Hinter dem Busch steht eine dichte Hecke.

Because hinter is a two-way preposition in German. That means it can take either:

• dative for a location: where something is
• accusative for a direction/change of position: where something is going

In Hinter dem Busch steht eine dichte Hecke, the sentence describes a location, not movement. The hedge is already there, so German uses the dative:

• hinter dem Busch = behind the bush

If there were movement, you would use accusative:

• Die Katze läuft hinter den Busch. = The cat runs behind the bush.

German often puts the location or another important element first for emphasis or style. When that happens, the conjugated verb still has to stay in second position.

So the structure here is:

• Hinter dem Busch = first element
• steht = second position, as required
• eine dichte Hecke = subject comes after the verb

This is a very common German pattern. English usually keeps the subject first more often, but German is more flexible.

Compare:

• Eine dichte Hecke steht hinter dem Busch.
• Hinter dem Busch steht eine dichte Hecke.

Both are correct. The second version emphasizes the location a bit more.

Because German is a verb-second (V2) language in main clauses.

That means the conjugated verb must come in the second position, not necessarily after the subject.

In this sentence:

• 1st position: Hinter dem Busch
• 2nd position: steht
• then the subject: eine dichte Hecke

So even though eine dichte Hecke is the subject, it does not have to come first.

German often uses position verbs where English would simply use is.

Here, steht literally means stands, but in many contexts it is best understood as:

• is standing
• or more naturally in English, just is

For things that are upright or seen as standing in a place, German often uses stehen:

• Da steht ein Baum.
• Vor dem Haus steht ein Auto.
• Im Garten steht eine Bank.

A hedge can be thought of as something upright and fixed in place, so steht sounds natural.

You could sometimes use ist in other contexts, but steht is the more idiomatic choice here.

Eine dichte Hecke is nominative singular feminine, because it is the subject of the sentence.

The thing doing the standing is the hedge:

• eine dichte Hecke steht = a dense hedge stands / is standing

You can see the feminine nominative in:

• eine = feminine nominative singular article
• dichte = adjective ending that matches that pattern
• Hecke = feminine noun

This is about adjective endings.

The noun Hecke is feminine, and here it is nominative singular. After eine, a feminine nominative adjective takes -e:

• eine dichte Hecke

So:

• eine = feminine nominative singular
• dichte = correct adjective ending for that form

Other forms would be different:

• eine dichte Hecke = nominative/accusative feminine singular
• mit einer dichten Hecke = dative feminine singular

So dichten would only appear in a different grammatical environment.

No. Hinter is a two-way preposition.

It takes:

• dative for location: behind
• accusative for movement toward a place: to behind

Examples:

• Der Hund ist hinter dem Haus. = The dog is behind the house.
  
  • location → dative
• Der Hund läuft hinter das Haus. = The dog runs behind the house.
  
  • movement/change of position → accusative

So in your sentence, dem Busch is dative because the sentence answers Where is the hedge?

• der Busch = bush, masculine
• die Hecke = hedge, feminine

That is why you get:

• dem Busch = dative singular of der Busch
• eine ... Hecke = feminine singular

Knowing the noun genders helps you understand the article forms and adjective endings.

Yes, absolutely. That is also correct.

The difference is mostly word order and emphasis:

• Eine dichte Hecke steht hinter dem Busch.
  
  • more neutral, starts with the subject
• Hinter dem Busch steht eine dichte Hecke.
  
  • emphasizes the location a bit more, or sounds more descriptive

German allows this flexibility as long as the verb stays in second position in a main clause.

They are similar, but not the same:

• Busch = bush or shrub, usually a single plant or clump
• Hecke = hedge, usually a row of bushes or shrubs forming a boundary

So the sentence describes a hedge located behind a bush.

Yes, in meaning it is very close.

• dicht = dense, thick, tightly packed

So:

• eine dichte Hecke = a dense hedge / a thick hedge

In everyday English, thick hedge may sound more natural in some contexts, but dense hedge is also a good match.

In German, the subject does not always come first, so you often identify it by case, not just position.

Here:

• eine dichte Hecke is nominative, so it is the subject
• hinter dem Busch is a prepositional phrase, not the subject

A useful habit in German is to look for:

1. the conjugated verb
2. the nominative noun phrase
3. any other phrases like prepositional phrases

That helps you understand sentences even when the word order is different from English.