Da li ima soli u supi?

Da li is a standard way to form a yes/no question in Serbian.

So:

• Da li ima soli u supi? = Is there salt in the soup?

It does not translate word-for-word very naturally into English; its job is mainly grammatical: it signals that the sentence is a question.

A very common alternative is:

• Ima li soli u supi?

This means the same thing and is often a bit more compact.

Yes, imati usually means to have, but in Serbian the form ima is also very commonly used in an impersonal/existential way to mean:

• there is
• there are

So in this sentence:

• ima soli = there is salt

This is similar to how some languages use a form of have where English uses there is/are.

Because soli is not the basic form of the noun.

The dictionary form is:

• so = salt

In this sentence it changes to:

• soli

That is the genitive singular form.

So:

• so = nominative singular
• soli = genitive singular

This is a very common pattern after existential ima when talking about the presence/amount of something, especially with mass nouns like salt, water, sugar, etc.

After existential ima, Serbian often uses the genitive to express that something exists or is present.

Compare the idea:

• Ima vode. = There is water.
• Ima šećera. = There is sugar.
• Ima soli. = There is salt.

This is especially common with:

• mass nouns
• unspecified quantities
• “some X” meanings

So ima soli is basically there is some salt / there is salt.

The basic form is:

• supa = soup

In the sentence it appears as:

• u supi

because after u meaning in, when talking about location, Serbian uses the locative case.

So:

• supa = nominative
• u supi = in the soup (locative)

Because Serbian distinguishes between:

• location = where something is
• direction/movement = where something is going

With u:

• u + locative = in / inside, static location
• u + accusative = into, movement toward something

Here the meaning is location:

• u supi = in the soup

If there were movement, you would expect accusative instead.

In form, supi can be both dative and locative for supa.

But here it is locative, because it comes after the preposition u and means in the soup.

So the function tells you the case:

• u supi = locative

Yes. Serbian word order is fairly flexible.

These are all possible:

• Da li ima soli u supi?
• Da li u supi ima soli?
• Ima li soli u supi?
• U supi ima soli? (more dependent on context/intonation)

The most neutral versions are usually:

• Da li ima soli u supi?
• Ima li soli u supi?

Changing the order often changes emphasis, not the basic meaning.

Common answers include:

• Da, ima. = Yes, there is.
• Ne, nema. = No, there isn’t.
• Da, ima soli. = Yes, there is salt.
• Ne, nema soli. = No, there is no salt.

Notice the negative form:

• ima → nema

This is very common in Serbian existential expressions.

Because Serbian has no articles.

So Serbian does not have direct equivalents of:

• a
• an
• the

Whether the meaning is salt, some salt, or the salt depends on context.

That is why:

• Da li ima soli u supi?

can naturally mean:

• Is there salt in the soup?

without any separate word for the.

Literally, it asks whether there is any salt present:

• Is there salt in the soup?

In real conversation, though, it can also imply:

• Has salt been added?
• Did you remember to salt the soup?

If you specifically wanted to ask whether the soup is salty enough, Serbian would often use a different phrasing, for example something closer to:

• Da li je supa dovoljno slana? = Is the soup salty enough?

So ima soli focuses on the presence of salt, not directly on the taste level.

Yes, often.

You can say:

• Da li ima soli u supi?
• Ima li soli u supi?

Both are correct and natural.

Very informal speech may even rely mostly on intonation:

• Ima soli u supi?

But for learners, da li and -li question forms are the safest and clearest patterns to learn first.

Here soli is genitive singular, not plural.

That can be confusing because the ending -i often looks plural to English speakers.

But in this sentence:

• so = salt
• soli = of salt / some salt / salt (in this existential pattern)

So the sentence is talking about salt as a substance, not multiple separate salts.