Tantes kop står på bordet, og kusinens telefon ligger ved siden af.

The aunt's cup is on the table, and the cousin's phone lies beside it.

Breakdown of Tantes kop står på bordet, og kusinens telefon ligger ved siden af.

• og: and
• ligge: to be located
• ved siden af: next to
• stå: to be located
• på: on
• bordet: the table
• telefonen: the phone
• koppen: the cup
• tantes: aunt's
• kusinens: cousin's

Questions & Answers about Tantes kop står på bordet, og kusinens telefon ligger ved siden af.

Why do we say tantes and kusinens with an -s at the end? Is that like the English possessive ’s?

Yes. In Danish, you usually form the possessive (genitive) by adding -s to the noun, similar to English ’s, but without an apostrophe.

• tante → tantes = aunt → aunt’s
• kusine / kusinen → kusinens = (the) cousin → (the) cousin’s

For nouns ending in -s, -x, -z, you normally just add an apostrophe in writing:

• Lars’ bil = Lars’s car
• Hans’ bog = Hans’s book

But in most other cases, it’s just noun + s, no apostrophe: tantes kop, kusinens telefon.

Why is it tantes kop and kusinens telefon, and not something like tantes koppen or kusinens telefonen?

In Danish, when a noun has a possessive (like tantes, kusinens, min, din), the noun itself must be in the indefinite form, without the definite ending -en / -et / -n / -t.

So you say:

• tantes kop (aunt’s cup), not tantes koppen
• min telefon (my phone), not min telefonen
• Peter og Lises bil (Peter and Lise’s car), not Peter og Lises bilen

The possessive already makes the noun specific, so you don’t add the usual definite ending.

Why is there no article like en or et in tantes kop and kusinens telefon?

Danish, like English, does not use an article with possessives.

Compare:

• English: a cup, the cup, but my cup, Aunt’s cup, not the my cup
• Danish: en kop, koppen, but min kop, tantes kop, not den min kop

So after a possessive, you:

1. Do not use en/et/den/det/de, and
2. Keep the noun indefinite (no -en / -et on the end).

That’s why the sentence has tantes kop and kusinens telefon, with no articles.

Why is it står for the cup and ligger for the phone? Can’t I just use er for “is”?

Danish uses special position verbs instead of just er (“is”) in many everyday sentences:

• stå / står = stand, be standing (upright position)
• ligge / ligger = lie, be lying (flat or horizontal position)
• sidde / sidder = sit, be sitting

In your sentence:

• Tantes kop står på bordet
  The cup is imagined upright, like a normal cup standing on its base.
• kusinens telefon ligger ved siden af
  The phone is imagined lying flat on the table.

You can technically say koppen er på bordet or telefonen er på bordet, and people will understand you, but it sounds less natural. Native speakers strongly prefer these position verbs in such contexts.

How do I know when to use står and when to use ligger?

General rule of thumb:

• Use står when the object is upright / vertical or meant to be in a standing position:
  • Glasset står på bordet. – The glass is standing on the table.
  • Lamperne står i hjørnet. – The lamps are standing in the corner.
• Use ligger when the object is lying / horizontal / flat:
  • Bogen ligger på bordet. – The book is lying on the table.
  • Tøjet ligger på sengen. – The clothes are lying on the bed.

Some objects can logically do both, depending on how they’re placed:

• Flasken står på bordet. – The bottle is upright.
• Flasken ligger på bordet. – The bottle is on its side.

It’s about how you picture the object’s position, not what the object is.

What exactly does ved siden af mean, and why do we need af?

Ved siden af is a fixed expression meaning “next to / beside”.

• ved = at / by
• siden = the side
• af = of

Literally something like “at the side of”, but you should learn it as one unit: ved siden af = beside / next to.

Normally, you add what it is next to:

• Telefonen ligger ved siden af koppen.
  The phone is lying next to the cup.
• Han sidder ved siden af mig.
  He is sitting next to me.

In your sentence, ved siden af stands alone, but from context it means “next to the cup”. The object is simply left out because it’s obvious.

You cannot normally drop af and just say ved siden; ved siden af is the standard form.

Why is it på bordet and not i bordet? What’s the difference?

• på = on (on top of a surface)
• i = in (inside something)

So:

• på bordet = on the table
• i bordet = in the table (physically inside the material / built into the table—very unusual)

In this sentence, the cup and the phone are on the surface, so you must use på bordet.

What does bordet mean exactly? How are bord and bordet related?

Bord is a neuter noun:

• et bord = a table
• bordet = the table

You form the definite singular of neuter nouns by adding -et:

• et hus → huset (a house → the house)
• et bord → bordet (a table → the table)

So på bordet literally means “on the table”, not just “on a table”.

Why is there a comma before og in ..., og kusinens telefon ligger ved siden af.? In English we usually don’t put a comma there.

Danish comma rules are a bit different from English.

In this sentence, you have two main clauses:

1. Tantes kop står på bordet
2. kusinens telefon ligger ved siden af

They are joined by og (and). In Danish, it is normal and standard to put a comma between two independent main clauses:

• Tantes kop står på bordet, og kusinens telefon ligger ved siden af.

Under the “new comma” rules, the comma is sometimes optional in such cases, but writing it is still very common and considered correct. Many learners are taught to always put the comma between two full main clauses joined by og, men, for, etc.

Does kusine mean any cousin, or specifically a female cousin?

Kusine is specifically a female cousin (on either side of the family).
The male equivalent is fætter.

So:

• min kusine = my (female) cousin
• min fætter = my (male) cousin

English uses just cousin for both, but Danish keeps the gender distinction in these words.