Servietten ligger ved siden af tallerkenen, og bestikket er allerede på bordet.

In Danish, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word.

So:

• servietten = the napkin
• tallerkenen = the plate
• bestikket = the cutlery
• bordet = the table

This is one of the biggest differences from English. Instead of saying the napkin, Danish often says napkin-the.

That depends on the grammatical gender of the noun.

Danish has two genders:

• common gender
• neuter

In the definite singular:

• common gender nouns usually take -en
• neuter nouns usually take -et

In this sentence:

• en serviet → servietten
• en tallerken → tallerkenen
• et bestik → bestikket
• et bord → bordet

So the ending tells you both that the noun is definite and what gender it belongs to.

Danish often uses special position verbs where English would just use is.

Here, ligger means lies / is lying / is located. It is commonly used for things that are lying flat or resting horizontally.

So:

• Servietten ligger ved siden af tallerkenen
  = The napkin is next to the plate

Even though English uses is, Danish often prefers ligger for something like a napkin.

This is very natural Danish. Using er is sometimes possible, but ligger sounds more idiomatic here.

Ved siden af is a fixed expression meaning next to or beside.

Literally, it is something like:

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

But you should learn ved siden af as one unit.

Examples:

• ved siden af bordet = next to the table
• ved siden af tallerkenen = next to the plate

So in your sentence, ved siden af tallerkenen means next to the plate.

After af, the noun is still definite because the meaning is next to the plate, not next to a plate.

So:

• ved siden af en tallerken = next to a plate
• ved siden af tallerkenen = next to the plate

The preposition af does not force any special case ending here. Danish does not have case endings on nouns the way German does. You simply choose the definite or indefinite form based on meaning.

Grammatically, bestikket is singular, but its meaning is often collective.

Bestik usually means cutlery / silverware / utensils as a group. So:

• bestikket er på bordet = the cutlery is on the table

Even though English may think of knives, forks, and spoons as several objects, Danish often treats bestik as one collective noun.

This is normal Danish word order.

In a main clause, the finite verb usually comes early, and adverbs like allerede often come after it.

So:

• bestikket er allerede på bordet

Structure:

• bestikket = subject
• er = finite verb
• allerede = adverb
• på bordet = prepositional phrase

This is very similar to English is already on the table.

Because og here connects two full clauses:

1. Servietten ligger ved siden af tallerkenen
2. bestikket er allerede på bordet

In Danish, it is normal to put a comma between two independent clauses like this.

So the comma helps show that the sentence has two coordinated parts.

The second clause is:

bestikket er allerede på bordet

The basic order is:

• subject: bestikket
• verb: er
• adverb: allerede
• place expression: på bordet

This is a standard Danish main clause pattern. Danish is a V2 language, which means the finite verb normally comes in the second position in main clauses.

Since bestikket comes first, er must come second.

Yes, people would understand it, but Servietten ligger ved siden af tallerkenen is more natural.

Why?

Because Danish often prefers a position verb:

• ligge for things lying flat
• stå for things standing upright
• sidde for things attached, seated, or placed in a certain way

A napkin is something that typically lies, so ligger sounds better than just er.

På means on. So på bordet means on the table.

This is straightforward, but it is worth noticing that:

• på et bord = on a table
• på bordet = on the table

Again, the definite article is attached to the noun:

• et bord → bordet

So på bordet literally works like on table-the, but in natural English it means on the table.

A rough pronunciation guide is:

Servietten ligger ved siden af tallerkenen, og bestikket er allerede på bordet.

Approximate English-style help:

sehr-vee-ET-en LIG-er vel SEE-den a TAH-ler-keh-nen, aw beh-STEG-ed air al-eh-REH-theh paw BOR-det

A few useful notes:

• g in ligger is soft
• d in ved is often very soft
• og is often pronounced more like å in connected speech
• bestikket has stress on the second syllable: be-STIK-ket

This is only an approximation, but it can help you get started.