Beba je mala.

• beba = baby
• je = is
• mala = small / little (feminine singular form)

So the sentence literally means Baby is small/little, and in natural English it is usually The baby is small or The baby is little.

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

So beba can mean:

• a baby
• the baby
• sometimes just baby in a general sense

Context tells you which meaning is intended. In a sentence like Beba je mala, English will often use the: The baby is small.

Because adjectives in Serbian must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

Here:

• beba is feminine
• it is singular
• it is in the nominative

So the adjective must also be feminine singular nominative:

• masculine: mali
• feminine: mala
• neuter: malo

That is why you say Beba je mala.

Yes, beba is a grammatically feminine noun.

That means adjectives agreeing with beba are normally feminine too:

• Beba je mala
• Naša beba je slatka

This is about grammatical gender, not necessarily biological sex. Even if the baby is male, the noun beba is still feminine in grammar.

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

So:

• ja sam = I am
• ti si = you are
• on/ona/ono je = he/she/it is

In Beba je mala, je is the word meaning is.

Because je is a clitic in Serbian. Clitics are short, unstressed words that usually go in the second position of the sentence or clause.

So in a simple neutral sentence:

• Beba je mala

Here beba is the first element, and je comes right after it.

This is very normal Serbian word order.

Yes, Serbian word order is more flexible than English, but different orders can change the emphasis.

The most neutral version is:

• Beba je mala.

You may also hear:

• Mala je beba.

That can sound more emphatic or stylistically marked, as if focusing on small.

So learners should treat Beba je mala as the basic, neutral pattern.

Yes. The adjective mali / mala / malo can correspond to both small and little in English.

So Beba je mala could be understood as:

• The baby is small
• The baby is little

Which English word sounds best depends on context and style.

You change je to nije:

• Beba nije mala. = The baby is not small.

This is the normal way to negate to be in this kind of sentence.

A common way is:

• Da li je beba mala? = Is the baby small?

In speech, you may also hear a yes/no question made mainly by intonation:

• Beba je mala?

But for learners, Da li je beba mala? is the safest and clearest pattern.