Banka je jutros bila otvorena.

Banka is nominative singular, because it is the subject of the sentence.

• banka = bank
• nominative is the basic dictionary form
• singular, feminine noun

So the sentence is talking about the bank as the thing that was open.

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

So banka can mean:

• a bank
• the bank

Which one is meant depends on context. In this sentence, English usually translates it as the bank was open this morning, but Serbian does not need a separate word for the.

Jutros means this morning.

It usually refers to the morning of today or of the relevant day in context.

For example:

• Jutros sam radio. = I worked this morning.
• Banka je jutros bila otvorena. = The bank was open this morning.

A useful contrast:

• jutros = this morning
• ujutro = in the morning / mornings in general, depending on context

So jutros is a specific time expression, not a general habit.

Because Serbian is using its normal past tense construction here.

• je = auxiliary verb
• bila = past participle of biti (to be)

So je bila is the past-tense form corresponding to English was / has been, depending on context.

In this sentence:

• je bila otvorena literally works like has been open
• but natural English translation is usually was open

This is very common in Serbian: the past tense often uses an auxiliary plus a participle.

Because bila agrees with banka, which is a feminine singular noun.

The participle changes for gender and number:

• masculine singular: bio
• feminine singular: bila
• neuter singular: bilo
• masculine plural: bili
• feminine plural: bile

Since banka is feminine singular, the correct form is bila.

Because otvorena agrees with banka too.

Here otvorena means open, and it is in the feminine singular form because the subject is banka.

Compare:

• Banka je bila otvorena. = feminine singular
• Hotel je bio otvoren. = masculine singular
• Pismo je bilo otvoreno. = neuter singular
• Banke su bile otvorene. = feminine plural

So both bila and otvorena match banka.

In this sentence, it functions like an adjective meaning open.

Historically, it is related to a participle, but for a learner the most useful way to understand it here is:

• otvoren / otvorena / otvoreno = open

So bila otvorena describes a state:

• the bank was in an open state

That is different from focusing on the action of opening.

In this sentence, the most natural meaning is the bank was open.

That is because bila otvorena strongly suggests a state or condition, not the event of someone opening it.

So:

• Banka je jutros bila otvorena. = The bank was open this morning.

If you wanted to focus on the event was opened, Serbian would usually use a different context or wording.

So this sentence is best understood as describing the bank’s status, not an action performed on it.

Yes. Serbian word order is fairly flexible.

You can move jutros around depending on emphasis, for example:

• Banka je jutros bila otvorena.
• Jutros je banka bila otvorena.
• Banka je bila otvorena jutros.

All are possible, though they may sound slightly different in focus.

One important point: je is a clitic, so it tends to appear near the beginning of the sentence, often in second position.

That is why forms like Jutros je banka... sound very natural.

You would say:

Banka jutros nije bila otvorena.

or

Banka nije bila otvorena jutros.

Here:

• nije = negative form used instead of je
• bila otvorena stays the same

So:

• je bila = was
• nije bila = was not

Yes, but that changes the tense.

• Banka je otvorena. = The bank is open.
• Banka je jutros bila otvorena. = The bank was open this morning.

So adding bila moves the meaning into the past.

That is an important difference:

• je otvorena = present state
• je bila otvorena = past state