On ima auto.

On means he.

It is capitalized here only because it starts the sentence. In the middle of a sentence, it would normally be written on.

Ima means has.

It is the 3rd person singular present tense form of imati, which means to have.

For example:

• ja imam = I have
• ti imaš = you have
• on/ona/ono ima = he/she/it has

Because Serbian does not have articles.

So auto can mean:

• a car
• the car

The context tells you which meaning is intended.

Yes. Serbian often leaves out subject pronouns when they are already understood.

So Ima auto is also a normal sentence.

However, if you omit on, then the sentence could mean:

• he has a car
• she has a car
• it has a car

The verb form ima does not show gender, so the context has to do that.

It is in the accusative case, because it is the direct object of the verb ima.

In English, the direct object is the thing someone has, sees, wants, and so on. Here, the thing he has is auto.

Because with inanimate nouns like auto, the accusative singular is the same as the basic dictionary form.

So:

• nominative: auto
• accusative: auto

But in other cases, it does change:

• bez auta = without a car
• sa autom = with a car

In standard Serbian, auto is usually treated as masculine inanimate, basically as a shortened form of automobil.

That is why you normally say:

• ovaj auto = this car

not:

• ovo auto

No. In the present tense, ima stays the same for he, she, and it.

So:

• on ima = he has
• ona ima = she has
• ono ima = it has

The pronoun changes, but the present-tense verb form does not.

No. Auto is very common, but it is not the only word.

You may also hear:

• automobil = automobile/car
• kola = car, very common in everyday speech

So On ima auto is natural, but other word choices are possible too.

On ima auto is the most neutral and straightforward order: subject + verb + object.

Serbian word order is more flexible than English word order, so you can move words around for emphasis. But those other orders usually sound more marked or contrastive.

For a learner, On ima auto is the best default pattern.

Because Serbian does not use an extra helper verb here.

English says He has a car with the main verb has. Serbian does the same thing with ima.

So you simply say:

• On ima auto

not something like:

• On je ima auto

The verb imati works by itself in the present tense.