Kuća je lepa, ali mala.

Kuća means house, and here it is in the nominative singular because it is the subject of the sentence.

• kuća = house
• nominative = the basic dictionary form, often used for the subject

So in Kuća je lepa, ali mala, the sentence is talking about the house as the thing being described.

Serbian does not use articles like English a/an and the.

So kuća can mean:

• a house
• the house

Which one is meant depends on the context. In this sentence, English might translate it as The house is beautiful, but small or A house is beautiful, but small, depending on the situation.

Je means is. It is the 3rd person singular form of the verb biti (to be).

So:

• kuća = house
• je = is
• lepa = beautiful
• ali = but
• mala = small

Literally: House is beautiful, but small.

In Serbian, it is very common to omit the second je when the meaning is clear.

So both are correct:

• Kuća je lepa, ali mala.
• Kuća je lepa, ali je mala.

The version with only one je sounds very natural and efficient. English usually repeats is, but Serbian often does not.

Because they must agree with kuća.

Kuća is:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative

So the adjectives describing it also appear in the feminine singular nominative form:

• lep → lepa
• mali / mal → mala

This agreement is a very important part of Serbian grammar.

One strong clue is the ending -a. Many Serbian nouns ending in -a are feminine.

So:

• kuća = feminine
• therefore: lepa, mala must also be feminine singular forms

This is not true for every noun in Serbian, but it is a very common pattern and a useful rule of thumb for beginners.

Lep is the masculine singular form.

Compare:

• lep = masculine
• lepa = feminine
• lepo = neuter

Since kuća is feminine, you need lepa.

Examples:

• Grad je lep. = The city is beautiful.
• Kuća je lepa. = The house is beautiful.
• Selo je lepo. = The village is beautiful.

Ali means but and connects two contrasting ideas:

• lepa = beautiful
• mala = small

So the sentence says that the house has one positive quality and one limiting quality: it is beautiful, but small.

Yes, Serbian word order is more flexible than English, though some versions sound more natural than others.

The most neutral version is:

• Kuća je lepa, ali mala.

You could also say:

• Kuća je mala, ali lepa.

This changes the emphasis: now small comes first, and beautiful feels like the contrast.

You usually would not move words around randomly, but Serbian does allow more flexibility than English for style, focus, and emphasis.

A simple pronunciation guide:

• Kuća ≈ KOO-cha
• je ≈ yeh
• lepa ≈ LEH-pah
• ali ≈ AH-lee
• mala ≈ MAH-lah

So the whole sentence sounds roughly like:

KOO-cha yeh LEH-pah, AH-lee MAH-lah.

A couple of useful notes:

• ć is a soft sound, somewhat like a softer ch
• j in Serbian sounds like English y

Yes. Serbian uses both Latin and Cyrillic scripts.

This sentence in Cyrillic is:

Кућа је лепа, али мала.

Both scripts are standard in Serbian.

Lep / lepa / lepo is a very common everyday word meaning beautiful, pretty, or nice-looking.

In context, lepa kuća can mean:

• beautiful house
• pretty house
• nice-looking house

So lepa does not always have to sound as strong as English beautiful. Sometimes pretty or nice fits better depending on the context.

Yes, but it means something different.

• ali = but → contrast
• i = and → simple addition

So:

• Kuća je lepa, ali mala. = The house is beautiful, but small.
• Kuća je lepa i mala. = The house is beautiful and small.

The first one suggests that small is somehow unexpected or contrasts with beautiful. The second one just lists two qualities.