Der ligger altid mindst én legeklods på gulvet i børneværelset.

There is always at least one toy block on the floor in the children’s room.

Breakdown of Der ligger altid mindst én legeklods på gulvet i børneværelset.

• i: in
• ligge: to be located
• på: on
• der: there

Questions & Answers about Der ligger altid mindst én legeklods på gulvet i børneværelset.

Why does the sentence begin with der?

Here der is the existential der, like English there in there is or there are.

It does not mean a physical location like over there in this sentence. It is just filling the first position in the clause while introducing the existence or presence of something.

So the structure is roughly:

Der + verb + the thing that exists/is located

In this sentence, the real thing being talked about is mindst én legeklods.

Why is ligger used instead of er?

Danish very often uses position verbs where English would simply use to be.

Here, ligger is from at ligge, meaning to lie or to be lying. For an object like a toy block on the floor, Danish naturally imagines it as lying there.

So:

• ligger = is lying / is located lying
• står = is standing
• sidder = is sitting / is attached in place
• er = is

You can sometimes say Der er altid mindst én legeklods ..., but Der ligger ... sounds more idiomatic and more concrete for something resting on the floor.

Why is altid placed after ligger?