Learn Hardcore Dutch: Op het scherm staan de woorden scherper dan op papier. - On the screen, the words are sharper than on paper.

In Dutch, verbs like staan, liggen and zitten describe how or where things are positioned. Staan is used for objects that are upright or “standing,” including text that is displayed or printed. So we say de woorden staan op het scherm (“the words stand on the screen”). Using liggen or zitten would sound odd because they suggest something lying flat or embedded, not displayed.

Why is Op het scherm placed at the beginning of the sentence?

Op het scherm is an adverbial of place. Dutch often puts such adverbials first to emphasise them. When you start a main clause with an adverbial, the finite verb must immediately follow (verb-second rule), causing inversion:
Op het scherm / staan / de woorden …
If you started with the subject, you could say De woorden staan op het scherm…, but fronting the location highlights the comparison.

Why do we use dan for “than” and not als?

In Dutch, comparatives always use dan. For equality you use zo … als (“as … as”), but for a straight comparison you say scherper dan (“sharper than”). Als never replaces dan in comparatives.

Why is there no article before papier, but there is before woorden?

Woorden here refers to specific, countable words, so you need the plural definite article de woorden. Papier, however, is treated as an uncountable mass noun in the phrase op papier (“on paper”) and is used generically, so it has no article. If you meant a specific sheet (a piece of paper), you could say op het papier.

Why is the adjective scherper placed after the verb rather than before a noun, as in English “sharper words”?

Here scherper doesn’t directly describe the words as a quality of the noun; it’s an adverbial comparative telling you how the words appear (more sharply). Adverbial modifiers in Dutch usually follow the verb. If you wanted an attributive adjective before a noun, you’d say scherpere woorden, but that means “words that are sharper” in themselves, not “appear more sharply.”

Is the second op in dan op papier necessary?

Yes, because you’re contrasting two distinct locations, you normally repeat op for clarity: op het scherm … dan op papier. In very informal speech you might hear it dropped (scherper dan papier), but including it is the standard way.

Could we reorder the sentence to De woorden staan op het scherm scherper dan op papier?

Absolutely. That word order (subject–verb–adverbials) is also correct:
De woorden / staan / op het scherm / scherper dan op papier.
Starting with Op het scherm is just a stylistic choice to foreground the location.

Why is scherper formed with -er instead of using meer scherp?

Short, one-syllable adjectives in Dutch form their comparative by adding -er (like scherp → scherper, lang → langer). Longer adjectives typically use meer (for example meer interessant), but with scherp the -er ending is the correct comparative.