Sigaretten ligger på bordet.

Because sigaretten is the definite singular form of sigarett.

In Norwegian, the word for the is often attached to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word.

• en sigarett = a cigarette
• sigaretten = the cigarette

So -en here means the.

Because bord is a neuter noun.

Norwegian nouns have grammatical gender, and that affects the indefinite article and the definite ending:

• en
  • noun → many masculine/feminine/common-gender nouns
• et
  • noun → neuter nouns

So:

• et bord = a table
• bordet = the table

That is why it gets -et in the definite singular form.

In Norwegian, the definite article is usually attached to the noun as a suffix.

So instead of saying:

• the cigarette
• the table

Norwegian normally says:

• sigaretten
• bordet

This is one of the biggest differences from English noun structure.

Ligger is the present tense of å ligge, which usually means to lie or to be lying.

In this sentence, Norwegian prefers ligger because the cigarette is physically resting somewhere. It gives a more natural sense of position.

So:

• Sigaretten ligger på bordet = The cigarette is lying / is on the table

You might hear er in some contexts, but ligger is more idiomatic when talking about an object resting on a surface.

More or less, yes—but in Norwegian this is very normal for objects.

English often just says is, but Norwegian commonly uses position verbs:

• ligge = lie
• stå = stand
• sitte = sit

So objects are often described according to how they are positioned:

• A book on a table might ligge
• A bottle on a table might stå
• A picture on a wall might henge

So ligger sounds natural here, not strange.

This is the normal basic Norwegian sentence order:

subject + verb + place

So:

• Sigaretten = subject
• ligger = verb
• på bordet = prepositional phrase showing location

This is very similar to standard English word order:

• The cigarette
  • is lying
    • on the table

På usually means on.

So:

• på bordet = on the table

It is the natural preposition here because the cigarette is resting on the surface of the table.

Yes. That is a very natural translation.

Even though ligger literally includes the idea of lying, English often does not need to say that. So depending on context, either of these works:

• The cigarette is on the table
• The cigarette is lying on the table

The dictionary form is å ligge.

Ligger is the present tense form:

• å ligge = to lie
• ligger = lies / is lying

Norwegian present tense verbs are often formed with an -er ending, though not always in exactly the same way for every verb.

In modern Bokmål, sigarett is usually treated as a common-gender noun, so you normally get:

• en sigarett
• sigaretten

In many explanations for learners, this is often simply called masculine/common because Bokmål frequently groups masculine and feminine together in everyday usage.

Yes, but it would mean something different.

• Sigaretten ligger på bordet = The cigarette is on the table
• En sigarett ligger på bordet = A cigarette is on the table

So the choice between sigaretten and en sigarett depends on whether you mean a specific cigarette or just any cigarette.

A learner-friendly approximation is:

si-ga-RET-ten

with the stress on ret.

A few helpful notes:

• the tt sounds like a clear t
• the final -en is an unstressed ending
• the g in sigarett is pronounced

The exact pronunciation varies a little by accent, but that stress pattern is a good starting point.

A simple approximation is:

BOR-de

The -et ending is often pronounced more like a light -e sound in everyday speech, especially in many dialects and in standard spoken Bokmål.

So although it is written bordet, it may sound closer to borde.

Because Norwegian normally does not use a separate word like the together with the suffixed definite form in a simple sentence like this.

So you say:

• på bordet = on the table

not:

• på den bordet

A separate determiner like den/det/de is used in other structures, especially with adjectives, for example:

• på det store bordet = on the big table

There, det appears because the noun has an adjective before it.

This sentence is standard Bokmål.

In Nynorsk, you would more likely see:

Sigaretten ligg på bordet.

The meaning is the same, but the verb form is different:

• Bokmål: ligger
• Nynorsk: ligg