Apoteka je desno od banke.

Because after od, Serbian uses the genitive case.

• Dictionary form: banka
• Genitive singular: banke

So od banke means of/from the bank, and in this expression it gives the idea to the right of the bank.

This pattern is very common:

• levo od škole = to the left of the school
• blizu hotela = near the hotel
• ispred kuće = in front of the house

So the important chunk to learn is:

desno od + genitive

Here, desno is an adverb, meaning on the right / to the right.

Compare:

• desna ruka = right hand
  
  • here desna is an adjective
• Apoteka je desno od banke.
  • here desno is an adverb

English often uses right in both kinds of situations, but Serbian changes the form depending on grammar.

Useful related forms:

• levo = left / to the left
• pravo = straight ahead

Because Serbian expresses this relationship as desno od + noun in the genitive.

So the structure is:

• desno od banke = to the right of the bank
• levo od pošte = to the left of the post office

In English, of is part of the phrase to the right of. Serbian works similarly here: od is the normal word used in this construction.

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

So it means is.

• Apoteka je... = The pharmacy is...

Serbian often uses forms of biti in the same way English uses to be for location and description.

Also, je is a clitic, which means it normally appears in an early position in the sentence, usually after the first stressed element. That is why Apoteka je... sounds natural.

Because Serbian does not have articles like a/an/the.

So:

• apoteka can mean a pharmacy or the pharmacy
• banka can mean a bank or the bank

The exact meaning depends on context.

In this sentence, English usually translates it with the because the speaker probably means a specific pharmacy and a specific bank, but Serbian does not need separate words for that.

No, Serbian word order is fairly flexible, though some versions are more natural depending on context.

The neutral version is:

• Apoteka je desno od banke.

But you may also hear:

• Desno od banke je apoteka.
  This puts more focus on the location.

Because Serbian uses cases, word order can move around more than in English. Still, not every order sounds equally natural, and the position of clitics like je matters.

For a learner, Apoteka je desno od banke is the safest pattern to use.

Usually no, not if you mean to the right of the bank.

Na desnoj strani banke more literally suggests on the right side of the bank, which sounds like something attached to or part of the bank itself.

If you want to say one place is located to the right of another place, use:

• desno od banke

So:

• Apoteka je desno od banke. = correct for location relative to the bank

A simple learner-friendly pronunciation is:

ah-poh-TEH-kah yeh DEHS-noh od BAHN-keh

A few tips:

• j in Serbian sounds like English y in yes
• e is usually a clear eh
• a is usually ah
• r is rolled or tapped, though there is no r in this sentence
• Serbian spelling is very phonetic, so words are usually pronounced close to how they are written

Sometimes, but pharmacy is usually the safest translation.

Apoteka is the place where medicine is dispensed or sold. In many contexts, drugstore in English can also suggest a shop selling many everyday items, which may not match Serbian apoteka exactly.

So for learners, it is best to think of:

• apoteka = pharmacy

A natural question is:

• Gde je apoteka? = Where is the pharmacy?

And the answer can be:

• Apoteka je desno od banke.

You can also ask about the landmark:

• Šta je desno od banke? = What is to the right of the bank?

Then the same answer works:

• Apoteka je desno od banke.

Yes, absolutely. It is a very common location pattern.

You can substitute another noun after it, as long as you put that noun in the genitive:

• desno od škole = to the right of the school
• desno od hotela = to the right of the hotel
• desno od pošte = to the right of the post office

And you can swap desno for other location words:

• levo od banke = to the left of the bank
• ispred banke = in front of the bank
• iza banke = behind the bank
• blizu banke = near the bank

So this sentence is a good model for many basic direction and location sentences.