Grilltangen ligger på bordet.

Because Danish usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English the.

• en grilltang = a pair of grill tongs / a grill tong
• grilltangen = the grill tongs / the grill tong

The ending -en is the definite ending for many common gender nouns.

So:

• grilltang = base noun
• grilltangen = the grill tongs

For the same reason: Danish usually adds definiteness to the end of the noun.

• et bord = a table
• bordet = the table

Here, bord is a neuter noun, so its definite singular ending is -et.

A useful comparison:

• en stol → stolen = the chair
• et bord → bordet = the table

So in this sentence both nouns are definite:

• grilltangen = the grill tongs
• bordet = the table

Danish often prefers a more specific verb for position.

• ligger = lies / is lying
• står = stands / is standing
• sidder = sits / is sitting
• er = is

With objects, Danish commonly chooses a positional verb based on how the object is placed.

So Grilltangen ligger på bordet means that the grill tongs are lying on the table, probably flat.

If you said Grilltangen er på bordet, it would still be understandable, but it is less natural if you want to describe physical placement. Danish often sounds more idiomatic with ligger here.

A simple rule is:

• use ligger for something lying flat or resting horizontally
• use står for something upright or standing vertically

Examples:

• Bogen ligger på bordet. = The book is lying on the table.
• Flasken står på bordet. = The bottle is standing on the table.

With grilltangen, the idea is that it is lying on the table, so ligger is the natural choice.

Ligger is present tense.

The infinitive is at ligge = to lie

Common forms:

• at ligge = to lie
• ligger = lies / is lying
• lå = lay / was lying
• har ligget = has/have lain / has/have been lying

In this sentence, ligger describes the grill tongs’ current location.

This is the normal Danish main-clause order:

subject + verb + adverbial/place

So:

• Grilltangen = subject
• ligger = verb
• på bordet = location

Very literally:

• The grill tongs
  • lie
    • on the table

This is the standard, neutral way to say it.

Yes. That is also correct.

When you move på bordet to the front for emphasis, Danish still keeps the finite verb in second position:

• På bordet ligger grilltangen.

This is a good example of the Danish V2 rule: in a main clause, the finite verb usually comes second.

Compare:

• Grilltangen ligger på bordet.
• På bordet ligger grilltangen.

Both are correct, but the second one emphasizes on the table.

På means on in this sentence.

It is used when something is on a surface:

• på bordet = on the table
• på gulvet = on the floor
• på hylden = on the shelf

So Grilltangen ligger på bordet means the grill tongs are resting on top of the table.

Yes. Danish often forms compounds by combining words into one noun.

Here:

• grill
  • tang → grilltang

This is very common in Danish, just as in German and often unlike English, which may write similar expressions as two words.

Other examples:

• spisebord = dining table
• kaffekop = coffee cup
• sommerhus = summer house

So it is normal that grilltang is written as one word.

In Danish, grilltang is grammatically treated as a singular noun.

So you say:

• en grilltang
• grilltangen ligger på bordet

Even though English often says the tongs are..., Danish uses singular grammar here.

That is why the verb is singular:

• Grilltangen ligger ...

not a plural verb form.

A rough English-friendly guide would be:

GRIL-tang-en LIG-er po BOR-det

A few notes:

• g in ligger is not pronounced like a strong English g
• r in Danish is softer and more back in the mouth than in many English accents
• på has an å sound, roughly like aw in many English pronunciations of saw
• Danish pronunciation is often much softer than the spelling suggests

A more approximate IPA-style version is:

[ˈgʁeltæŋən ˈleɡɐ pɔ ˈboɐ̯ðəd]

But for a learner, the main thing is to hear it from native audio and imitate the rhythm.

Not in normal Danish if you mean the grill tongs are on the table.

You need the definite forms here:

• grilltangen
• bordet

Without the endings, grilltang and bord would be bare nouns, and that would sound incomplete or unnatural in this sentence.

If you wanted an indefinite meaning, you would usually say:

• En grilltang ligger på et bord. = A pair of grill tongs is lying on a table.

But that is a different meaning.