Predstava počinje za deset minuta.

Predstava usually means a performance, a show, or a play, depending on context.

In this sentence, it most naturally means something like the show or the performance. If the context is theater, it can specifically mean the play.

It is a feminine noun:

• singular: predstava
• plural: predstave

Serbian does not have articles like English a and the.

So predstava can mean:

• a show
• the show

The context tells you which one is meant. In a sentence like this, it will usually be understood as the show.

Predstava is in the nominative singular because it is the subject of the sentence — the thing that is doing the action of starting.

So the structure is basically:

• Predstava = the show/performance
• počinje = starts
• za deset minuta = in ten minutes

This is very normal in Serbian.

Serbian often uses the present tense for a scheduled or very near future event, especially when there is a time expression like za deset minuta.

So:

• Predstava počinje za deset minuta. = The show starts in ten minutes.

English does something similar:

• The show starts in ten minutes.

You could also say:

• Predstava će početi za deset minuta.

That is also correct, but počinje sounds very natural for something arranged or about to happen.

Počinje is the 3rd person singular present form of počinjati, an imperfective verb.

So:

• počinjati = to be starting / to start, imperfective
• počinje = starts / is starting

There is also the perfective verb:

• početi = to begin, to start

Its present form would be počne, but Serbian normally does not use the present tense of a perfective verb for a simple main-clause future meaning like this.

So instead of:

• Predstava počne za deset minuta. ✘

you say either:

• Predstava počinje za deset minuta. ✔ or
• Predstava će početi za deset minuta. ✔

Here za means in, in the sense of after a period of time from now.

So:

• za deset minuta = in ten minutes

This is a very common Serbian pattern:

• za sat vremena = in an hour
• za dva dana = in two days
• za minut = in a minute

This does not mean for ten minutes.
If you want to express duration, Serbian uses other structures.

After numbers, Serbian nouns change form.

With minut:

• jedan minut = one minute
• dva minuta = two minutes
• pet minuta = five minutes
• deset minuta = ten minutes

So minuta is the correct form after deset.

This is one of those patterns you mainly have to get used to:

• after 1: minut
• after 2, 3, 4: minuta
• after 5 and more: also minuta

Even though the form looks the same in some of these combinations, the grammar behind it is a bit more complicated. For learners, the safest thing is just to memorize deset minuta as the normal form.

Yes. Serbian word order is more flexible than English.

The sentence:

• Predstava počinje za deset minuta.

is a very neutral way to say it.

You could also hear:

• Za deset minuta počinje predstava.

That version puts more focus on in ten minutes.

Both are correct. The difference is mainly emphasis and information flow, not basic meaning.

A few sounds may stand out:

• č in počinje sounds like ch in church
• j sounds like English y
• nj sounds like the ny in canyon

So počinje is roughly:

• po-chi-nye

And the whole sentence is approximately:

• Predstava po-chi-nye za de-set mi-nu-ta

A few helpful notes:

• Serbian spelling is very phonetic, so words are usually pronounced the way they are written.
• predstava is pronounced with all consonants clearly heard.
• za is just za, with a short a sound.