Činija je puna vode.

• činija = bowl
• je = is
• puna = full
• vode = of water / water in a form required here

A very literal breakdown is Bowl is full of water, and the natural English translation is The bowl is full of water.

Because puna has to agree with činija.

In Serbian, adjectives change their form to match the noun’s:

• gender
• number
• case

Činija is:

• feminine
• singular
• nominative here

So the adjective must also be feminine singular nominative:

• pun = masculine
• puna = feminine
• puno = neuter

That is why you get činija je puna, not činija je pun.

Because after pun / puna / puno meaning full of, Serbian normally uses the genitive case.

The dictionary form is voda = water.
In the genitive singular, it becomes vode.

So:

• voda = water
• puna vode = full of water

This is one of the most important patterns to learn:

• pun hleba = full of bread
• pun ljudi = full of people
• puna vode = full of water

No. Here vode is genitive singular, not plural.

This can be confusing because -e endings often show up in plural forms too. But in this sentence, water is being treated as an uncountable substance, so vode means of water, not waters.

So:

• dictionary form: voda
• form used here: vode
• function: genitive singular

Because Serbian often expresses that meaning through case endings instead of a separate word.

In English, you say:

• full of water

In Serbian, you say:

• puna vode

The genitive case on vode carries the of water meaning, so no extra word is needed.

Je is a clitic, which means it is a short unstressed word that usually goes in second position in the sentence.

So the neutral order is:

• Činija je puna vode.

Here:

• first element = Činija
• second-position clitic = je

This is very typical in Serbian. You will see the same thing in many sentences:

• On je ovde.
• Ana je umorna.
• Kuća je velika.

Činija is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative case.

The sentence structure is basically:

• činija = subject
• je puna vode = predicate

So činija is the thing being described as full.

Because Serbian does not have articles like English a and the.

So činija can mean:

• a bowl
• the bowl

The exact meaning depends on context.

In an isolated example, English often uses the bowl is full of water, but Serbian itself does not mark that distinction with an article.

Yes, Serbian word order is more flexible than English word order, but Činija je puna vode is the most neutral and natural version for a learner to copy.

If you change the order, you usually change the emphasis or make the sentence sound more marked. So as a beginner, it is best to stick with:

• Činija je puna vode.

That is the standard, straightforward way to say it.

Yes. That means The bowl is full.

Adding vode tells you what it is full of:

• Činija je puna. = The bowl is full.
• Činija je puna vode. = The bowl is full of water.

So the shorter sentence is correct, but less specific.

A simple approximation is:

• Činija ≈ CHEE-nee-ya

A few useful pronunciation notes:

• č sounds roughly like ch in chocolate, but a bit firmer
• j sounds like English y in yes

So:

• Činija ≈ CHEE-nee-ya
• vode ≈ VOH-deh

These are approximations, but they are good enough for a learner starting out.