U supi nema soli.

Because u means in here, and when it shows a location, it takes the locative case.

So the noun supa changes like this:

• supa = soup
• u supi = in the soup

A useful contrast:

• u supi = in the soup, inside the soup, already there
• u supu = into the soup, movement toward the inside

For example:

• U supi nema soli. = There is no salt in the soup.
• Stavljam so u supu. = I’m putting salt into the soup.

Because nema is the normal way to say that something is absent or does not exist somewhere.

In this sentence, nema works like English there isn’t or there is no.

• ima = there is / there are
• nema = there isn’t / there aren’t / there is no

So:

• U supi nema soli. = There is no salt in the soup.

Nije comes from biti = to be, and it is not the form Serbian normally uses for this kind of idea.

Because after nema in this kind of sentence, the noun normally goes into the genitive case.

The basic form is:

• so = salt

But after nema, it becomes:

• soli = of salt / any salt

So:

• U supi nema soli. = There is no salt in the soup.

You can compare:

• U supi ima soli. = There is salt in the soup.
• U supi nema soli. = There is no salt in the soup.

The dictionary form is so.

This is a noun learners often notice because it is a bit irregular. The important thing to remember here is:

• so = salt
• soli = genitive singular form used after nema

So if you look up soli in a dictionary, you should look for so.

Here it is singular: genitive singular.

That makes sense because salt is a mass noun, not something you normally count one by one. The sentence is talking about salt as a substance.

So the meaning is:

• there is no salt in the soup

not:

• there are no salts in the soup

A very literal breakdown is:

• u supi = in the soup
• nema = there isn’t / there is not
• soli = of salt / any salt

So the whole sentence is roughly:

• In the soup, there isn’t any salt.

That helps explain why English and Serbian do not line up word-for-word.

Yes, absolutely.

• U supi nema soli. = There is no salt in the soup.
• Supa nema soli. = The soup has no salt.

Both are natural. The difference is mostly one of focus:

• U supi nema soli focuses on what is or is not in the soup.
• Supa nema soli focuses on the soup as something that lacks salt.

Yes. Serbian word order is more flexible than English word order.

The most neutral version is:

• U supi nema soli.

But you can also hear:

• Nema soli u supi.
• Soli nema u supi.

These mean the same basic thing, but the emphasis changes. Serbian often moves words around to highlight what is most important in the context.

By itself, U supi nema soli normally means there is no salt.

If you want to say there isn’t enough salt, Serbian would usually say:

• U supi nema dovoljno soli.

So:

• nema soli = no salt
• nema dovoljno soli = not enough salt

Because Serbian does not have articles like English a and the.

So supa can mean:

• soup
• a soup
• the soup

The exact meaning depends on context. In this sentence, English naturally says the soup, but Serbian just says u supi.

Yes. That is grammatical and natural.

• Supa je bez soli. = The soup is without salt.
• U supi nema soli. = There is no salt in the soup.

They are close in meaning, but they feel a little different:

• U supi nema soli sounds like an observation about what the soup contains.
• Supa je bez soli sounds a bit more descriptive, like stating a property of the soup.