Očitanje je na brojilu.

Očitanje is a noun meaning reading, readout, or measured value that has been read off. In everyday use, it often refers to something like a utility meter reading.

It comes from the verb očitati / očitavati, meaning to read off, to take a reading, or to record a reading.

In this sentence, očitanje is:

• neuter
• singular
• in the nominative case because it is the subject of the sentence

Je is the 3rd person singular present form of biti (to be), so it means is.

So the structure is simply:

• Očitanje = the reading
• je = is
• na brojilu = on the meter

So the sentence is an ordinary to be sentence: The reading is on the meter.

In Serbian, short forms like je are clitics, and clitics usually go in the second position in the sentence or clause.

That is why you get:

• Očitanje je na brojilu.

and not normally:

• Očitanje na brojilu je.

The verb form je is very commonly placed right after the first stressed element.

Because after na, Serbian uses different cases depending on meaning:

• na + accusative = motion onto/to
• na + locative = location on/at

Here there is no movement. The reading is already there, so Serbian uses the locative:

• brojilo = meter
• na brojilu = on the meter / at the meter

So:

• na brojilo would suggest movement toward it
• na brojilu describes location

Brojilu is the locative singular of brojilo.

The base form is:

• brojilo = meter, counter

After na in a location meaning, it changes to:

• na brojilu = on the meter

Since brojilo is a neuter noun, the locative singular form here ends in -u.

Brojilo usually means a meter, counter, or measuring/counting device.

Depending on context, it could be:

• an electricity meter
• a gas meter
• a water meter
• another kind of counter or measuring device

So in this sentence, it most likely refers to a device where a reading is displayed or recorded.

Usually yes, but it is best not to translate prepositions too mechanically.

In Serbian, na can mean things like:

• on
• at
• sometimes something close to in, depending on context

With devices, screens, displays, and surfaces, na is very common. So na brojilu is natural for on the meter or at the meter.

Serbian does not have articles like a or the.

So očitanje can mean:

• a reading
• the reading

and brojilu can mean:

• a meter
• the meter

The exact meaning depends on context. In many real situations, English would naturally use the, but Serbian does not need a separate word for that.

Yes. Serbian word order is more flexible than English word order, although not completely free.

For example, this sentence could also appear as:

• Na brojilu je očitanje.

That version puts more emphasis on where the reading is.

However, the clitic je still tends to stay in second position, so you usually cannot move it just anywhere.

A rough English-friendly pronunciation is:

• o-chi-TA-nye

A few useful points:

• č sounds like ch in chocolate
• j sounds like English y
• nj is a single sound, like ny in canyon

So očitanje is pronounced approximately o-chi-TA-nye.

A rough pronunciation is:

• BRO-yi-loo

More exactly:

• bro as in brow without the final w
• j sounds like y
• stress is usually on the first syllable here

So it sounds approximately like BRO-yi-loo.

In many contexts, očitanje refers more to the result of reading something off — the actual reading or measured value.

That is why in this sentence it sounds natural: the sentence is talking about the reading as a thing that can be located on the meter.

In other words, here očitanje is not so much the act of reading, but the reading itself.

In Serbian Cyrillic, it is:

Очитање је на бројилу.

Letter by letter:

• Očitanje → Очитање
• je → је
• na brojilu → на бројилу

Both the Latin and Cyrillic versions are standard Serbian.