El jarrón está sobre el aparador, y el marco está al lado.

Because this sentence talks about location, and in Spanish location is normally expressed with estar, not ser.

• El jarrón está sobre el aparador = the vase is on the sideboard
• El marco está al lado = the frame is next to it / beside it

A quick rule learners often use is:

• ser = what something is
• estar = where something is or a temporary state

So here estar is the natural choice.

Jarrón means vase, usually a decorative vase, often larger than a simple flower container. It is a masculine noun, which is why it takes el:

• el jarrón

The ending -ón is common in masculine nouns, though not every noun ending works the same way.

In Spain, aparador usually means a sideboard, cabinet, or piece of dining-room furniture used for storing dishes, table linen, and similar things.

Depending on context, English translations can vary:

• sideboard
• dresser
• cabinet

So in this sentence, sobre el aparador suggests the vase is resting on top of that piece of furniture.

Sobre means on or on top of, so it clearly shows that the vase is physically positioned on the surface of the sideboard.

• sobre el aparador = on the sideboard / on top of the sideboard

If you used en, it would usually mean in or on in a broader sense, but here sobre is more precise.

A very common alternative is:

• encima del aparador

That also means on top of the sideboard. In many situations, sobre and encima de are very similar.

Because Spanish usually uses definite articles more often than English does.

• el jarrón = the vase
• el aparador = the sideboard
• el marco = the frame

In English, sometimes you can sound natural without repeating the, but in Spanish the article is normally required with countable nouns like these.

Also, all three nouns here are masculine singular, so they take el.

Here marco means frame, most likely a picture frame or photo frame.

So:

• el marco está al lado = the frame is next to it / beside it

On its own, marco can have other meanings in different contexts, but frame is the obvious meaning here.

Al lado means beside, next to, or by the side.

Very often you will see it as:

• al lado de + noun/pronoun

For example:

• El marco está al lado del jarrón. = The frame is next to the vase.

In your sentence, al lado appears without de because the reference is understood from context. It implies something like:

• the frame is next to it
• the frame is beside it

Because a + el contracts to al in Spanish.

So:

• a + el = al

That is why you get:

• al lado

This contraction is mandatory in normal Spanish, except with the article in some proper names. For ordinary nouns, you should use al, not a el.

Yes. If the thing being referred to is obvious from the context, Spanish can leave it unstated.

So:

• El marco está al lado.

can mean:

• the frame is next to it
• the frame is beside it
• the frame is over there at the side

If you want to be fully explicit, you would usually say:

• El marco está al lado del jarrón.

Because Spanish normally states the verb again in a new clause:

• El jarrón está sobre el aparador, y el marco está al lado.

That is the full, natural structure. Repeating está makes the sentence clear and balanced.

In some informal contexts, Spanish can omit repeated material, but here keeping está is the standard and most natural option for learners.

This is the most neutral Spanish word order:

• subject + verb + place/complement

So:

• El jarrón = subject
• está = verb
• sobre el aparador = location

Spanish word order is flexible, but this version sounds natural and straightforward. You could change the order for emphasis, for example:

• Sobre el aparador está el jarrón.

That sounds more marked, as if emphasizing the location.

Not really. In a simple sentence like this, Spanish would often write:

• El jarrón está sobre el aparador y el marco está al lado.

The comma is not usually necessary before y when joining two closely connected clauses.

The version with the comma is not impossible, but many teachers and style guides would prefer leaving it out unless there is a special pause or contrast.

Both words have written accent marks to show where the stress falls:

• jarrón → stress on the last syllable
• está → stress on the last syllable

So roughly:

• ja-RRÓN
• es-TÁ

The accent mark helps show the correct pronunciation and, in some cases, distinguishes words from others that are spelled similarly.

A couple of pronunciation notes for learners:

• j in jarrón is a strong throaty sound in Spanish
• rr is a rolled or trilled r

These sounds can take practice for English speakers.