Ne gledaj natrag.

• Ne = the negative particle, used to make the command negative.
• gledaj = look, in the imperative form.
• natrag = back / backwards.

So grammatically, it is a negative command: Don’t look back.

Gledaj is the 2nd person singular imperative of the verb gledati (to look, to watch).

That means it is used when speaking directly to one person in an informal way.

Related forms:

• gledati = infinitive
• gledaj! = look!
• ne gledaj! = don’t look!

In Serbian, the subject is often left out because the verb form already shows who the command is aimed at.

Here, gledaj already means you look! or look! addressed to one person, so adding ti (you) is usually unnecessary.

You could say Ti ne gledaj natrag, but that would add emphasis, as if contrasting with someone else: You don’t look back.

Ne is placed directly before the verb to make the command negative.

So:

• Gledaj natrag. = Look back.
• Ne gledaj natrag. = Don’t look back.

This is a very common pattern in Serbian.

Yes. Natrag means back or backwards in this sentence.

A very common Serbian alternative is nazad:

• Ne gledaj nazad.

Many speakers in Serbia would find nazad more everyday than natrag.
Natrag is still understandable, but to some people it may sound a bit more regional or closer to Croatian/Bosnian usage.

So if your goal is everyday Serbian in Serbia, Ne gledaj nazad is often the more usual version.

Yes. Ne gledaj natrag. is for one person, informal.

For plural or formal you, use gledajte:

• Ne gledajte natrag.

So:

• gledaj = singular informal
• gledajte = plural or formal

This is about aspect, which is very important in Serbian.

• gledati is imperfective
• pogledati is perfective

With negative commands, Serbian very often prefers the imperfective imperative, so Ne gledaj sounds natural.

If you want a more single-action idea such as Don’t take a look back, Serbian often uses a different structure instead of a direct perfective negative imperative:

• Nemoj da pogledaš natrag/nazad.

So:

• Ne gledaj natrag. = the normal, natural prohibition
• Nemoj da pogledaš nazad. = also natural, with a slightly different structure

Yes, but Ne gledaj natrag is the normal, neutral order.

You may sometimes hear or see:

• Natrag ne gledaj.

That sounds more emphatic, poetic, or stylistically marked. For everyday speech, the original order is the safest choice.

In Serbian Cyrillic, it is:

Не гледај натраг.

Serbian officially uses both Latin and Cyrillic, so both are correct.