Prijateljica ima auto.

Because prijateljica is the feminine form, meaning female friend.

• prijatelj = male friend / friend (male)
• prijateljica = female friend

So the sentence is specifically talking about a woman or girl who is a friend. The gender here is the gender of the person being described, not the speaker.

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

So:

• imam = I have
• imaš = you have
• ima = he/she/it has
• imamo = we have
• imate = you all / formal you have
• imaju = they have

In Prijateljica ima auto, ima agrees with prijateljica because that noun is singular.

Serbian does not use articles like English a, an, or the.

So prijateljica can mean:

• a female friend
• the female friend

And auto can mean:

• a car
• the car

Which one is meant depends on the context. This is very normal in Serbian.

Here, auto is the direct object of the verb ima, so it is in the accusative case.

In Serbian, many inanimate nouns have the same form in the nominative and accusative singular, so there is often no visible change.

That is why you see:

• auto as the basic dictionary form
• auto again after ima

So even though English learners may expect a special object ending, there is no change here.

Yes, auto is a very common everyday word for car.

It is basically a short form of automobil.

You may also see:

• automobil = car, more full/formal
• auto = very common, natural in everyday speech

So Prijateljica ima auto sounds normal and natural.

The most neutral word order is:

• Prijateljica ima auto.

That is the standard subject + verb + object order.

Serbian word order is more flexible than English because cases help show what each word is doing. But changing the order usually changes the emphasis, not the core meaning.

For example, other orders may be possible in certain contexts, but Prijateljica ima auto is the plain, neutral version a learner should start with.

A few useful pronunciation points:

• j is pronounced like English y in yes
• lj is a special Serbian sound, roughly similar to the lli sound in million for many English speakers
• c is pronounced ts, like the end of cats

So prijateljica is approximately:

pri-ya-telyi-tsa

That is only an approximation, but it helps.

Also:

• auto is pronounced roughly OW-to
• ima is roughly EE-ma

Usually prijateljica means female friend.

It normally refers to a friend who is female, not necessarily a romantic partner.

A romantic girlfriend is more commonly expressed in other ways depending on context, so in a basic sentence like this, learners should understand prijateljica as female friend.

You replace ima with nema:

• Prijateljica nema auto.

That means The/A female friend does not have a car.

This is a very common pattern:

• ima = has
• nema = does not have / has no

Two common ways are:

• Da li prijateljica ima auto?
• Ima li prijateljica auto?

Both mean Does the female friend have a car?

For a beginner, Da li ... ? is often the easiest question pattern to learn.