I det lille rum står der nu en reol ved siden af skrivebordet.

In the small room there is now a bookcase next to the desk.

Breakdown of I det lille rum står der nu en reol ved siden af skrivebordet.

• i: in
• en: a
• ved siden af: next to
• rummet: the room

Questions & Answers about I det lille rum står der nu en reol ved siden af skrivebordet.

Why does the sentence begin with I det lille rum, and why does står come right after it?

Because Danish main clauses normally follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in the second position.

Here, I det lille rum is placed first for emphasis or as the topic:

• I det lille rum = first position
• står = second position

So Danish says:

• I det lille rum står der nu en reol ...

If you started with der, you could also say:

• Der står nu en reol i det lille rum ...

Both are grammatical, but the first version puts more focus on the room.

What is der doing in this sentence?

Here, der is an expletive or dummy subject, much like English there in there is or there stands.

So in this sentence, der does not mainly mean a physical location like there over there. Instead, it helps form an existential sentence: a sentence that says something exists or is present somewhere.

Compare:

• English: There is now a bookcase ...
• Danish: Der står nu en reol ...

So der is part of the structure, not the main meaning.

Why does Danish use står instead of something like er?