Jeg lægger tingen på bordet ved døren.

Because Danish, like some other Germanic languages, distinguishes between:

• lægge = to lay / put / place something
• ligge = to lie / be lying / be located

In your sentence, the subject is actively moving something onto the table, so Danish uses lægger:

• Jeg lægger tingen på bordet. = I put the thing on the table.

If the thing is already there, you would use ligger:

• Tingen ligger på bordet. = The thing is lying/is on the table.

This is one of the most important verb pairs to learn in Danish.

Lægger is the present tense of lægge.

A few useful forms are:

• at lægge = to put
• lægger = put / am putting / is putting
• lagde = put (past)
• har lagt = have put

So Jeg lægger tingen på bordet literally means I put / I am putting the thing on the table.

Because in Danish, the definite article is usually attached to the end of the noun.

So instead of saying:

• the thing
• the table
• the door

Danish normally says:

• tingen
• bordet
• døren

This is very common in the Scandinavian languages.

Compare:

• en ting = a thing

• tingen = the thing

• et bord = a table

• bordet = the table

• en dør = a door
• døren = the door

Because Danish nouns belong to different grammatical genders, and the definite ending depends on the gender.

In singular:

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

In this sentence:

• en ting → tingen
• et bord → bordet
• en dør → døren

So the endings are not random; they reflect the noun’s gender.

På usually means on in this kind of sentence.

So:

• på bordet = on the table

It is the normal preposition to use when something is placed on top of a surface.

Examples:

• Bogen ligger på bordet. = The book is on the table.
• Jeg sætter koppen på bordet. = I put the cup on the table.

Ved døren means by the door or near the door.

Here:

• ved = by / near
• døren = the door

So bordet ved døren means the table by the door.

In this sentence, ved døren most naturally describes bordet, not the verb lægger. In other words, it usually means:

• I put the thing on the table that is by the door.

In principle, context can create some ambiguity, but the most natural reading is that ved døren describes bordet:

• på bordet ved døren = on the table by the door

If you wanted to make it clearer that I am by the door while putting the thing down, Danish would usually phrase it differently, for example by adding more context or changing the structure.

So for a learner, the safest interpretation here is:

• the table is by the door

This is standard Danish main-clause word order:

• Jeg = subject
• lægger = verb
• tingen = object
• på bordet ved døren = adverbial/prepositional phrase

So the pattern is basically:

• Subject + verb + object + place expression

That is very similar to normal English word order:

• I put the thing on the table by the door.

Yes, it is grammatically correct, but like English the thing, it can sound a bit vague unless the context makes clear what object is meant.

Danish speakers do use ting and tingen, but in real conversation they might often use a more specific noun if possible:

• Jeg lægger bogen på bordet ved døren. = I put the book on the table by the door.
• Jeg lægger nøglerne på bordet ved døren. = I put the keys on the table by the door.

So tingen is fine for grammar practice, even if it may feel a little generic.

Danish often uses på where English might use either on or onto, depending on the situation.

So:

• Jeg lægger tingen på bordet can mean I put the thing on/onto the table

Danish usually does not need a special separate form equivalent to English onto here. The verb lægger already shows that there is movement/placement.

A careful approximation is:

• Jeg lægger tingen på bordet ved døren
• roughly: yai LEG-er TING-en paw BOR-deth vel DUR-en

A few notes:

• jeg is often pronounced more like yai or yai/yei, not like it is spelled
• lægger has a soft Danish g, so it does not sound like a hard English g
• d in bordet and ved is often quite soft
• døren has the Danish vowel ø, which does not exist in English

Pronunciation in Danish varies a lot from spelling, so listening to native audio is especially important.

Yes, but the meaning or emphasis may change.

The original:

• Jeg lægger tingen på bordet ved døren.

most naturally means:

• I put the thing on the table by the door.

If you move elements around, Danish may emphasize something different. For example:

• Ved døren lægger jeg tingen på bordet.

This sounds more like:

• By the door, I put the thing on the table.

So yes, Danish allows some movement, but the original order is the most straightforward and neutral for this meaning.

Sometimes yes, but the nuance is a little different.

• lægge = put/place, especially laying something down
• putte = put, insert, tuck, place into something, often a bit more informal

For a flat surface like a table, lægge is usually the best and most natural choice.

So:

• Jeg lægger tingen på bordet ved døren is the better sentence here.

You would use lagde:

• Jeg lagde tingen på bordet ved døren. = I put the thing on the table by the door.

And with the perfect:

• Jeg har lagt tingen på bordet ved døren. = I have put the thing on the table by the door.

This is useful because lægge is an irregular verb, so its past forms are worth memorizing.