Da li voz kasni, ili stiže rano?

Yes. Serbian word order is fairly flexible.

• Da li voz kasni? = neutral and very common
• Da li kasni voz? = also correct, with a slightly different focus or rhythm
• Kasni li voz? = correct, but more formal or bookish

For everyday speech, Da li voz kasni? is one of the most natural choices.

Voz is in the nominative singular because it is the subject of the sentence: the train is the thing that is late or arrives early.

Also, Serbian has no articles, so voz can mean the train or a train, depending on context.

Kasni is the 3rd person singular present of kasniti, meaning to be late, to run late, or to be delayed.

With a train, English may translate it in different ways depending on context:

• The train is late
• The train is delayed
• The train is running late

Because the subject is already clear from the first clause. Serbian often omits repeated words when they are understood.

So:

• Da li voz kasni, ili stiže rano? = natural
• Da li voz kasni, ili voz stiže rano? = also possible, but more repetitive

English does this too sometimes: Is the train late, or arriving early?

Stiže is very natural when talking about arriving at a destination, especially for transport, schedules, and timing.

• stiže = arrives / is arriving / reaches
• dolazi = comes / is coming

For trains, buses, flights, and arrivals at stations, stiže often sounds more precise because it focuses on arrival rather than just movement toward a place.

Yes, it is present tense. Serbian often uses the present tense for scheduled or expected future events, especially with transport and timetables.

So stiže rano can mean it arrives early or it is arriving early, depending on context.

English does something similar:

• The train arrives at 6.
• My flight leaves tomorrow morning.

Rano is an adverb, meaning early. It modifies the verb stiže.

So:

• stiže rano = arrives early

It does not change form here, because adverbs in Serbian do not agree with nouns the way adjectives do.

Ili means or. It introduces the second alternative:

• voz kasni = the train is late
• stiže rano = it arrives early

So the sentence sets up a contrast between two possibilities.

The comma helps separate the two contrasted clauses:

• voz kasni
• (voz) stiže rano

In other words, it marks a pause between two alternatives. You will often see a comma in this kind of structure, especially when both sides are full clauses.

Stiže is pronounced roughly STEE-zheh.

A few useful notes:

• st is pronounced clearly together
• i is like ee in see
• ž sounds like the s in measure
• e is like e in set, but cleaner and shorter

So the whole sentence is approximately:

Da li voz kasni, ili stiže rano?
dah lee vohz KAH-snee, EE-lee STEE-zheh RAH-no