Learn Swedish: Det står en tom stol i hörnet. - There is an empty chair standing in the corner.

This is the Swedish way of saying "there is" when introducing a new object into a scene. Instead of saying "An empty chair stands...", Swedish uses Det as a placeholder subject in the first position, pushing the real subject (en tom stol) to later in the sentence.

Could I just say Det finns en tom stol instead?

You could! Det finns means "there is" and is perfectly correct here. However, Swedish strongly prefers using positional verbs like står (stands), ligger (lies), or sitter (sits) to give a more visual description. Since a chair rests upright on legs, it står.

Why is the actual subject (en tom stol) after the verb (står)?

This is the Swedish V2 (verb-second) rule in action. Because the placeholder Det takes up the first spot in the sentence, the verb står must be in the second spot. The actual subject, en tom stol, is forced into the third spot.

Why is the word for empty tom and not tomt?