Policijska stanica je nadležna.

Policijska stanica literally means police station.

• policijska = police / police-related
• stanica = station

In Serbian, it is normal to express this as an adjective + noun combination, so policijska stanica is the standard way to say police station.

Because it has to agree with stanica, which is a feminine singular noun.

In Serbian, adjectives change their form to match the noun in:

• gender
• number
• case

Since stanica is feminine singular nominative here, the adjective also takes the feminine singular nominative form:

• masculine: policijski
• feminine: policijska
• neuter: policijsko

So:

• policijska stanica = feminine singular

For the same reason: nadležna describes policijska stanica, so it must agree with it.

Here nadležna is a predicate adjective after je (is), but it still agrees with the subject:

• policijska stanica je nadležna = the police station is competent / has jurisdiction

If the subject were masculine, you would use nadležan. If it were neuter, you would use nadležno.

For example:

• Sud je nadležan. = The court has jurisdiction.
• Ministarstvo je nadležno. = The ministry is competent / has authority.

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 this sentence, je simply means is:

• Policijska stanica je nadležna. = The police station is competent / has jurisdiction.

In this sentence, nadležna usually means having authority, being responsible for a matter, or having jurisdiction.

That is the most important thing to understand here. In administrative, legal, and official language, nadležan / nadležna / nadležno often means:

• responsible
• authorized
• the competent authority
• having jurisdiction

So Policijska stanica je nadležna usually means something like:

• The police station has jurisdiction.
• The police station is the competent authority.
• The police station is responsible for this matter.

If you want to say someone is competent/skilled in the sense of ability, Serbian often uses words like:

• sposoban = capable
• stručan = professionally skilled / expert
• sometimes kompetentan in modern usage

It is in the nominative case because it is the subject of the sentence.

The basic structure is:

• Policijska stanica = subject
• je = verb
• nadležna = predicate adjective

So this is a standard nominative subject sentence.

Because Serbian does not have articles like a and the.

English says:

• the police station
• a police station

Serbian usually just says:

• policijska stanica

Whether it means a police station or the police station depends on context.

In this sentence, English would often translate it as the police station because the meaning sounds specific, but Serbian does not need a separate word for that.

The neutral, most straightforward order is:

• Policijska stanica je nadležna.

But Serbian word order is more flexible than English word order, especially for emphasis.

For example, you may also see:

• Nadležna je policijska stanica.

This can sound more marked or emphatic, depending on context. The basic meaning stays the same, but the focus changes.

So the given sentence is the most neutral version.

A rough pronunciation guide for an English speaker is:

• Policijska ≈ po-LEE-tsee-y-ska
• stanica ≈ STAH-nee-tsa
• je ≈ yeh
• nadležna ≈ nah-DLEZH-na

A few useful sound notes:

• c in stanica sounds like ts
• j in je sounds like English y
• ž in nadležna sounds like the s in measure

This is only an approximation, but it is a helpful starting point.

Normally, no. In a standard full sentence like this, je should be present.

So:

• Policijska stanica je nadležna. = correct

Leaving it out would sound incomplete in normal standard Serbian:

• Policijska stanica nadležna. = not standard as a full sentence

In some informal, elliptical, headline-like, or highly context-dependent situations, Serbian may drop words more freely, but for a learner, you should treat je as necessary here.

You could form phrases like that in some contexts, but policijska stanica is the normal standard expression for police station.

Serbian often uses an adjective where English might think of a noun modifier. So just as English says police station, Serbian naturally says policijska stanica.

For everyday use, policijska stanica is the form you should learn and use.