De boor ligt naast de tang op tafel, maar het gat is nog niet diep genoeg.

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

• de boor = the drill
• de tang = the pliers
• het gat = the hole

In Dutch, singular nouns usually take either de or het. You generally have to learn the article together with the noun.

A useful pattern:

• most nouns are de words
• diminutives are always het words
• many neuter nouns are het words, and gat is one of them

So it is:

• de boor
• de tang
• het gat

Dutch often uses verbs like liggen, staan, and zitten where English simply uses to be.

Here, ligt comes from liggen, which literally means to lie. It is used for things that are lying somewhere, especially horizontally or simply resting in a place.

So:

• De boor ligt naast de tang op tafel
  = The drill is lying next to the pliers on the table

In natural English, we usually just say is, but Dutch prefers a more specific positional verb.

A very common contrast is:

• staan for things that are upright
• liggen for things lying flat or simply placed somewhere
• zitten for things being in/inside/attached/stuck somewhere

Because naast is a preposition meaning next to/beside, and it is followed here by a normal singular noun phrase:

• naast = next to
• de tang = the pliers

So naast de tang means next to the pliers.

A small vocabulary note: in Dutch, tang is singular in form, even though in English pliers is plural in form. So:

• de tang = the pliers
• een tang = a pair of pliers / pliers

That mismatch often feels strange to English speakers, but it is normal.

Both are possible, but they are not exactly the same.

• op tafel often means on the table in a more general, idiomatic sense
• op de tafel points more clearly to a specific table

In many everyday Dutch expressions, the article is omitted after certain prepositions, especially when the location is treated in a general way.

So:

• Het ligt op tafel = It is on the table
• Het ligt op de tafel = It is on the specific table

In your sentence, op tafel sounds very natural.

Yes, that is the natural interpretation.

De boor ligt naast de tang op tafel most naturally means:

• the drill is next to the pliers
• this whole situation is on the table

So op tafel applies to the location of the objects, not just to de tang alone.

Dutch allows this kind of compact phrasing. If someone wanted to be extra explicit, they could say something like:

• De boor ligt op tafel, naast de tang.

But your original sentence is perfectly normal.

maar means but. It connects the two parts of the sentence:

• De boor ligt naast de tang op tafel
• maar het gat is nog niet diep genoeg

So the contrast is:

• the drill is there / available
• but the hole still is not deep enough

It is just a coordinating conjunction, like English but, so the second clause keeps normal main-clause word order:

• het gat is ...

nog niet means not yet.

So:

• het gat is nog niet diep genoeg = the hole is not deep enough yet

Literally:

• nog = still / yet
• niet = not

In this combination, nog niet is the standard way to express not yet.

Compare:

• Het gat is niet diep genoeg. = The hole is not deep enough.
• Het gat is nog niet diep genoeg. = The hole is not deep enough yet.

The version with nog suggests that this may change later.

In Dutch, genoeg usually comes after the adjective it modifies.

So:

• diep genoeg = deep enough
• groot genoeg = big enough
• snel genoeg = fast enough

This is different from some languages, but it matches English quite well:

• deep enough, not enough deep

So het gat is nog niet diep genoeg is the normal word order.

Because diep comes after is and functions as a predicate adjective.

In Dutch, predicate adjectives do not take the -e ending:

• Het gat is diep.
• Het gat is diep genoeg.

But when an adjective comes directly before a noun, it usually does take -e:

• het diepe gat = the deep hole

So:

• het gat is diep → no -e
• het diepe gat → usually -e

That is a very important Dutch pattern.

Yes, people would understand it, but ligt is more natural Dutch.

Using is is grammatically possible in some situations, especially in informal speech or when the exact position is not important, but Dutch strongly prefers the positional verb here.

So:

• De boor ligt naast de tang op tafel = most natural
• De boor is naast de tang op tafel = understandable, but less idiomatic

A good habit for learners is to notice when Dutch prefers:

• liggen
• staan
• zitten

instead of plain zijn.

Boor usually means drill or drill bit, depending on context.

So this sentence could refer to:

• the drill as a tool
• or possibly the drill bit

In everyday language, the exact meaning often becomes clear from the situation. If you want to be more specific, Dutch can also say things like:

• boormachine = drilling machine / power drill
• boortje = small drill bit

But de boor by itself is completely normal.