Drejskivan står bredvid bordet.

Drejskivan is the definite singular form of drejskiva.

• drejskiva = potter’s wheel / throwing wheel
• drejskivan = the potter’s wheel

In Swedish, the definite article is usually added to the end of the noun instead of being a separate word like the in English.

So:

• en drejskiva = a potter’s wheel
• drejskivan = the potter’s wheel

Swedish often uses special position verbs where English would often just use is.

Here, står means stands. Swedish prefers this when something is in an upright or standing position, or simply positioned somewhere in a way that is thought of as “standing.”

So:

• Drejskivan står bredvid bordet. = The potter’s wheel is standing next to the table. = more naturally in English: The potter’s wheel is next to the table.

Using är here would usually sound less natural in Swedish, because Swedish likes to describe how something is positioned, not just that it exists somewhere.

This is a very common learner question. Swedish uses different location verbs depending on how something is positioned.

The most common ones are:

• står = stands
• ligger = lies
• sitter = sits

Very roughly:

• står for things thought of as upright or standing on a base
  
  • Flaskan står på bordet. = The bottle is on the table.
• ligger for things lying flat or spread out
  
  • Boken ligger på bordet. = The book is on the table.
• sitter for things attached, fixed, or seated in place
  
  • Tavlan sitter på väggen. = The painting is on the wall.

In this sentence, drejskivan is being treated as something that stands next to the table.

Bredvid means next to or beside.

It is a preposition, so it comes before the noun phrase it belongs to:

• bredvid bordet = next to the table

More examples:

• stolen står bredvid sängen = the chair is next to the bed
• hon sitter bredvid mig = she is sitting next to me

It is written as one word: bredvid.

Bordet is the definite form of bord.

• ett bord = a table
• bordet = the table

So in the sentence:

• bredvid bordet = next to the table

Just like drejskivan, the noun gets the definite ending instead of using a separate word for the.

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

Compare English and Swedish:

• the table → bordet
• the potter’s wheel → drejskivan

This is one of the biggest structural differences from English. In simple sentences like this, Swedish does not need a separate the.

The basic word order is:

Subject + verb + place

• Drejskivan = subject
• står = verb
• bredvid bordet = place expression

So:

• Drejskivan står bredvid bordet.
• literally: The potter’s wheel stands next to the table.

This is normal Swedish main-clause word order.

Then both nouns would usually be indefinite:

• En drejskiva står bredvid ett bord.

Compare:

• Drejskivan står bredvid bordet. = The potter’s wheel is next to the table.
• En drejskiva står bredvid ett bord. = A potter’s wheel is next to a table.

Notice:

• en drejskiva = a potter’s wheel
• ett bord = a table

The nouns have different grammatical genders:

• en drejskiva
• ett bord

So:

• drejskiva is a common gender noun (en-word)
• bord is a neuter noun (ett-word)

That is why their definite forms look different:

• en drejskiva → drejskivan
• ett bord → bordet

A rough pronunciation guide for an English speaker could be:

DRAY-shee-van stor BRAYD-veed BOOR-det

A few notes:

• dj in drej- sounds like a y sound at the start, so drej is roughly like dray
• sk before i in skivan has the Swedish sh-like sound
• står has a long vowel, roughly like stor but not exactly English
• bordet has stress on the first syllable: BOR-det

The exact sounds depend on accent, but that rough guide can help you get started.