Learn Hardcore German: Der erste Eindruck war positiv, doch später hatten wir Fragen. - The first impression was positive, but later we had questions.

Because Der erste Eindruck is the subject of the sentence, so it is in the nominative case. The noun Eindruck is masculine; the nominative masculine definite article is der.

Accusative (object) would be den: Ich habe den ersten Eindruck nicht vergessen.
Dative (indirect object) would be dem: Mit dem ersten Eindruck hatte das nichts zu tun.

Why does the adjective end in -e (erste) and not -er (erster)?

With a definite article (der), adjectives take the weak ending in nominative singular masculine: der erste Eindruck. Compare:

No article or a “strong” determiner: erster Eindruck, mein erster Eindruck
Definite article: der erste Eindruck, den ersten Eindruck (acc.), dem ersten Eindruck (dat.)

Why is it war and not ist gewesen/war gewesen?

German often uses the simple past (Präteritum) for sein, haben, and modals, even in speech. War is the natural, neutral choice.

ist gewesen (present perfect) can sound heavier or more emphatic in writing; it’s not needed here.
war gewesen is past perfect and would mean “had been,” which adds a different temporal layer.

Why is positiv not inflected (no ending) and lowercased?

After the verb sein, adjectives are used predicatively and are not declined: Der Eindruck war positiv.
Adjectives are lowercased in German unless they’re nominalized (turned into nouns).

Why is there a comma before doch?

Doch here is a coordinating conjunction linking two independent clauses. German requires a comma before such conjunctions (aber, sondern, doch, jedoch, etc.) when they link main clauses.

What does doch mean here, and how does it differ from aber or jedoch?

Here doch means roughly but/however, signaling a contrast with a slightly concessive flavor (“yet, despite that”).

aber = neutral “but,” the most common choice.
doch = like “however/yet,” a bit more pointed or literary.
jedoch = often more formal; can move inside the clause: Später hatten wir jedoch Fragen.
All three are fine here, with small stylistic differences.

Why is the order hatten wir after später?

German main clauses are V2 (the finite verb is the second element). Coordinating conjunctions like doch don’t take a position in the clause. By fronting später as the first element, the verb hatten must come second, forcing inversion: später hatten wir.

Could I also say doch wir hatten später Fragen?

Yes. That keeps the subject first: … doch wir hatten später Fragen.

… doch später hatten wir Fragen emphasizes the time (“later”).
… doch wir hatten später Fragen is more neutral in focus.

Can I omit doch altogether?

Yes, e.g. with a semicolon or full stop:

Der erste Eindruck war positiv; später hatten wir Fragen.
German also allows a simple comma between closely related main clauses, but a semicolon or a conjunction is often clearer.

What’s the difference between später and danach here?

später = “later” in a general sense.
danach = “after that,” referring more directly to the preceding event or phase.
Both can work: … doch danach hatten wir Fragen subtly anchors the timing more explicitly to what came before.

Why is Fragen plural? Can I use eine Frage?

Plural Fragen matches the idiomatic English “we had questions,” implying more than one or some unspecified number. You can use singular to stress only one: … später hatten wir eine Frage.

Is Fragen haben the best way to say “to have questions”?

It’s very common and idiomatic. Alternatives (with slightly different nuances) include:

Es gab später Fragen. (There were questions.)
Später kamen Fragen auf. (Questions arose.)
Später stellten wir Fragen. (We asked questions.)
Wir hatten später Rückfragen. (Follow-up questions.)

Why wir and not uns? What case is Fragen?

Wir is the subject (nominative). Fragen is the direct object (accusative plural) of haben.
Uns would be wrong here. It could appear in a different structure (e.g., reflexive): Wir stellten uns Fragen = “We asked ourselves questions.”

What are the genders and plurals of Eindruck and Frage?

der Eindruck (masc.), plural die Eindrücke (with Umlaut).
die Frage (fem.), plural die Fragen.

Could I use obwohl and make a subordinate clause?

Yes. That changes the structure and nuance:

Der erste Eindruck war positiv, obwohl wir später Fragen hatten.
Obwohl der erste Eindruck positiv war, hatten wir später Fragen.
Note the verb-final order in the subordinate clause with obwohl (… Fragen hatten).

Where else can I put später?

Common, natural options:

Später hatten wir Fragen.
Wir hatten später Fragen.
… doch später hatten wir Fragen. Avoid placing später awkwardly at the very end (e.g., Wir hatten Fragen später) unless you add another word that makes it sound natural (e.g., Wir hatten später noch Fragen).

Any pronunciation tips for tricky parts?

Eindruck: the Ei sounds like English “eye” [ai]; final ck is a hard [k].
doch: ch is the back-of-the-throat sound (like Scottish “loch”).
Fragen: long a [aː]; the g is a hard [g].
später: ä like “eh” (long) and the final -er is a reduced schwa plus r-colored sound in many accents.

Is positiv a false friend in any way?

Not really. positiv aligns with English “positive” in meaning and is used similarly in evaluative contexts: ein positiver Eindruck, eine positive Entwicklung, positiv getestet (tested positive).