De hoed ligt op de tafel.

Dutch often uses a posture verb where English would simply use to be.

• liggen = to lie
• staan = to stand
• zitten = to sit / to be located in a contained or fixed way

In De hoed ligt op de tafel, the hat is understood as lying on the table, so ligt is the natural choice.

A Dutch speaker will often choose the verb based on the object's position:

• Het boek ligt op de tafel. = The book is lying on the table.
• De fles staat op de tafel. = The bottle is standing on the table.

So ligt sounds more natural and more specific than just is.

Ligt is the third person singular present tense of liggen.

The subject is de hoed = the hat, which is singular, so Dutch uses:

• ik lig
• jij ligt
• hij / zij / het ligt

That is why the sentence has ligt.

In Dutch, singular nouns usually take either de or het as their definite article.

Both hoed and tafel are de-words, so you get:

• de hoed = the hat
• de tafel = the table

So the sentence uses de twice simply because both nouns require that article.

Unfortunately, you often have to learn this with each noun.

Some useful guidelines:

• De is used for most singular nouns.
• Het is used for all diminutives, like het huisje.
• Plural nouns always take de.

But for many ordinary singular nouns, you just need to memorize the article as part of the word:

• de hoed
• de tafel
• het boek

A good habit is to learn nouns as a full unit, not by themselves.

The sentence follows the normal Dutch main-clause order:

Subject + finite verb + rest

So:

• De hoed = subject
• ligt = finite verb
• op de tafel = prepositional phrase

This is very similar to English in a simple sentence:

• The hat / lies / on the table

Dutch main clauses usually place the finite verb in the second position, and that is exactly what happens here.

Op means on, especially when something is in contact with the top surface of something.

So:

• op de tafel = on the table

This is the natural preposition here because the hat is resting on the table's surface.

Compare:

• in de doos = in the box
• onder de tafel = under the table
• naast de tafel = next to the table

People would understand it, but it is usually less natural than De hoed ligt op de tafel.

Dutch strongly prefers posture verbs in many location sentences, especially with objects. Since a hat is typically resting flat, ligt is the best choice.

So:

• De hoed ligt op de tafel. = natural
• De hoed is op de tafel. = understandable, but less idiomatic in many contexts

Modern Dutch has very little case marking in ordinary sentences like this one.

That means:

• the article de does not change here
• the nouns hoed and tafel do not change form either

The grammar is shown mostly by:

• word order
• prepositions
• verb forms

So Dutch is much closer to English than, for example, German in this respect.

A rough pronunciation is something like likht.

A few points:

• i is short, like the vowel in English bit
• g/ch in this word is the harsh Dutch sound made in the throat
• the final t is pronounced

So ligt does not sound like English light.

Also:

• hoed sounds roughly like hoot, but with a Dutch vowel
• de is usually pronounced softly, more like duh than day

It must be de tafel.

Tafel is a de-word, so:

• de tafel = correct
• het tafel = incorrect

Likewise:

• de hoed = correct
• het hoed = incorrect

This is why learning the article together with the noun is so important.

If you want to say a hat is on the table, you would use een:

• Een hoed ligt op de tafel.

Here:

• een hoed = a hat
• de tafel = the table

You can also make both nouns indefinite if the context allows it:

• Een hoed ligt op een tafel. = A hat is lying on a table

In this sentence, de hoed means the hat, so it is singular.

If you want the plural, you would usually say:

• de hoeden = the hats

Then the verb changes too:

• De hoeden liggen op de tafel. = The hats are lying on the table.

Notice:

• singular: de hoed ligt
• plural: de hoeden liggen