Learn Hardcore Serbian: Advokat ima devet knjiga.

Breakdown of Advokat ima devet knjiga.

Why is there no word for a or the in this sentence?

Serbian normally does not use articles.

So Advokat ima devet knjiga can mean:

Context tells you which one is meant.

What does ima mean, and what verb is it from?

Ima means has.

It is the 3rd person singular present form of the verb imati = to have.

A few present-tense forms are:

So Advokat ima... literally means The/A lawyer has...

Why is it knjiga after devet, not knjige?

Because in Serbian, numbers 5 and higher are followed by the genitive plural.

So:

The noun knjiga has these important forms:

So here, knjiga is genitive plural, even though it looks the same as singular nominative.