Aviokompanija će isplatiti naknadu štete.

It is in the nominative singular, because it is the subject of the sentence.

• Dictionary form: aviokompanija
• Gender: feminine
• Number: singular

So aviokompanija is the thing doing the action: the airline will pay.

će is the short form of the verb hteti and is used to form the future tense.

In this sentence, će means will.

So:

• Aviokompanija = the airline
• će isplatiti = will pay out

This is the standard Serbian Future I construction.

Because će is a clitic: a short, unstressed word that usually goes in second position in the sentence or clause.

So Serbian naturally says:

Aviokompanija će isplatiti naknadu štete.

Not:

• Aviokompanija isplatiti će... ❌

A useful rule for learners is: short forms like će, je, se, ga, mi often come near the beginning, after the first stressed word or phrase.

Because Serbian commonly forms the future tense with:

će + infinitive

So here:

• će = will
• isplatiti = to pay out

Together: će isplatiti = will pay out

Unlike English, Serbian does not need a separate word like to in this construction.

isplatiti usually means to pay out, to disburse, or to settle a payment. It is often used for money that is officially owed, such as:

• compensation
• wages
• refunds
• insurance payments

platiti is the more general verb to pay.

So in a formal sentence about compensation, isplatiti sounds more natural than simple platiti.

Because naknadu is the accusative singular form of naknada.

The verb isplatiti takes a direct object, and direct objects are often in the accusative.

So:

• nominative: naknada
• accusative: naknadu

Here, the airline is paying the compensation, so naknada has to appear in the accusative: naknadu.

Because štete here is in the genitive singular.

The phrase naknada štete is a standard expression meaning compensation for damage or damages. In this expression, naknada is followed by a noun in the genitive.

So:

• nominative: šteta
• genitive: štete
• accusative: štetu

That is why Serbian says:

naknada štete

not:

• naknada šteta ❌
• naknada štetu ❌

Here it is singular: specifically, genitive singular of šteta.

This can be confusing because English often uses damages as a plural word in legal language. Serbian often uses the singular noun šteta in this kind of expression.

So even if English translates it as damages, the Serbian form here is still grammatically singular.

Yes, isplatiti is a perfective verb.

That means it presents the action as a completed whole: one future payment that will be carried out and finished.

In this sentence, that makes perfect sense: the airline will make the payment and complete it.

A rough imperfective partner would be isplaćivati, which would suggest repeated, ongoing, or habitual paying rather than one completed payout.

Yes. Serbian word order is more flexible than English because the cases show what each noun is doing.

The neutral order here is:

Aviokompanija će isplatiti naknadu štete.

But you could also say:

Naknadu štete će isplatiti aviokompanija.

That puts more emphasis on the compensation.

Even when the order changes, the clitic će still tends to stay near the beginning, in second position.

Because Serbian has no articles.

So Serbian does not have direct equivalents of English a/an and the.

Whether aviokompanija means an airline or the airline depends on the context. In this sentence, it will usually be understood as the airline, because the context normally makes it clear which one is meant.

The letter ć is a soft consonant with no exact English equivalent.

For a beginner, će can be approximated as tyeh or a very soft ch sound, but neither is perfect.

What matters most is:

• ć is softer than č
• će is one short, unstressed word

So when reading the sentence, do not pronounce će like English see or kay. It is much closer to a soft tye sound.