Prodavnica je mala, ali je ispred nje veliki red.

to be

Breakdown of Prodavnica je mala, ali je ispred nje veliki red.

• velik: big
• ali: but
• mali: small

Questions & Answers about Prodavnica je mala, ali je ispred nje veliki red.

Why is je used twice in this sentence?

Because the sentence has two separate clauses, and each one needs its own form of to be:

• Prodavnica je mala = The store is small
• ali je ispred nje veliki red = but there is a big line in front of it

So the two je forms are not redundant; each belongs to a different part of the sentence.

Why is the second je placed so early: ali je ispred nje veliki red?

This is because je is a clitic in Serbian, meaning it is a short unstressed word that usually likes to stand near the beginning of the clause, often in second position.

So ali je ispred nje veliki red is natural Serbian word order.

You may also hear:

• Ali ispred nje je veliki red.

That is also possible and natural. Serbian word order is more flexible than English, but clitics like je have their own placement rules.

What does ispred nje mean exactly?

Ispred nje means in front of it / in front of her, depending on context.

Here it means in front of the store.

Breakdown:

• ispred = in front of
• nje = her / it in the form required after this preposition