Ekser i tipl su pored čekića.

Su is the 3rd person plural form of biti (to be) in the present tense, so it means are.

The subject is Ekser i tipl = the nail and the wall plug/dowel, which is a plural idea because it refers to two things. That is why Serbian uses su, not je.

• ekser = nail
• tipl = wall plug / anchor / dowel
• su = are

So the structure is literally:

Ekser i tipl su ... = The nail and the wall plug are ...

Because ekser i tipl are the subject of the sentence, so they stay in the nominative case, which is the dictionary/basic form here.

But čekića comes after the preposition pored, and pored requires the genitive case.

So:

• ekser = nominative singular
• tipl = nominative singular
• čekića = genitive singular of čekić

This is very common in Serbian: prepositions often force a specific case.

Čekića is genitive singular.

Its base form is:

• čekić = hammer

After pored, it becomes:

• pored čekića = beside / next to the hammer

So the change is:

• nominative: čekić
• genitive: čekića

Yes, pored normally takes the genitive.

It usually means:

• beside
• next to
• by
• sometimes alongside

Examples:

• pored stola = next to the table
• pored kuće = beside the house
• pored čekića = next to the hammer

So if you learn pored, it is a good idea to learn it together with the rule + genitive.

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

So:

• ekser can mean a nail or the nail
• tipl can mean a wall plug or the wall plug
• čekića can mean of a hammer or of the hammer, depending on context

The exact meaning is usually understood from the situation, not from an article.

Each noun by itself is singular:

• ekser = one nail
• tipl = one wall plug

But when you join them with i (and), together they form a compound subject, and that counts as plural.

So:

• Ekser je... = The nail is...
• Tipl je... = The wall plug is...
• Ekser i tipl su... = The nail and the wall plug are...

This is the same basic idea as in English.

Yes. Serbian word order is fairly flexible.

The sentence:

Ekser i tipl su pored čekića.

is a neutral, natural way to say it.

But you could also say:

• Pored čekića su ekser i tipl.
• Ekser i tipl pored čekića su. — possible, but less neutral and more marked

Changing the order usually changes focus or emphasis, not the core meaning.

For a learner, the given order is a very good standard pattern.

In this sentence, pored most naturally means next to or beside.

It usually suggests fairly close physical position.

So:

• pored čekića = next to the hammer / beside the hammer

If you want to say just near, Serbian might also use words like blizu, depending on the context.
So pored is usually a bit more specific than just general nearness.

Tipl usually means a wall plug, raw plug, anchor, or sometimes dowel, depending on context.

It is a hardware word, so the best English translation depends on what kind of object is meant.

In everyday practical translation, wall plug or anchor is often the clearest choice.

Grammatically, tipl is a masculine noun.

They are two different Serbian sounds:

• č = a hard ch sound, similar to ch in chocolate, but usually stronger
• ć = a softer sound, somewhat like a very soft ty/ch sound

In čekića:

• the first letter č is the harder sound
• the ć near the end is the softer one

Approximate breakdown:

• če-ki-ća

English speakers often find č easier than ć at first. It is normal if they sound similar to you in the beginning.

Because Serbian does not need anything extra there. The subject is already fully expressed:

Ekser i tipl

Then the verb follows:

su

So the sentence is complete and natural as it is.

Serbian often allows very compact sentences when the meaning is clear.

In standard Serbian, no. In this kind of sentence, su should be present.

So:

• Ekser i tipl su pored čekića. = correct

Without su, the sentence would sound incomplete or ungrammatical in standard usage.

Serbian can sometimes omit forms of to be in certain styles or special contexts, but not in a normal present-tense sentence like this one.

Yes. Both ekser and tipl are masculine singular nouns.

That matters for agreement in some situations, especially with adjectives and past tense forms.

In this present-tense sentence, the main visible effect is simply that the two nouns together form a plural subject, so the verb is su.

If you added an adjective, you would also see agreement more clearly. For example:

• Mali ekser i tipl su pored čekića. = The small nail and wall plug are next to the hammer.

More or less, yes. A very literal breakdown is:

• Ekser = nail
• i = and
• tipl = wall plug / anchor
• su = are
• pored = beside / next to
• čekića = of the hammer / hammer (in genitive after pored)

So the literal structure is close to:

Nail and wall plug are beside hammer

But natural English adds articles:

The nail and the wall plug are next to the hammer
or
A nail and a wall plug are next to the hammer, depending on context.