah = school car (car for the school)
guru bahasa = language teacher

So:

band = a musical band
kampus = campus

Together, band kampus means a band associated with the campus (often made up of students from that campus). Indonesian doesn’t need a preposition like of or from here; the relationship is understood from context.

What is the difference between konser kecil band kampus and something like konser band kampus kecil?

These have different (or unclear) structures:

konser kecil band kampus
- clear: konser kecil (small concert) + band kampus (campus band)
- meaning: a small concert by the campus band.
konser band kampus kecil
- awkward and ambiguous. Literally: concert – campus band – small.
- It could sound like a concert of a small campus band, but the word order is not natural.
- To say a concert of a small campus band, Indonesians would more likely say:
  - konser band kampus kecil with context, or better:
  - konser dari band kampus kecil
  - konser oleh band kampus kecil
  - or: konser band kampus yang kecil (explicitly using yang to connect the adjective).

For learners, it’s safer to keep the simple pattern:

[main noun] + [adjective] + [modifier noun phrase]
konser kecil band kampus

Why is menonton used here instead of melihat? Both can mean “to see/watch”, right?

Both relate to seeing, but they’re used differently:

menonton = to watch (something you focus on as a performance or show)
- movies, TV, concerts, matches, shows
- menonton konser, menonton film, menonton pertandingan bola
melihat = to see / to look at
- more general, any kind of seeing
- melihat orang, melihat pemandangan, melihat buku

Since a concert is a performance you intentionally watch, menonton konser is the natural choice. melihat konser is possible but sounds less standard; it may feel like “saw a concert” in a more incidental way.

How do we know this sentence means “I watched” (past) and not “I watch” or “I will watch”?

Indonesian verbs do not change form for tense. menonton can mean:

I watch / am watching
I watched
I will watch

The tense is understood from context, time expressions, or extra particles:

Kemarin malam, saya menonton konser… → clearly past (yesterday night).
Besok malam, saya akan menonton konser… → future, with akan.
Setiap malam saya menonton konser kecil band kampus di TV. → habitual (every night).

In your sentence, Di malam hari, saya menonton konser kecil band kampus di halaman fakultas, most listeners will assume it’s a past event because it sounds like part of a story or a report of what happened.

What does di halaman fakultas mean exactly? What is halaman, and how does fakultas work here?

Breakdown:

di = in/at/on (location preposition)
halaman = yard, courtyard, front area / compound of a building
fakultas = faculty (like the Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Law, etc.)

halaman fakultas is another Noun + Noun construction:

halaman (yard)
fakultas (faculty)

Together → the yard/courtyard/forecourt of the faculty building.

So di halaman fakultas = in the faculty courtyard / in front of the faculty building.

What is the difference between di and ke in location phrases like di halaman fakultas?

They have different functions:

di = at/in/on (location, where something is)
- Saya di halaman fakultas. = I am in the faculty yard.
- Saya menonton konser di halaman fakultas. = I watched the concert in the faculty yard.
ke = to / toward (direction, movement to a place)
- Saya pergi ke halaman fakultas. = I go/went to the faculty yard.
- Kami berjalan ke kampus. = We walk to campus.

So in your sentence, the concert happens at that place, so di halaman fakultas is correct. If you wanted to say I went to the faculty yard to watch a concert, you might say:

Saya pergi ke halaman fakultas untuk menonton konser kecil band kampus.

Sometimes di is written together with the word (like dibaca). Why is it separate in di malam hari and di halaman?

Indonesian has two different di’s:

di as a preposition (at/in/on) → always separate:
- di rumah, di kampus, di malam hari, di halaman fakultas
- Rule: if it’s a location word, write di separately.
di- as a prefix for passive verbs → always attached:
- dibaca = is/was read
- ditulis = is/was written
- ditonton = is/was watched

In your sentence, di before malam hari and halaman fakultas is clearly about location/time, so it must be written separately.

Can I move Di malam hari to the end of the sentence? For example: Saya menonton konser kecil band kampus di halaman fakultas di malam hari?

Yes, you can move the time expression. Indonesian word order is quite flexible for adverbs of time and place.

All of these are grammatically okay:

Di malam hari, saya menonton konser kecil band kampus di halaman fakultas.
Saya menonton konser kecil band kampus di halaman fakultas di malam hari.
Saya menonton konser kecil band kampus di malam hari di halaman fakultas.

Differences:

Putting Di malam hari at the start (version 1) emphasizes when the event happened; it sounds a bit more narrative/story-like.
Putting it at the end (version 2) is also natural and maybe closer to typical spoken order: [subject] – [verb] – [object] – [place] – [time].

Version 3 is grammatical but can feel slightly heavier; most speakers would prefer 1 or 2.

Why is the pronoun saya used here? Could I say aku instead?

Both are first-person singular pronouns, but they differ in formality and context:

saya
- neutral, polite, suitable in almost any context (formal or informal)
- safe to use with strangers, teachers, in writing, etc.
aku
- more informal/intimate, used with friends, family, in casual writing, songs, etc.

You could say:

Di malam hari, aku menonton konser kecil band kampus di halaman fakultas.

That would sound more casual or personal, like you’re telling this to a friend. Using saya in the given sentence makes it feel neutral/polite and is perfectly standard.

There is no word for “a” or “the” in konser kecil band kampus. How do we know if it’s “a small concert” or “the small concert”?

Indonesian does not have obligatory articles like a/an or the. Noun phrases are usually “bare”:

konser kecil can mean a small concert or the small concert.
Context decides which is intended.

If you really need to emphasize “that specific concert”, you can use:

konser kecil itu = that small concert
konser kecil tadi malam = the small concert last night

Or possessives:

konser kecil band kampus kami = our campus band’s small concert.

In your original sentence, English speakers will naturally interpret it as a small concert by the campus band, but Indonesian itself leaves it context-dependent.