Hun legger telefonen sin på bordet.

Because legger describes an action: she is putting/laying the phone on the table.

Ligger describes a state: the phone is lying on the table.

So:

• Hun legger telefonen sin på bordet. = She puts her phone on the table.
• Telefonen ligger på bordet. = The phone is lying on the table.

This is a very common Norwegian distinction that English often does not make as clearly.

Legger is the present tense of å legge.

Common forms are:

• å legge = to lay / put
• legger = lays / puts
• la = laid / put
• har lagt = has laid / has put

So in this sentence, legger means is putting / puts.

Because Norwegian usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun.

• en telefon = a phone
• telefonen = the phone

So telefonen means the phone.

The ending -en is the usual definite ending for many masculine nouns in Bokmål.

Because sin is the reflexive possessive. It is used when the owner is the same as the subject of the sentence.

Here, the subject is Hun and the phone belongs to her, so Norwegian normally uses sin:

• Hun legger telefonen sin på bordet. = She puts her own phone on the table.

If you say:

• Hun legger telefonen hennes på bordet.

that usually means she is putting another woman’s phone on the table, not her own.

This is one of the most important grammar differences between English and Norwegian.

Because sin/si/sitt/sine agree with the thing being owned, not with the owner.

Here the owned thing is telefonen, and telefon is a masculine singular noun, so the correct form is sin.

Compare:

• boka si = her/his book
• huset sitt = her/his house
• vennene sine = her/his friends

So even though the owner is she, the form depends on telefon, not on hun.

Because that is the most common and natural pattern in everyday Norwegian.

A very typical structure is:

• definite noun + possessive

So:

• telefonen sin = her phone
• boka mi = my book
• huset vårt = our house

Norwegian can also put the possessive first:

• sin telefon

but that is usually more formal, marked, or emphatic. The neutral everyday choice here is telefonen sin.

For the same reason as telefonen: it is a definite noun.

• et bord = a table
• bordet = the table

Here, bord is a neuter noun, so the definite ending is -et.

So på bordet means on the table.

In this sentence, på is the normal preposition for placing something on a surface.

Norwegian often uses på both where English uses:

• on for location
• onto for movement toward a surface

So:

• Telefonen ligger på bordet. = The phone is on the table.
• Hun legger telefonen på bordet. = She puts the phone onto/on the table.

Norwegian does not need a separate word like onto here.

This is the normal main-clause order:

• Hun = subject
• legger = verb
• telefonen sin = object
• på bordet = prepositional phrase

So it follows a basic pattern like:

Subject + verb + object + place

Also, Norwegian main clauses usually follow the verb-second rule. Since Hun is first, the verb legger comes second.

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

• På bordet legger hun telefonen sin.

That version is grammatical, but less neutral in everyday use.

Yes, it is possible, but it sounds less neutral.

Compare:

• Hun legger telefonen sin på bordet. = the most natural everyday phrasing
• Hun legger sin telefon på bordet. = more formal, literary, or emphatic

With sin telefon, the possessive gets more focus. In normal conversation, most speakers would prefer telefonen sin.