I blomsterbedet ved terrassen fandt min datter både en snegl og en gammel planke bag blomsterne.

Danish often puts a place or time phrase first when that is the setting the speaker wants to highlight.

So instead of starting with Min datter fandt ..., the sentence starts with I blomsterbedet ved terrassen ... to set the scene first: In the flower bed by the terrace ...

This is very natural in Danish.

This is because of the Danish V2 rule: in a main clause, the finite verb usually comes in the second position.

The first position here is taken by the whole phrase:

I blomsterbedet ved terrassen

So the verb must come next:

fandt

Then the subject follows:

min datter

Structure:

• I blomsterbedet ved terrassen = first element
• fandt = verb in second position
• min datter = subject

If the sentence started with the subject, it would be:

Min datter fandt både en snegl og en gammel planke bag blomsterne.

Both are correct.

I usually means in.

So i blomsterbedet means in the flower bed.

Danish often uses i for being inside or within an area. A flower bed is treated as a space or area, so i is the natural preposition.

Et blomsterbed means a flower bed.
Blomsterbedet means the flower bed.

Danish often adds the definite article as an ending instead of using a separate word like the in English.

Here:

• et blomsterbed = a flower bed
• blomsterbedet = the flower bed

The ending -et shows that the noun is:

• singular
• neuter
• definite

Ved terrassen means by the terrace or next to the terrace.

It tells you which flower bed is meant:

• not just any flower bed
• specifically the one by the terrace

So I blomsterbedet ved terrassen means: In the flower bed by the terrace

For the same reason as blomsterbedet: it is definite.

• en terrasse = a terrace
• terrassen = the terrace

The ending -en is the definite singular ending for many common-gender nouns.

So:

• terrasse is a common-gender noun
• definite singular becomes terrassen

Fandt is the past tense of finde, which means to find.

Forms:

• at finde = to find
• finder = finds / is finding
• fandt = found
• fundet = found

It is an irregular verb, so the past tense is not formed by simply adding a regular ending.

In Danish, possessive words like min, din, hans, vores usually replace the indefinite article.

So:

• en datter = a daughter
• min datter = my daughter

You do not say en min datter.

Både ... og means both ... and.

So:

både en snegl og en gammel planke
= both a snail and an old plank

It emphasizes that she found two different things, not just one.

Because both nouns are common-gender singular indefinite nouns.

• en snegl = a snail
• en planke = a plank

In Danish, singular indefinite nouns usually take either:

• en for common gender
• et for neuter

Both snegl and planke are common gender, so they use en.

Because gammel must agree with:

• the noun’s gender
• singular/plural
• definite/indefinite

Here planke is:

• common gender
• singular
• indefinite

So the correct adjective form is the basic form:

en gammel planke

Compare:

• en gammel planke = a/an old plank
• et gammelt bord = an old table
• gamle planker = old planks
• den gamle planke = the old plank

Blomsterne means the flowers.

Base noun:

• en blomst = a flower

Plural:

• blomster = flowers

Definite plural:

• blomsterne = the flowers

So the ending -ne marks definite plural.

Bag blomsterne means behind the flowers.

It most naturally tells you where the things were found, especially the plank, though in real context it can feel slightly attached to the whole finding situation.

So the sentence suggests that in the flower bed by the terrace, your daughter found:

• a snail
• and an old plank
• behind the flowers

If you wanted to make the location apply more clearly to both objects, Danish might sometimes be rearranged for clarity. But as it stands, the sentence is still perfectly natural.

You could rearrange parts of it, but not every rearrangement sounds equally natural.

Min datter fandt ... is fine and very normal. But if you pile up many place phrases after the verb, the sentence can become harder to process.

The original version is good because it sets the scene first:

I blomsterbedet ved terrassen fandt min datter ...

That helps the listener understand the location early.

Yes.

It is a compound noun:

• blomster = flowers
• bed = bed

So blomsterbed literally means flower bed.

Danish makes very frequent use of compound nouns, just like English does.

Because this is just one main clause with several phrases inside it, not two separate clauses that need to be divided by a comma.

Main structure:

• place phrase first
• verb
• subject
• objects
• final place phrase

So no comma is needed here.

The simplest version is:

Min datter fandt en snegl.
= My daughter found a snail.

From there, the sentence adds:

• a fronted location: I blomsterbedet ved terrassen
• a paired object structure: både ... og
• another location phrase: bag blomsterne

So the full sentence is built around that simple core:

• min datter = subject
• fandt = verb
• en snegl ... en gammel planke = objects