Gde je moja kartica? Tražim je u torbi, ali je nema.

Here kartica means card, for example a bank card, ID card, membership card, and so on. It is a very common everyday word in Serbian.

It is related to karta, but kartica is the normal word for a small card-shaped item, not usually a ticket.

Because kartica is a feminine noun. In Serbian, possessives must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case.

So:

• moj = masculine singular
• moja = feminine singular
• moje = neuter singular

Since kartica is feminine singular, you say moja kartica.

Serbian often leaves out subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows who is doing the action.

Tražim means I am looking for / I look for, so ja is not necessary.

You could say Ja tražim je? No, that is not the natural word order. If you include ja, the normal order would be Ja je tražim.

Tražim is the 1st person singular present tense of tražiti, meaning to look for or to search for.

So:

• tražim = I am looking for
• tražiš = you are looking for
• traži = he/she/it is looking for

In this sentence, Tražim je means I’m looking for it.

No. These are two different words that just happen to look the same.

In Gde je moja kartica?, je means is.

In Tražim je and ali je nema, je is a short object pronoun meaning it or her, referring back to kartica.

So:

• je = is in the first sentence
• je = it in the second sentence

You understand which one it is from context.

Because Serbian pronouns follow grammatical gender, not just natural gender.

Since kartica is a feminine noun, the short pronoun used for it is the same form used for her: je.

So even though in English you would say it, Serbian uses the feminine object pronoun because kartica is grammatically feminine.

In Tražim je, je is the accusative short form, because it is the direct object of tražim.

In ali je nema, je is understood as genitive after nema. With pronouns, the short feminine singular form looks the same: je.

So the form is identical, but the grammar behind it is different:

• Tražim je → accusative
• Nema je → genitive

Because u can take different cases depending on meaning:

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

Here the meaning is location: the card is being looked for in the bag, not moved into the bag.

So:

• u torbi = in the bag
• u torbu = into the bag

Torbi is the locative singular of torba.

The basic form is:

• torba = bag

After u when it means location, you use the locative:

• u torbi = in the bag

Literally, it is something like but there is no it or but it is not there.

In natural English, you would usually say:

• but it isn’t there
• but I can’t find it
• but it’s not in there

This is a very natural Serbian way to say that something is absent or cannot be found in a place.

Because nema expresses absence / non-existence in a place, while nije is the negative of is.

Compare:

• Nije u torbi = It is not in the bag
• Nema je u torbi = It isn’t there in the bag / It can’t be found in the bag

In your sentence, the speaker is not just stating a fact about location; they are saying the card is not there when they look for it. That is why nema sounds natural.

Because je here is a short unstressed pronoun, often called a clitic. In Serbian, clitics usually cannot stand alone and tend to appear very early in the clause, often in second position.

So:

• Tražim je is natural
• Ali je nema is natural

If another word comes first, the clitic usually follows that first element:

• Ja je tražim
• Ali je nema
• Gde je?

This word order is something learners get used to over time.

Yes, they mean the same thing: where.

• gde is the usual Ekavian form
• gdje is the usual Ijekavian form

Both are correct, depending on the variety of Serbian you are learning or hearing.

Yes, but it changes the nuance a little.

• u torbi = in the bag
• po torbi = around/throughout the bag, suggesting you are rummaging through it

So Tražim je u torbi focuses on location, while Tražim je po torbi can sound more like you are searching all through the bag.