El medicamento está en la mesa.

Because this sentence is talking about location: where the medicine is.

In Spanish, estar is normally used for location:

• El medicamento está en la mesa. = The medicine is on the table.

By contrast, ser is used for identity, description, origin, and other more permanent-type information:

• Es un medicamento. = It is a medicine.
• Es importante. = It is important.

So está is the correct choice because the sentence is saying where the medicine is.

The accent mark shows where the stress goes: es-TÁ.

It also helps distinguish this form from esta, which can mean this:

• esta mesa = this table
• está = is

So the accent is important for both pronunciation and meaning.

Spanish usually needs an article where English sometimes does too, and sometimes not.

Here, el means the, so:

• El medicamento = the medicine / the medication

Without the article, medicamento by itself would usually not sound natural in this kind of complete sentence.

Also, Spanish often uses articles more regularly than English does. So El medicamento está en la mesa sounds normal and complete.

Because medicamento is a masculine noun in Spanish.

Spanish nouns have grammatical gender, so the article has to match:

• el medicamento
• un medicamento

If the noun were feminine, you would use la:

• la mesa
• la medicina

So the sentence has:

• el medicamento because medicamento is masculine
• la mesa because mesa is feminine

This is a very common question.

Both can relate to medicine, but they are not always used in exactly the same way.

• medicamento usually means a medication, drug, or medicine product; it sounds a bit more precise or formal
• medicina can mean medicine in a broader sense, and it can also mean the field of medicine as a science or profession

Examples:

• Tómate este medicamento. = Take this medication.
• La medicina ha avanzado mucho. = Medicine has advanced a lot.

In everyday speech, many speakers might say la medicina está en la mesa if they mean the medicine in a general sense, but medicamento is absolutely correct and often more specific.

In this sentence, it means on the table.

Spanish en is broader than English in. It can mean:

• in
• on
• at

So:

• Está en la mesa = It is on the table

This is completely normal Spanish. You do not need to say sobre la mesa unless you want to be more explicit.

Yes. Sobre la mesa also means on the table.

So both are possible:

• El medicamento está en la mesa.
• El medicamento está sobre la mesa.

The first one is more neutral and very common. The second one is a bit more explicit about the object being physically on top of the table.

In many situations, en la mesa is the most natural everyday choice.

No. In Spanish, you usually do not need to include the subject pronoun unless you want emphasis or contrast.

The verb form está already tells you it is he/she/it or you (formal), and here the noun El medicamento is already the subject.

So:

• El medicamento está en la mesa. = correct and natural

You would not normally say:

• Él está en la mesa

That would mean He/It is on the table, and it would also sound odd here because él is normally used for people, not for medicamento.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

el meh-dee-kah-MEN-toh es-TA en lah ME-sah

A few helpful notes:

• medicamento has the stress on men
• está has the stress on the last syllable: tá
• mesa has the stress on me

In standard Spain Spanish:

• e is like the e in met, but a bit cleaner
• a is like ah
• s in mesa is a normal s sound

Yes, but the normal basic order here is:

El medicamento + está + en la mesa

That is the most straightforward and natural order.

You could move things around for emphasis, for example:

• En la mesa está el medicamento.

This is grammatically possible, but it sounds more marked or literary, as if you are emphasizing the location.

For most learners, the original word order is the best one to use.

Because mesa is a feminine noun in Spanish. Grammatical gender is something you usually just have to learn with each noun.

So you say:

• la mesa
• una mesa

This does not mean the table is biologically female. It is simply part of Spanish grammar.

A good habit is to learn nouns together with their articles:

• el medicamento
• la mesa

That makes it much easier to build correct sentences.

Not exactly. El medicamento está en la mesa means The medicine is on the table.

If you want to say There is medicine on the table, Spanish would usually say:

• Hay un medicamento en la mesa. = There is a medicine/medication on the table.
• Hay medicina en la mesa. = There is medicine on the table.

So the difference is:

• está = is located
• hay = there is / there are

Yes, it is natural and correct in Spain.

That said, in everyday conversation, some speakers might more often say:

• La medicina está en la mesa.

This depends on what they mean:

• medicamento sounds a bit more specific or formal
• medicina can sound more everyday

But your original sentence is perfectly good Spanish and would be understood without any problem.