Gjestehåndkleet ligger ved toalettartiklene.

Because Norwegian usually writes compound nouns as a single word.

So English guest towel becomes Norwegian gjestehåndkle.

A useful rule:

• the last part is the main noun
• the last part decides the word’s gender and inflection

Here, the main noun is håndkle.

The ending -et is the definite singular ending for many neuter nouns.

• et håndkle = a towel
• håndkleet = the towel

Because gjestehåndkle is built on håndkle, it is also neuter:

• et gjestehåndkle = a guest towel
• gjestehåndkleet = the guest towel

So the ending -et works like English the, but in Norwegian it is attached to the noun.

That -e- is a linking vowel used in some Norwegian compounds.

The word is built like this:

• gjest = guest
• håndkle = towel
• together: gjestehåndkle

Norwegian compounds sometimes use a linking -e- or -s-, and this is something learners often just have to get used to word by word. So gjestehåndkle is the normal form, not gjesthåndkle.

Norwegian often prefers a position verb where English might simply use is.

Common ones are:

• ligger = lies / is lying
• står = stands / is standing
• sitter = sits / is sitting

With an object like a towel, ligger is very natural because it is understood as lying somewhere.

So:

• Gjestehåndkleet ligger ved toalettartiklene sounds natural.
• Gjestehåndkleet er ved toalettartiklene is understandable, but less idiomatic for physical location.

Here ved means by, next to, or near.

It shows that the towel is located close to the toiletries.

It does not necessarily mean:

• on top of = på
• inside = i

So ved toalettartiklene means the towel is by/near the toiletries.

Because it is a definite plural form.

The noun is:

• en toalettartikkel = a toiletry / a toilet article
• toalettartikler = toiletries / toilet articles
• toalettartiklene = the toiletries

So the ending -ne here marks definite plural: the.

Because Norwegian usually adds definiteness to the end of the noun instead of using a separate article like English.

In this sentence:

• gjestehåndkleet = the guest towel
• toalettartiklene = the toiletries

This is one of the biggest differences from English:

• English: the
  • noun
• Norwegian: noun + definite ending

The sentence follows the normal Norwegian pattern:

• Gjestehåndkleet = subject
• ligger = verb
• ved toalettartiklene = prepositional phrase showing location

So the structure is:

Subject + Verb + Place

That is very typical for a simple Norwegian statement.

Also, Norwegian is a V2 language, which means the finite verb usually comes in the second position in main clauses. In this sentence, the subject comes first, so the verb naturally comes second.