Die Tassen stehen schon auf dem Tisch, also fehlt nur noch der Tee.

In German, objects are often described with different position verbs depending on how they are placed:

• stehen = to stand
• liegen = to lie
• sitzen = to sit
• sein = to be

Cups on a table are commonly imagined as standing upright, so Die Tassen stehen auf dem Tisch sounds more natural than Die Tassen sind auf dem Tisch.

Using sein is not always wrong, but stehen gives a more precise, idiomatic picture.

Because this sentence describes location, not movement.

The preposition auf is a two-way preposition, which means:

• dative for location: on the table
• accusative for movement toward somewhere: onto the table

So:

• Die Tassen stehen auf dem Tisch = The cups are on the table.
• Ich stelle die Tassen auf den Tisch = I put the cups onto the table.

Since the cups are already there, German uses the dative: auf dem Tisch.

Because auf takes the dative here, and Tisch is masculine.

The masculine definite article changes like this:

• nominative: der Tisch
• accusative: den Tisch
• dative: dem Tisch

So auf dem Tisch means on the table in the sense of location.

Here schon means already.

So:

• Die Tassen stehen schon auf dem Tisch = The cups are already on the table.

It tells you that this part of the preparation has been completed.

Here also means so, therefore, or thus.

It connects the two ideas:

• the cups are already on the table
• therefore only the tea is still missing

So it works like a logical connector: The cups are already on the table, so only the tea is still missing.

Because German main clauses usually follow the verb-second rule.

That means the finite verb must come in the second position. If also is placed first, then the verb must come immediately after it:

• Also fehlt nur noch der Tee.

Structure:

• Position 1: also
• Position 2: fehlt
• then the rest: nur noch der Tee

You could also say:

• Der Tee fehlt also nur noch.

But the original version sounds more natural in this context.

Nur noch is a very common combination meaning something like:

• only ... now
• all that remains is ...
• just ... left

So:

• Es fehlt nur noch der Tee = Only the tea is still missing / All that’s missing now is the tea

The word noch adds the idea of still / now remaining, and nur limits it to just one thing.

Because the subject is der Tee, which is singular.

In German, with fehlen, the thing that is missing is the subject:

• Der Tee fehlt. = The tea is missing.
• Die Tassen fehlen. = The cups are missing.

So in fehlt nur noch der Tee, the verb agrees with der Tee, not with die Tassen from the first clause.

That is a very common point of confusion.

In German, fehlen works differently from English to miss in this kind of sentence. German often structures it as:

• The tea is missing

not

• We are missing the tea

So:

• Der Tee fehlt. = The tea is missing.
• Mir fehlt das Geld. = I am lacking the money / The money is missing for me.

In your sentence, der Tee is the thing absent, so it appears as the subject in the nominative.

Both are possible in some contexts, but der Tee sounds more natural here because it refers to a specific expected item: the tea for this table setting.

Compare:

• Es fehlt nur noch Tee. = Only tea is still missing.
  This sounds more like an unspecified substance or category.

• Es fehlt nur noch der Tee. = Only the tea is still missing.
  This refers to the particular tea that should be there.

So the article helps make it sound more definite and situation-specific.

Because the speaker is talking about a specific set of cups in the situation.

German often uses definite articles where English might also use the:

• Die Tassen stehen schon auf dem Tisch. = The cups are already on the table.

It suggests that both speaker and listener know which cups are meant, or that they are the obvious cups relevant to the situation.

Yes, absolutely.

That version is very common:

• Die Tassen stehen schon auf dem Tisch. Es fehlt nur noch der Tee.

The es here is a kind of formal or introductory subject. It does not translate strongly into English, but it makes the sentence feel very natural.

The original version without es is also correct:

• ..., also fehlt nur noch der Tee.

Both are normal.

Because the sentence contains two main clauses:

• Die Tassen stehen schon auf dem Tisch
• also fehlt nur noch der Tee

The comma separates these clauses, and also acts as a connector meaning so / therefore.

In writing, this comma is standard and helps show the relationship between the two parts.

No. This is an important false friend.

German also usually means:

• so
• therefore
• well (in some spoken contexts)

It usually does not mean English also = too / as well.

So in this sentence, also means so:

• ..., also fehlt nur noch der Tee = ..., so only the tea is still missing

If you wanted English also/too, German would more likely use auch.

Yes. It is a good example of a natural German statement made of two linked main clauses:

1. Die Tassen stehen schon auf dem Tisch
2. also fehlt nur noch der Tee

The first clause gives the situation.
The second clause gives the conclusion.

It is a very typical German way to say: The cups are already on the table, so all that’s missing now is the tea.