Posle krađe banka je poništila karticu.

Because posle means after and it normally requires the genitive case in Serbian.

• dictionary form: krađa = theft
• genitive singular: krađe

So:

• posle krađe = after the theft

This is a very common pattern:

• posle ručka = after lunch
• posle škole = after school
• posle nesreće = after the accident

So the ending changes because the noun has to go into the case required by posle.

It is genitive singular.

The base noun is krađa, a feminine noun. In this sentence, it appears after posle, so it changes to the genitive form krađe.

A learner-friendly breakdown:

• nominative: krađa
• genitive: krađe

So krađe is not a different word; it is just the form of krađa used in this grammatical environment.

Because Serbian does not have articles like English the and a/an.

So:

• banka can mean the bank or a bank
• karticu can mean the card or a card

The exact meaning depends on context. In this sentence, the context makes it natural to understand:

• banka = the bank
• karticu = the card

This is normal in Serbian. You do not usually need a separate word for the.

This is the past tense in Serbian.

Serbian past tense is usually made with:

• a form of biti = to be
• plus the past active participle

Here:

• je = is/has-type auxiliary form used for he/she/it
• poništila = past participle of poništiti

Together:

• je poništila = canceled / invalidated

So the structure is similar to has canceled or simply canceled, depending on context.

Because the verb form agrees with the subject, and the subject here is banka, which is a feminine singular noun.

In Serbian past tense, the participle changes for gender and number:

• masculine singular: poništio
• feminine singular: poništila
• neuter singular: poništilo
• plural forms change too

Since banka is feminine, Serbian uses:

• banka je poništila

Even though English says the bank canceled, Serbian still treats bank as a feminine noun grammatically.

Because karticu is the accusative singular form, used here for the direct object.

The base form is:

• kartica = card

But in this sentence, the card is the thing being canceled/invalidated, so it is the direct object. Feminine nouns like this often change from -a to -u in the accusative singular:

• nominative: kartica
• accusative: karticu

So:

• banka je poništila karticu = the bank canceled/invalidated the card

Because je is a clitic, and Serbian clitics usually go in second position in the sentence or clause.

So in:

• Posle krađe banka je poništila karticu.

the clitic je comes after the first phrase chunk, not necessarily right before the main verb in the way English learners might expect.

This is a very important Serbian word-order rule. Clitics such as je, sam, si, se, ga, joj often appear near the beginning of the clause, in second position.

That is why je sounds natural there.

Yes, Serbian word order is more flexible than English, but different orders can sound more natural, more marked, or more emphatic.

For example, you may also hear:

• Banka je poništila karticu posle krađe.
• Posle krađe je banka poništila karticu.

These are possible, but they may shift emphasis slightly.

The version

• Posle krađe banka je poništila karticu.

sounds natural and neutral if you want to start with the time/background information after the theft.

So yes, word order can change, but not every version is equally neutral.

The infinitive/basic form is poništiti.

It means to cancel, to invalidate, to annul, depending on context. With kartica, it often means to deactivate/void the card after it was stolen.

So:

• poništiti karticu = to invalidate/cancel a card

In this sentence, the past-tense form is:

• poništila = canceled / invalidated

Poništiti is perfective.

That matters because the sentence describes a completed action: the bank canceled the card after the theft. A perfective verb is exactly what Serbian normally uses for a one-time completed event like this.

The imperfective partner is usually poništavati:

• poništiti = to cancel/invalidate once, as a completed act
• poništavati = to be canceling, to cancel repeatedly, to cancel in a more ongoing sense

In this sentence, poništiti is the natural choice because the action is viewed as finished.

Yes. Posle and nakon can both mean after.

So both of these work:

• Posle krađe...
• Nakon krađe...

In many situations, posle feels a bit more everyday and conversational, while nakon can sound slightly more formal or written, but both are common and correct.

Both also take the genitive case, so you still say:

• nakon krađe
• posle krađe

The letter đ is pronounced somewhat like the j sound in duke in many English accents, or a soft dj sound.

So krađe is roughly like:

• KRAH-jyeh or KRAH-djyeh

Not an exact English match, but that gets you close.

A few useful points:

• đ is softer than dž
• dž sounds more like the j in job
• đ is more like a soft dy/j sound

This sound can take practice, but learners usually improve quickly once they hear native examples.