Tärningen ligger bredvid timglaset.

In Swedish, ligga often means to lie / be lying and is commonly used for things that are positioned horizontally or simply located somewhere.

So Tärningen ligger bredvid timglaset is more natural than using är.

• ligger = lies / is lying / is located
• är = is in a more general sense

Swedish often prefers a position verb where English just uses is:

• Boken ligger på bordet = The book is on the table
• Flaskan står på bordet = The bottle is on the table
• Tavlan hänger på väggen = The painting is on the wall

A die is treated as an object resting somewhere, so ligger sounds natural.

Tärningen is the definite singular form of tärning.

• en tärning = a die
• tärningen = the die

In Swedish, the definite article is usually added as an ending on the noun instead of being a separate word like English the.

So:

• en tärning = a die
• tärningen = the die

The ending -en is typical for many en-words in the singular definite form.

Because timglas is an ett-word, not an en-word.

• ett timglas = an hourglass
• timglaset = the hourglass

For many ett-words, the definite singular ending is -et.

Compare:

• en bil → bilen
• ett hus → huset
• ett timglas → timglaset

So timglaset means the hourglass.

Unfortunately, there is no single rule that always tells you whether a noun is en or ett. You usually need to learn the noun together with its article:

• en tärning
• ett timglas

That said, en-words are much more common than ett-words, so if you guess, en is statistically more likely. But for correct Swedish, it is best to memorize the article as part of the word.

A good habit is to never learn just tärning or timglas by themselves. Learn:

• en tärning
• ett timglas

Bredvid means next to / beside.

In this sentence:

• bredvid timglaset = next to the hourglass

It does not need another preposition in front of it here.

Examples:

• Stolen står bredvid bordet = The chair is next to the table
• Hon sitter bredvid mig = She is sitting next to me

So bredvid works very much like beside or next to in English.

Yes, in this sentence it functions like a preposition.

It introduces the location phrase:

• bredvid timglaset = next to the hourglass

You can think of it as a one-word equivalent of English next to.

Swedish also has similar location words such as:

• på = on
• under = under
• bakom = behind
• framför = in front of
• bredvid = next to

The indefinite version would be:

En tärning ligger bredvid ett timglas.

That means A die is next to an hourglass.

Compare:

• Tärningen ligger bredvid timglaset. = The die is next to the hourglass.
• En tärning ligger bredvid ett timglas. = A die is next to an hourglass.

This is a very useful comparison for seeing how Swedish marks definiteness.

Yes, but the original order is the most neutral one.

Basic statement:

• Tärningen ligger bredvid timglaset.

You can also move the location to the front:

• Bredvid timglaset ligger tärningen.

That sounds a bit more focused on the location, like Next to the hourglass lies the die.

Swedish follows a verb-second pattern in main clauses, so if you move something to the front, the verb still usually stays in the second position:

• Bredvid timglaset
  • ligger
    • tärningen

A rough English-friendly guide:

• Tärningen ≈ TAIR-ning-en, but with a Swedish ä sound
• ligger ≈ LIG-er with a hard g
• bredvid ≈ BRAYD-veed
• timglaset ≈ TIM-gla-set

A few useful pronunciation notes:

• ä sounds somewhat like the vowel in air in many contexts
• ng in tärningen is like the ng in sing
• Swedish r is not usually like a strong American English r
• Stress is roughly:
  • TÄRningen
  • LIGger
  • bredVID
  • TIMglaset

Exact pronunciation varies a bit by dialect.

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

Instead of:

• the die
• the hourglass

Swedish says:

• tärning-en
• timglas-et

So the endings themselves carry the meaning of the.

This is one of the biggest structural differences from English:

• English: separate article + noun
• Swedish: noun + definite ending

You might sometimes hear är bredvid in certain contexts, and people would probably understand you, but ligger bredvid is the more natural choice here for a physical object resting somewhere.

Compare:

• Tärningen ligger bredvid timglaset. = natural for objects
• Tärningen är bredvid timglaset. = understandable, but less idiomatic in this kind of description

Swedish often prefers the more specific position verb:

• står for things that stand
• ligger for things that lie
• sitter for things or beings that sit / are attached
• hänger for things that hang

The dictionary form is ligga.

Here are the key forms:

• infinitive: ligga
• present: ligger
• past: låg
• supine: legat

So in the sentence:

• ligger = is lying / lies

If you looked it up in a dictionary, you would search for ligga.

Yes, tärning is the normal Swedish word for a single die.

Its forms are:

• en tärning = a die
• tärningen = the die
• tärningar = dice
• tärningarna = the dice

So if there were more than one, you could say:

• Tärningarna ligger bredvid timglaset. = The dice are next to the hourglass.