Ik kijk elke ochtend in de brievenbus, maar vandaag lag er alleen een krant op de deurmat.

It is literal, but it is also a very natural Dutch way to say check the mailbox / see if any mail has arrived.

• kijken = to look
• in de brievenbus = in/into the mailbox

So Ik kijk elke ochtend in de brievenbus is something like:

• I look in the mailbox every morning
• more naturally in English: I check the mailbox every morning

Also, brievenbus can mean different things depending on context:

• a mailbox outside
• a mail slot in the door

Because the sentence also says op de deurmat (on the doormat), it strongly suggests a door slot here: the speaker checks the mail and today there was only a newspaper lying on the mat inside.

Because kijken and zien are not the same.

• kijken = to look, to watch, to check intentionally
• zien = to see, to notice with your eyes

So:

• Ik kijk in de brievenbus = I look/check in the mailbox
• Ik zie een krant = I see a newspaper

In this sentence, the first part is about the action of checking the mailbox, so kijken is the right verb.

Yes, you can say both:

• elke ochtend
• iedere ochtend

Both mean every morning.

Elke is very common in everyday Dutch, especially in time expressions like:

• elke dag = every day
• elke week = every week
• elke ochtend = every morning

So elke ochtend is completely normal and probably the most natural choice here.

Because Dutch, like English, can use the past tense for something that happened earlier today.

The sentence means that this is the speaker’s usual habit:

• Ik kijk elke ochtend... = habitual present

Then it contrasts that with what happened on this particular morning:

• maar vandaag lag er alleen een krant... = but today there was only a newspaper...

So the idea is: I checked this morning, and when I did, only a newspaper was there.

If the speaker is describing what is there right now, Dutch could also use the present tense:

• maar vandaag ligt er alleen een krant op de deurmat

That would mean something more like but today there is only a newspaper on the doormat.

Dutch often uses position verbs where English simply uses be.

Here, liggen means to lie and is used for things that are:

• lying down
• flat
• resting on a surface

A newspaper on a doormat is thought of as lying there, so Dutch says:

• Er lag een krant op de deurmat = There was a newspaper lying on the doormat

This sounds more natural in Dutch than using zijn.

A useful comparison:

• liggen = lie, be lying
• staan = stand, be standing
• zitten = sit, be located/attached/in certain positions

Dutch uses these a lot more than English does.

Here er is an introductory/expletive er, similar to English there in:

• There was only a newspaper on the doormat

So:

• Vandaag lag er alleen een krant op de deurmat = Today there was only a newspaper on the doormat

This er does not really mean there as a place. It introduces the existence of something.

Compare:

• Er ligt een boek op tafel = There is a book on the table
• Er stond een fiets buiten = There was a bike outside

It is extremely common in Dutch.

Because Dutch main clauses follow the verb-second rule.

That means the finite verb comes in the second position of the clause.

So if you begin with Vandaag, the verb must come right after it:

• Vandaag lag er alleen een krant op de deurmat

Structure:

• Vandaag = first element
• lag = finite verb, second position
• er alleen een krant op de deurmat = the rest

This is a core Dutch word-order rule.

Compare:

• Ik kijk elke ochtend in de brievenbus.
• Elke ochtend kijk ik in de brievenbus.
• Vandaag lag er alleen een krant op de deurmat.

In each case, the finite verb is in second position.

Because alleen is focusing on een krant.

• alleen een krant = only a newspaper

The meaning is that there was not a letter, parcel, magazine, etc. — just a newspaper.

So the sentence says:

• Vandaag lag er alleen een krant op de deurmat
• Today there was only a newspaper on the doormat

Placing alleen before the noun phrase is the normal way to express that kind of focus.

It literally means on the doormat.

• op = on
• de deurmat = the doormat

So the newspaper had come through the mail slot and ended up on the mat inside the door.

This is also why lag fits so well: a newspaper is imagined as lying flat on the mat.

In a practical sense, yes: een krant is the thing that is lying there.

But in this kind of Dutch sentence, the structure is often taught as an existential construction with er:

• Er lag een krant op de deurmat

That is similar to English:

• There was a newspaper on the doormat

So learners often feel that er is somehow the subject, but it is better to think of er as an introductory word, while een krant is the real thing being talked about.

That is why the sentence sounds natural as:

• Vandaag lag er alleen een krant op de deurmat

rather than trying to treat it like a simple subject + verb sentence from the start.

Yes, that is possible, and it would be understood.

But Er lag alleen een krant op de deurmat sounds more idiomatic because Dutch prefers a position verb for an object like a newspaper resting on a surface.

So:

• Er was alleen een krant op de deurmat = understandable
• Er lag alleen een krant op de deurmat = more natural Dutch

This is one of those places where Dutch is more specific than English.