Sveće su male, ali torta sa čokoladom je velika.

These are present-tense forms of the verb biti (to be).

• je = is for he/she/it
• su = are for they

So:

• Sveće su male = The candles are small
• Torta sa čokoladom je velika = The cake with chocolate is big

Because sveće is plural, Serbian uses su. Because torta is singular, Serbian uses je.

In Serbian, adjectives must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

Here:

• sveće is plural
• torta is singular feminine

So the adjective changes to match:

• male = feminine plural form of mali (small)
• velika = feminine singular form of velik (big)

A few examples:

• mala torta = small cake
• male sveće = small candles
• velika torta = big cake
• velike sveće = big candles

Here, sveće is plural and means candles.

The singular is:

• sveća = candle

The plural nominative is:

• sveće = candles

A learner may get confused because some Serbian noun forms can look similar across different cases, but in this sentence we know sveće is plural because:

• it goes with su (are), not je (is)
• it goes with male, the plural adjective form

The preposition sa (with) requires the instrumental case.

So:

• base noun: čokolada = chocolate
• instrumental singular: čokoladom

That is why Serbian says:

• sa čokoladom = with chocolate

This is a very common pattern:

• sa prijateljem = with a friend
• sa sestrom = with a sister
• sa mlekom = with milk
• sa čokoladom = with chocolate

Yes. s and sa both mean with.

In practice:

• s is the basic form
• sa is often used for easier pronunciation, especially before certain consonant clusters, and in some common expressions

So sa čokoladom is completely normal and natural.

You will often see both s and sa in Serbian, but the noun after them still goes into the instrumental case.

Serbian normally does not use articles like English a/an/the.

So:

• torta can mean a cake or the cake
• sveće can mean candles or the candles

The exact meaning depends on context.

That is very normal in Serbian. Learners from English often expect an article, but Serbian usually leaves it out.

Both are possible, but they are not always exactly the same in nuance.

• torta sa čokoladom = cake with chocolate
• čokoladna torta = chocolate cake

The first emphasizes that the cake has chocolate in or on it.
The second describes the type of cake more directly.

In many situations, both could work, but sa čokoladom is a very natural structure and is especially useful for beginners because it clearly shows the meaning with chocolate.

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

This sentence uses a very neutral, natural order:

• Sveće su male, ali torta sa čokoladom je velika.

You could also rearrange parts for emphasis, for example:

• Torta sa čokoladom je velika, ali sveće su male.

The meaning stays basically the same, but the focus may shift slightly depending on what the speaker wants to emphasize.

Still, for learners, the original order is a good standard pattern: noun + form of to be + adjective

Ali means but.

It connects two contrasting ideas:

• Sveće su male = the candles are small
• ali
• torta sa čokoladom je velika = but the cake with chocolate is big

Its position works much like English but: it joins two clauses and introduces a contrast.

In this kind of sentence, you normally do need them.

Serbian often drops subject pronouns such as ja, ti, mi, because the verb ending already shows who the subject is. But with the verb biti in the present tense, forms like je and su are part of the sentence and are normally kept.

So:

• Sveće male sounds incomplete

• Sveće su male is correct

• Torta velika sounds incomplete
• Torta je velika is correct

One clue is the ending:

• many Serbian nouns ending in -a are feminine

So torta is feminine singular, and that is why the adjective is also feminine singular:

• velika torta
• mala torta

This is not a perfect rule for every noun in Serbian, but it is a very useful beginner pattern.

A learner may notice that Serbian uses two different letters: č and ć.

In this sentence:

• č appears in čokoladom
• ć appears in sveće

Very roughly for English speakers:

• č sounds somewhat like the ch in church, but usually harder/stronger
• ć is a softer sound, also somewhat similar to ch, but lighter and more palatal

So:

• čokoladom begins with a harder ch-like sound
• sveće has the softer ć sound near the end

You do not need perfect pronunciation immediately, but it is good to notice that Serbian treats č and ć as different sounds and different letters.