Otkud ovaj dim?

Otkud means from where? / where from? In this sentence, it asks about the source of the smoke, so the natural English meaning is something like Where is this smoke coming from?

It is a very common conversational word in Serbian.

They are very close in meaning. Both can mean from where.

In many everyday situations, otkud and odakle can be used interchangeably:

• Otkud ovaj dim?
• Odakle ovaj dim?

Both mean roughly Where is this smoke coming from?

A useful learner takeaway:

• odakle is often felt as a bit more neutral or standard
• otkud is very common in speech and can sometimes sound a little more immediate, emotional, or conversational

You will hear both.

Ovaj dim is in the nominative singular because it is basically the thing being identified: this smoke.

Even though English says Where is this smoke coming from?, Serbian often uses a shorter structure without an explicit verb, and the noun phrase stays in the nominative:

• ovaj dim = this smoke

Here:

• dim is a masculine noun
• ovaj is the masculine singular nominative form of this

So:

• ovaj dim = this smoke

Serbian very often leaves out the verb to be in the present tense, especially in short questions and everyday speech.

So instead of saying a full version like:

• Otkud dolazi ovaj dim? = Where is this smoke coming from?

Serbian can simply say:

• Otkud ovaj dim?

This is completely natural and idiomatic. It sounds like a quick, direct question.

Yes, you may hear or use Otkud je ovaj dim?, but Otkud ovaj dim? is more compact and very natural in conversation.

The version without je is especially common when reacting to something you suddenly notice, like smoke, noise, a smell, or a person unexpectedly appearing.

So:

• Otkud ovaj dim? = very natural, quick, conversational
• Otkud je ovaj dim? = also understandable, but less compact

Ovaj means this.

It changes form depending on gender, number, and case. Since dim is:

• masculine
• singular
• nominative

the correct form is ovaj.

Compare:

• ovaj dim = this smoke
• ova kuća = this house
• ovo selo = this village

So ovaj agrees with dim.

Dim is a masculine noun.

That affects the form of words that go with it, especially adjectives and demonstratives like ovaj.

Because dim is masculine singular nominative, you get:

• ovaj dim

If the noun were feminine or neuter, the form of this would change:

• ova vatra = this fire
• ovo svetlo = this light

A simple approximate pronunciation is:

OT-kood OH-vai deem

A few notes:

• otkud has a short, clear o
• u sounds like oo in food
• j in Serbian sounds like English y
• dim sounds like deem

So ovaj is roughly OH-vai or OH-vay, depending on how narrowly you describe it.

The normal, most natural order here is:

• Otkud ovaj dim?

This puts the question word first, which is standard.

You might hear different wording in other sentence types, but for a simple direct question, this order is the expected one.

A fuller version could be:

• Otkud dolazi ovaj dim?

But the short version is more idiomatic in everyday speech.

Very often it expresses at least a little surprise, concern, or sudden noticing.

If someone says Otkud ovaj dim?, it often sounds like:

• Where is this smoke coming from?
• Why is there smoke here?
• What’s the source of this smoke?

So it is not just a dry factual question. In real use, it often reacts to an unexpected situation.

No. Otkud can also be used more broadly for source, origin, or even how come in some contexts.

For example:

• Otkud ti ovde? = What are you doing here? / Where did you come from?
• Otkud znaš? = How do you know? / How come you know?

So in Otkud ovaj dim?, it refers to physical source, but the word itself has wider use.

A more explicit version would be:

• Odakle dolazi ovaj dim?

This literally means From where is this smoke coming?

You could also say:

• Odakle je ovaj dim?
• Odakle dolazi dim?

These sound a bit fuller or more explicit. But in everyday Serbian, the short sentence Otkud ovaj dim? is perfectly natural and very common.