La lámpara nueva queda mejor sobre la mesilla que sobre la cómoda.

In this sentence, quedar bien / quedar mejor means to look good / to look better in a particular place, arrangement, or situation.

So La lámpara nueva queda mejor sobre la mesilla... means that the lamp looks better on the bedside table.

• ser would describe an essential quality: Es mejor = It is better
• estar would usually describe a state or condition: Está mejor = It is better / in better condition
• quedar here is about how something looks when placed somewhere

Very common examples:

• Ese vestido te queda bien. = That dress looks good on you / fits you well.
• El cuadro queda mejor en la pared blanca. = The painting looks better on the white wall.

Here quedar does not mean to stay or to remain, even though it often can in other contexts.

In this sentence, quedar means something like:

• to look
• to suit
• to work visually
• to fit well in a place

So queda mejor means looks better or works better aesthetically.

This is a very common Spanish use of quedar when talking about clothes, decoration, furniture, colors, and arrangement.

In Spanish, adjectives usually come after the noun, especially when they simply describe it in a neutral way.

So:

• la lámpara nueva = the new lamp

This is the normal order.

If you put the adjective before the noun, it can sound more literary, emphatic, or subjective:

• la nueva lámpara

That could suggest something more like the new lamp in contrast to an old one, or it may just sound more stylistic.

Here, la lámpara nueva is the most natural everyday phrasing.

These are two different pieces of furniture:

• mesilla = a small table, especially a bedside table / nightstand
• cómoda = a chest of drawers / dresser

In Spain, mesilla often means mesilla de noche even if de noche is omitted.

So the sentence is comparing two places for the lamp:

• on the bedside table
• on the dresser

It is repeated because Spanish often repeats the preposition in comparisons for clarity and balance:

• sobre la mesilla que sobre la cómoda

Literally, this is like:

• on the bedside table rather than on the dresser
• better on the bedside table than on the dresser

You could think of an omitted repeated structure:

• queda mejor sobre la mesilla que queda mejor sobre la cómoda

The second queda mejor is omitted because it is understood, but sobre is kept.

Here que means than, not that.

After a comparative like mejor, Spanish uses que:

• mejor que = better than
• más... que = more... than
• menos... que = less... than

So:

• queda mejor sobre la mesilla que sobre la cómoda = it looks better on the bedside table than on the dresser

This is a standard comparison structure.

Because mejor already means better.

Spanish uses:

• bueno = good
• mejor = better

So más mejor would be wrong, just like more better is wrong in English.

Examples:

• Es bueno. = It is good.
• Es mejor. = It is better.

In this sentence:

• queda mejor = looks better

Yes, in many everyday contexts you could say encima de.

• sobre la mesilla
• encima de la mesilla

Both can mean on the bedside table.

However, there is a slight nuance:

• sobre can sound a bit more neutral or slightly more formal/written
• encima de is very common in everyday speech and emphasizes physical position more clearly

So this alternative would also sound natural:

• La lámpara nueva queda mejor encima de la mesilla que encima de la cómoda.

But the original sentence with sobre is perfectly natural.

Spanish usually uses the definite article more often than English.

Here la mesilla and la cómoda refer to specific, identifiable furniture items in the context, so Spanish naturally uses the article:

• sobre la mesilla
• sobre la cómoda

English might also say on the bedside table and on the dresser, so this part matches quite closely.

Yes. The subject is La lámpara nueva, which is singular, so the verb is singular:

• La lámpara nueva queda...

If the subject were plural, the verb would change:

• Las lámparas nuevas quedan mejor sobre la mesilla...

So:

• queda = singular
• quedan = plural

Yes, it can, depending on context. Literally, mesilla is a diminutive of mesa, so it can mean small table.

But in Spain, very often mesilla means bedside table / nightstand, especially in a home or bedroom context.

If you want to be completely explicit, you can say:

• mesilla de noche

So:

• la mesilla often implies the bedside table
• la mesilla de noche says it directly

The accent marks show where the stress falls:

• lámpara → stress on lám
• cómoda → stress on có

Without the written accent, the stress would follow normal spelling rules and would be pronounced differently, so the accent is necessary.

These are both esdrújula words in Spanish, and all esdrújula words take a written accent.

Yes, but the original order is the most natural and straightforward.

Original:

• La lámpara nueva queda mejor sobre la mesilla que sobre la cómoda.

Possible variations:

• Sobre la mesilla, la lámpara nueva queda mejor que sobre la cómoda.
• La lámpara nueva queda mejor en la mesilla que en la cómoda.
  (though sobre is more precise for on top of)

Spanish word order is flexible, but the original version sounds very natural for neutral description.

It is about appearance, using physical location as the comparison.

The sentence is not just saying where the lamp is. It is saying that, aesthetically, the lamp looks better in one place than in another.

That is why queda mejor is so important: it adds the idea of visual suitability, not just position.