Kiša je prestala.

Because Serbian is using the past tense called the perfect here.

The pattern is:

• je = the present-tense auxiliary to be (is/has)
• prestala = the past participle of prestati (to stop, to cease)

So Kiša je prestala literally works like The rain has stopped, although in natural English it is often simply translated as The rain stopped.

Because kiša is a feminine singular noun in Serbian.

In the Serbian perfect tense, the participle agrees with the subject in gender and number:

• masculine singular: prestao
• feminine singular: prestala
• neuter singular: prestalo
• plural: prestali / prestale / prestala depending on gender

Since kiša is feminine, you say:

• Kiša je prestala.

Not:

• Kiša je prestao.
• Kiša je prestalo.

Yes. In Serbian, grammatical gender is a grammar category, not usually a statement about biological sex.

Kiša is grammatically feminine, so adjectives and past participles must match it as feminine:

• jaka kiša = heavy rain
• kiša je prestala = the rain stopped

This is normal and does not mean rain is thought of as literally female.

The base verb is prestati, which means to stop, to cease, or to come to an end.

In this sentence:

• prestati → infinitive
• prestala → past participle, feminine singular
• je prestala → has stopped / stopped

So the sentence is built from the verb prestati.

Because Serbian and English organize the past differently.

In Serbian, the normal way to say many past events is with the perfect:

• Kiša je prestala.

In English, depending on context, you may translate that as either:

• The rain stopped.
• The rain has stopped.

So the Serbian form does not always map directly to one single English tense. Very often, the Serbian perfect covers what English expresses with either the simple past or the present perfect.

Yes. Prestala je kiša is also correct.

Both mean the same basic thing:

• Kiša je prestala.
• Prestala je kiša.

The difference is mainly word order and emphasis.

• Kiša je prestala = neutral, straightforward
• Prestala je kiša = often puts a little more focus on the fact that it stopped

Serbian word order is more flexible than English, but not random.

Because je is a clitic, and Serbian clitics usually go in the second position of the clause.

So in:

• Kiša je prestala

the first element is Kiša, and the clitic je comes right after it.

That is why Serbian often places short forms like je, sam, si, ga, se, etc. near the beginning of the sentence.

For example:

• Danas je kiša prestala.
• Kiša je danas prestala.

The exact placement can vary with sentence structure, but clitics tend to stay early.

In standard Serbian, you normally should not leave it out here.

So the standard sentence is:

• Kiša je prestala.

You may sometimes hear shortened or headline-like speech such as:

• Kiša prestala.

But that is not the normal full form for careful standard usage.

Yes, it matters. Prestati is a perfective verb.

That means it presents the action as completed: the rain came to an end.

So:

• Kiša je prestala = the rain stopped / has stopped

If you wanted an ongoing or repeated sense, Serbian would often use a different, imperfective verb or a different construction depending on context.

The perfective choice here is natural because the sentence describes a completed change.

It can be understood, and in some contexts people do say it, but Kiša je prestala is the more standard and expected way to say The rain stopped.

Why?

• prestati specifically means to stop/cease
• stati basically means to stop / come to a halt / stand

With rain, prestati is usually the safer and more idiomatic choice.

A rough pronunciation guide for an English speaker is:

• Kiša ≈ KEE-sha
• je ≈ yeh
• prestala ≈ preh-STAH-lah

A few helpful notes:

• š sounds like sh in shoe
• j sounds like English y in yes
• Serbian pronunciation is generally quite phonetic, so words are usually pronounced close to how they are written

So altogether:

• KEE-sha yeh preh-STAH-lah

Serbian has no articles like a or the.

So kiša can mean:

• rain
• the rain

The context tells you which English article sounds natural in translation.

In Kiša je prestala, English normally says:

• The rain stopped.

But Serbian does not need a word for the.