Članarina u teretani je skupa.

Članarina means membership fee, membership dues, or subscription fee depending on context.

It is not the same as just membership in the abstract. In this sentence, it refers to the money you pay to be a member of the gym.

So in a gym context, članarina is usually something like:

• a monthly fee
• a membership payment
• dues

It is a feminine noun, which matters for the adjective later: skupa.

Because after u meaning in / at a place, Serbian normally uses the locative case.

The base form is:

• teretana = gym

The locative singular is:

• u teretani = in/at the gym

So:

• u teretani = at the gym / in the gym

This is a very common pattern:

• u školi = at school
• u kući = in the house
• u kancelariji = in the office

Teretana is a feminine noun ending in -a, and many feminine nouns of this type change to -i in the locative singular.

So:

• nominative: teretana
• locative: teretani

That is why you get:

• u teretani

This same pattern happens with many other feminine nouns:

• prodavnica → u prodavnici
• soba → u sobi
• škola → u školi

Because skup is an adjective, and adjectives in Serbian must agree with the noun they describe in gender, number, and case.

The noun being described is članarina, which is:

• feminine
• singular
• here in the nominative

So the adjective must also be feminine singular:

• masculine: skup
• feminine: skupa
• neuter: skupo

Examples:

• Telefon je skup. = The phone is expensive.
• Knjiga je skupa. = The book is expensive.
• Mesto je skupo. = The place is expensive.

Je is the 3rd person singular present tense of biti = to be.

So:

• je = is

In this sentence:

• Članarina u teretani je skupa.
• literally: The membership fee at the gym is expensive.

Unlike Russian, for example, Serbian does use the present-tense copula je in normal sentences like this.

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

So a sentence like:

• Članarina u teretani je skupa.

can be understood in English as:

• The gym membership is expensive
• Gym membership is expensive
• The membership fee at the gym is expensive

Which version sounds best in English depends on context, but Serbian does not mark that distinction with articles.

Yes, u teretani literally means in the gym, but in many contexts English would naturally translate it as at the gym.

With places like schools, offices, stores, and gyms, Serbian often uses u + locative where English might choose either in or at.

So here:

• članarina u teretani is best understood as the membership fee at the gym or gym membership

It is a normal Serbian way to express this idea.

The given order is a very neutral, standard word order:

• Članarina u teretani je skupa.

But Serbian word order is more flexible than English. You could rearrange it for emphasis, for example:

• Skupa je članarina u teretani.
  Emphasis on expensive
• U teretani je članarina skupa.
  Emphasis on at the gym

These versions are possible, but the original sentence is the most straightforward one for a learner.

Yes. In natural translation, it can often be rendered simply as:

• Gym membership is expensive.

That is because članarina already implies a fee/payment for membership, and u teretani tells you the context is a gym.

So depending on style, good English translations could be:

• Gym membership is expensive.
• The membership fee at the gym is expensive.
• The gym membership fee is expensive.

In this sentence, skupa means expensive.

The adjective skup / skupa / skupo is the normal Serbian word for expensive.

Examples:

• Auto je skup. = The car is expensive.
• Karta je skupa. = The ticket is expensive.
• Život je skup. = Life is expensive.

In other contexts, forms related to skup can appear in different meanings, but for learners, the main meaning to remember here is expensive.

A rough English-friendly guide would be:

CHLA-na-ree-na oo te-re-TA-nee ye SKOO-pa

A few helpful points:

• Č sounds like ch in chocolate
• j sounds like English y in yes
• u is like oo in food
• r in Serbian is usually trilled or tapped more than in English

Word by word:

• Članarina ≈ CHLA-na-ree-na
• u ≈ oo
• teretani ≈ te-re-TA-nee
• je ≈ ye
• skupa ≈ SKOO-pa

Because članarina is the thing being described as skupa.

The structure is:

• Članarina u teretani = the gym membership fee
• je = is
• skupa = expensive

So the sentence is built like:

• [subject] + [to be] + [adjective]

That is why the adjective agrees with članarina, not with teretani.

The noun teretani is just part of the phrase telling you which membership fee:

• the membership fee at the gym