Learn Hardcore Malay: Selepas filem habis, penonton keluar dengan perlahan dari panggung. - After the movie ended, the audience left the theater slowly.

So filem habis literally = the movie finished (subject + verb).
If you said habis filem, it would sound more like “the movie is used up / the movie is gone”, and is not the natural way to say the movie finished in this context.

So the normal structure is:

Selepas filem habis = After the movie (has) finished

Is penonton singular or plural? Does it mean “audience” or “viewer(s)”?

Penonton can be singular or plural, depending on context. Malay usually doesn’t mark plural by changing the noun.

Here, penonton means “the audience / the viewers” as a group.

If you really want to emphasize plurality, you could say:

para penonton = the audience, the viewers (clearly plural, often used in formal speech)

But in most cases, penonton alone is enough and is understood as plural here.

Why is there no word for “the” in penonton or filem?

Malay does not have articles like “a / an / the”.

filem can mean a movie or the movie
penonton can mean a viewer or the audience

The definiteness (a vs the) is understood from context, not from a specific word. In this sentence, context makes it clear that it’s “the movie” and “the audience”.

How is past tense shown here? There is no past tense verb ending.

Malay verbs do not change form for tense (no -ed, -s, etc.). Tense is usually shown by:

Time words: selepas (after), semalam (yesterday), etc.
Context

Here:

Selepas filem habis clearly refers to a completed event (the movie has already finished).
So keluar is understood as “left / went out”, not “leave / go out” in the present.

The Malay sentence is “tenseless” in form, but the meaning is past.

What does keluar mean here? Why is there no object after it?

Keluar means to go out / to exit / to come out. It is intransitive in this sentence, so it does not take a direct object.

penonton keluar = the audience went out / exited

This is enough in Malay. You don’t need to say keluar panggung the way English might say “exit the theater”; instead you specify the origin with dari:

keluar dari panggung = go out from the theater

What is the function of dengan perlahan? Is it like an adverb?

Yes. Dengan perlahan works like an English adverb phrase: “slowly”.

dengan = with
perlahan = slow

Literally, “with slow(ness)”, but functionally it means “slowly”.
Malay often forms adverbial phrases this way:

dengan cepat = quickly
dengan senyap = quietly

So:

penonton keluar dengan perlahan = the audience went out slowly

Can I say perlahan-lahan or secara perlahan instead of dengan perlahan?

Yes, both are possible, with slightly different nuance:

perlahan-lahan = slowly, gently, often a bit more expressive or emphatic
secara perlahan = slowly, in a slow manner (more formal, less common in casual speech)

All of these are grammatically correct:

penonton keluar dengan perlahan
penonton keluar perlahan-lahan
penonton keluar secara perlahan

In everyday speech, perlahan-lahan and dengan perlahan are more natural than secara perlahan.

What does panggung mean? Is it the same as “cinema”?

Panggung can mean:

stage (as in a theatre stage)
theatre / performance hall
cinema hall (depending on context)

In many contexts, panggung refers to the place where performances or screenings happen, so in this sentence it’s understood as “the theater / cinema hall”.

Another common word for cinema is pawagam:

panggung wayang or pawagam = movie theater / cinema

But in the sentence, panggung alone is enough and natural.

Why is there a comma after Selepas filem habis?

Selepas filem habis is a time clause (a dependent/subordinate clause):

Selepas filem habis = After the movie ended

The main clause is:

penonton keluar dengan perlahan dari panggung

When the time clause comes first, it’s common in writing to separate it with a comma:

Selepas filem habis, penonton keluar…

If you put the time clause after the main clause, you often omit the comma:

Penonton keluar dengan perlahan dari panggung selepas filem habis.

Can I change the word order and still keep the same meaning?

You can move the time clause, but the internal order should mostly stay the same. For example:

Selepas filem habis, penonton keluar dengan perlahan dari panggung.
Penonton keluar dengan perlahan dari panggung selepas filem habis.

Both mean the same thing.

However, changing internal orders like:

❌ Selepas habis filem, penonton keluar…

is not natural in this context. Filem habis (movie finished) is the normal order here.

What’s the difference between dari and daripada? Why is it dari panggung?

Both can translate as “from”, but they’re used differently:

dari: usually for places, directions, time points
- dari rumah = from home
- dari sekolah = from school
- dari pagi = since/from morning
daripada: often for people, sources, comparisons, more abstract “from”
- hadiah daripada ibu = a gift from mother
- lebih baik daripada saya = better than me

Since panggung is a physical place, dari panggung is correct.

Could I say selepas menonton filem instead of selepas filem habis?

Yes, but the nuance is slightly different:

selepas filem habis = after the movie ended (focus on the movie finishing)
selepas menonton filem = after (they) watched the movie (focus on the action of watching)

Both are natural ways to introduce the same situation.
Examples:

Selepas filem habis, penonton keluar dengan perlahan dari panggung.
Selepas menonton filem, penonton keluar dengan perlahan dari panggung.

Both mean essentially After the movie, the audience slowly left the theater, with a small shift in focus.