Gospodin čeka ispred banke.

Gospodin usually means gentleman, sir, or Mr. depending on context. It sounds more formal or polite than čovek, which just means man.

So in this sentence, gospodin suggests the gentleman / the man in a slightly more formal sense, not just any random male person.

Serbian does not have articles like the or a/an.

So Gospodin čeka ispred banke can mean things like:

• The gentleman is waiting in front of the bank
• A gentleman is waiting in front of the bank

The exact meaning depends on context.

Čeka is the 3rd person singular present tense form of the verb čekati, which means to wait.

So:

• ja čekam = I wait / am waiting
• ti čekaš = you wait / are waiting
• on/ona/ono čeka = he/she/it waits / is waiting

Because gospodin is a singular subject, Serbian uses čeka.

In Serbian, the present tense often covers both the simple present and the present continuous ideas that English separates.

So čeka can mean:

• waits
• is waiting

Usually the context tells you which sounds more natural in English.

Ispred means in front of.

It is a preposition, and it is followed by the genitive case. That is why the next word is not banka, but banke.

So:

• ispred banke = in front of the bank

Because ispred requires the genitive case.

The basic form is:

• banka = bank

But after ispred, it changes to the genitive singular:

• banke

So:

• ispred banka ❌
• ispred banke ✅

This is one of the most important things to learn in Serbian: many prepositions require specific cases.

Here, banke is genitive singular, not plural.

The noun banka is feminine, and its genitive singular form is banke.

So in this sentence:

• ispred banke = in front of the bank

Even though banke can look like a plural-related form to English learners, here it is singular because the preposition ispred requires genitive singular when referring to one bank.

Yes. Serbian word order is more flexible than English word order.

The neutral order here is:

• Gospodin čeka ispred banke.

But Serbian can also allow variations such as:

• Ispred banke gospodin čeka.
• Gospodin ispred banke čeka.

These can sound more marked or emphasize different parts of the sentence. English is much less flexible, so learners should usually start with the neutral order first.

The letter č is pronounced roughly like the ch in chocolate, but usually with a firmer, more retroflex sound than in English.

So čeka sounds approximately like CHEH-kah.

Also:

• c and č are different letters in Serbian
• č is not the same as ć, though English speakers may not hear the difference at first

No. Gospodin can mean different things depending on context:

• Mr. before a surname: gospodin Petrović = Mr. Petrović
• gentleman / sir / man in a general sense

In this sentence, since there is no name after it, it is more like the gentleman or the man rather than a title before a surname.

Yes. Serbian often leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed.

You do not need to say On čeka ispred banke unless you want to emphasize he.

Because the noun gospodin is already the subject, the sentence is fully complete:

• Gospodin čeka ispred banke.

Yes, depending on context and translation style.

Ispred banke literally means in front of the bank, but in natural English that may sometimes be translated as outside the bank if the exact position is not especially important.

Still, the most literal translation is:

• The gentleman is waiting in front of the bank.