Het deksel ligt op de tafel naast het fornuis.

Dutch nouns have grammatical gender, and that affects the article:

• de = common gender
• het = neuter gender

So in this sentence:

• het deksel
• de tafel
• het fornuis

Unfortunately, for most nouns, you simply have to learn whether they take de or het.

A few useful patterns:

• plural nouns always take de
• diminutives always take het: het dekseltje
• many people learn nouns together with their article: het deksel, not just deksel

Dutch often uses a position verb where English just uses is.

Common ones are:

• liggen = to lie
• staan = to stand
• zitten = to sit
• hangen = to hang

A lid is thought of as an object resting flat on a surface, so Dutch naturally says:

• Het deksel ligt op de tafel.

In English, The lid is on the table sounds normal, but in Dutch liggen is more idiomatic.

You can sometimes hear is in certain contexts, but ligt is the most natural choice here.

This is a very common question for English speakers.

A simple guide:

• liggen: things lying flat, spread out, or without an upright position
  
  • Het boek ligt op tafel.
• staan: things upright or in a standing position
  
  • De fles staat op tafel.
• zitten: things located in, on, or attached in a way that feels fixed or enclosed
  
  • De sleutel zit in de deur.

For deksel, Dutch sees it as something lying on the table, so ligt fits.

This system is partly logical and partly something you get used to through exposure.

Op means on or on top of.

So:

• op de tafel = on the table

It is used because the lid is physically resting on the table’s surface.

Compare:

• op de tafel = on the table
• onder de tafel = under the table
• naast de tafel = next to the table
• in de tafel would usually not make sense here

In the most natural reading, naast het fornuis describes de tafel.

So the sentence is understood as:

• the lid is on the table
• and the table is next to the stove

In other words:

• Het deksel ligt [op de tafel naast het fornuis].

If you wanted to make it clearer that the lid is next to the stove, you could say something like:

• Het deksel ligt naast het fornuis, op de tafel.

Word order and grouping help show what belongs with what.

Dutch main clauses usually follow the verb-second rule, often called V2.

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

Here:

• Het deksel = first element
• ligt = second element

So:

• Het deksel ligt op de tafel naast het fornuis.

If you move another element to the front, the verb still stays second:

• Op de tafel ligt het deksel naast het fornuis.

Notice that ligt still comes right after the first element.

Because modern Dutch does not have case endings like German in everyday standard usage.

So after a preposition like op, the article usually stays the same:

• de tafel
• op de tafel
• naast de tafel

Likewise:

• het fornuis
• naast het fornuis

For English speakers, this is often a relief: you do not usually need to change the article because of the preposition.

Yes, people would understand it, but it sounds less idiomatic.

Dutch prefers the position verb ligt for an object like a lid resting on a surface.

So:

• Het deksel ligt op de tafel naast het fornuis. = more natural
• Het deksel is op de tafel naast het fornuis. = understandable, but less Dutch-sounding

Using liggen, staan, and zitten correctly is one of the things that makes your Dutch sound more natural.

Sometimes yes, but it changes the feel slightly.

Dutch often omits the article in general or idiomatic location phrases:

• Het boek ligt op tafel.
• Het staat in de kast.
• Hij zit op school.

So Het deksel ligt op tafel is perfectly normal.

Using op de tafel is also possible, and it can sound a bit more specific, as if you mean a particular table already known from the context.

In your sentence, op de tafel naast het fornuis sounds fine because the phrase identifies a specific table.

It is very close, but exact translations depend on context.

Fornuis usually refers to a cooking appliance, often a stove or range. In some contexts it may include the oven unit as well.

Related kitchen words:

• fornuis = stove / cooker / range
• oven = oven
• kookplaat = cooktop / hob

So het fornuis is a good match for the stove in many situations.

The plural forms would be:

• het deksel → de deksels
• de tafel → de tafels
• het fornuis → de fornuizen

Example:

• De deksels liggen op de tafels naast de fornuizen.

Notice the changes:

• het often becomes de in the plural
• ligt becomes liggen

Yes. Dutch word order is flexible, as long as the finite verb stays in second position in a main clause.

For example:

• Het deksel ligt op de tafel naast het fornuis.
• Op de tafel ligt het deksel naast het fornuis.
• Naast het fornuis ligt het deksel op de tafel.

These versions can all work, but they emphasize different parts of the sentence.

The original sentence is the most neutral version.

A rough guide is:

• deksel ≈ DEK-sul

A bit more carefully:

• the first syllable dek sounds like deck
• the second syllable is reduced, something like səl

So it is not pronounced like English dee-kel or deck-sell.

Also:

• het deksel
• de deksels

Listening to native audio is especially helpful with words like this, because the second syllable is usually unstressed and reduced.