For lidt siden faldt en gren ned på græsplænen, så viceværten lagde den bag hegnet.

Because Danish follows the V2 rule in main clauses: the finite verb normally comes in the second position.

Here, For lidt siden is placed first as a time expression, so the verb faldt has to come next:

• For lidt siden = first element
• faldt = second element
• en gren = subject

So the structure is:

For lidt siden | faldt | en gren ned på græsplænen

If you start with the subject instead, you would say:

En gren faldt ned på græsplænen for lidt siden.

Both are correct, but the word order changes because of the V2 rule.

For lidt siden means a little while ago or a short time ago.

It is a fixed expression:

• for ... siden = ... ago
• lidt = a little

So literally it is something like a little ago, but in natural English that becomes a little while ago.

Examples:

• for en time siden = an hour ago
• for to dage siden = two days ago
• for lidt siden = a little while ago

Faldt is the past tense of falde (to fall).

So:

• at falde = to fall
• falder = falls / is falling
• faldt = fell
• er faldet = has fallen

In this sentence, the speaker is telling a past event in a simple narrative way, so faldt is the natural choice.

Ned means down.

With falde, Danish often uses ned to make the downward movement explicit:

• falde = fall
• falde ned = fall down

In many contexts, falde alone can work, but falde ned is very common and often sounds more natural when you want to emphasize that something dropped downward.

So:

• En gren faldt = A branch fell
• En gren faldt ned = A branch fell down

En gren means a branch, while grenen means the branch.

The sentence introduces the branch for the first time, so Danish uses the indefinite form:

• en gren = a branch
• grenen = the branch

Then, in the second clause, the branch is already known, so it is referred to as den (it).

This is very similar to English:

• A branch fell down ...
• ... so the caretaker put it ...

Because gren is a common gender noun in Danish, so it takes den.

Danish has two grammatical genders:

• common gender → en, den
• neuter → et, det

Since it is:

• en gren

the pronoun must be:

• den

Compare:

• en gren → den
• et træ → det

So lagde den means put it, referring back to en gren.

På græsplænen means on the lawn.

The preposition på is used because the branch ends up on a surface/area. A lawn is treated as a surface you can be on.

Breakdown:

• græsplæne = lawn
• græsplænen = the lawn
• på græsplænen = on the lawn

This is very similar to English on the lawn.

Danish often forms compound nouns as one word.

So:

• græs = grass
• plæne = lawn

Together:

• græsplæne = lawn
• græsplænen = the lawn

This is very common in Danish. English often writes these as separate words, but Danish usually joins them.

Other examples:

• havehegn = garden fence
• soveværelse = bedroom
• sommerhus = summer house

Here, så means so or therefore.

It connects the two events:

• a branch fell onto the lawn
• therefore the caretaker put it behind the fence

So the sentence means that the second action happened as a result of the first.

Be aware that så can also mean other things in other contexts, such as then or such, but here it is clearly the conjunction so.

Because in this sentence så is being used as a coordinating conjunction meaning so.

After a coordinating conjunction like this, Danish normally keeps normal main-clause order:

• så viceværten lagde den ...

That means:

• så = conjunction
• viceværten = subject
• lagde = verb

If så were being used more like an adverb in first position, you could get inversion in other contexts, but here the natural reading is simply so the caretaker put it ...

Viceværten is the definite singular form of vicevært.

So:

• en vicevært = a caretaker / superintendent / janitor / building manager
• viceværten = the caretaker / the superintendent

The exact English translation depends on context. In Danish housing contexts, vicevært often means someone who looks after a building or property.

The definite article is added as a suffix in Danish:

• vicevært
  • -en = viceværten

Lagde is the past tense of lægge, which means to lay / put (something down, often horizontally).

This fits a branch well, because a branch is something you would typically lay somewhere.

So:

• lægge = lay / put down
• lagde = laid / put down

Compare with related verbs:

• stille = place upright / set
• sætte = set, put, seat
• lægge = lay down

A branch is not usually upright, so lægge is the most natural choice.

This is a very common learner question.

• lægge = to lay / put something somewhere
  
  • it usually involves movement or causing something to be placed somewhere
• ligge = to lie / be lying
  • it describes a position/state, not an action of placing

In this sentence:

• viceværten lagde den bag hegnet = the caretaker put/laid it behind the fence

If you wanted to describe where it was afterward, you would use ligge:

• Den lå bag hegnet = It lay / was lying behind the fence

Bag hegnet means behind the fence/hedge.

Breakdown:

• bag = behind
• hegn = fence / hedge / boundary fence
• hegnet = the fence / the hedge

So bag hegnet is literally behind the fence.

Which English word is best for hegn depends on context:

• fence
• hedge
• barrier/boundary

Because Danish usually puts the definite article at the end of the noun as a suffix.

So:

• et hegn = a fence
• hegnet = the fence

This is one of the big differences from English.

More examples:

• en gren = a branch
• grenen = the branch
• en vicevært = a caretaker
• viceværten = the caretaker

So hegnet already includes the.

Yes, very natural.

It has a common pattern:

1. a time phrase first
2. the main event
3. a result clause with så

Structure:

• For lidt siden = time setting
• faldt en gren ned på græsplænen = event
• så viceværten lagde den bag hegnet = consequence/result

A native speaker could also rephrase it, for example:

• En gren faldt ned på græsplænen for lidt siden, så viceværten lagde den bag hegnet.

But the original sentence sounds completely normal.