Die Wohnungsanzeige klang perfekt, doch der Makler erklärte uns später, dass der Vertrag nur befristet ist.

Because Wohnungsanzeige is a feminine noun in German.

• The base noun is die Anzeige = the advertisement / listing
• Wohnung = apartment / flat
• Combined, die Wohnungsanzeige means the apartment listing / rental ad

In German compounds, the last part determines the grammatical gender. Since Anzeige is feminine, the whole compound is feminine too, so you get die Wohnungsanzeige.

It is also the subject of the first clause, so it is in the nominative case:

• Die Wohnungsanzeige klang perfekt.

German often combines nouns into one longer noun.

Here:

• Wohnung = apartment
• Anzeige = advertisement, notice, listing

So Wohnungsanzeige literally means something like apartment-advertisement.

The -s- in the middle is a linking sound called a Fugen-s. It often appears in compounds, but there is not always a simple rule for when it does.

So:

• Wohnungsanzeige = apartment listing / rental ad

Klang is the simple past form of klingen.

• klingen = to sound
• klang = sounded

So:

• Die Wohnungsanzeige klang perfekt = The listing sounded perfect

In written German, especially in narration, the simple past is very common. In spoken German, many speakers might also say:

• Die Wohnungsanzeige hat perfekt geklungen.

Both are correct, but klang sounds very natural in written or storytelling style.

Because klingen and sein do different things.

• war perfekt = it actually was perfect
• klang perfekt = it sounded perfect, it seemed perfect

So klang suggests that the ad appeared perfect at first, but later something made that impression less true. That fits the contrast in the sentence.

Here doch means something like but / however / and yet.

So:

• Die Wohnungsanzeige klang perfekt, doch ... = The listing sounded perfect, but ...

It is very similar to aber in this sentence. However, doch often sounds a bit more formal or literary than aber.

Compare:

• ..., aber der Makler erklärte uns später ...
• ..., doch der Makler erklärte uns später ...

Both are correct. Doch gives the sentence a slightly more polished written tone.

Der Makler is the subject of the second main clause.

• der Makler = the real-estate agent / broker
• erklärte = explained

So the person doing the action is der Makler, which means it is in the nominative case.

Structure:

• doch der Makler erklärte uns später ...

Uns is the dative pronoun here.

The verb erklären often works like this:

• jemandem etwas erklären
• to explain something to someone

So:

• der Makler erklärte uns ... = the agent explained to us ...

Here:

• uns = to us = dative
• the thing being explained is the whole dass clause:
  • dass der Vertrag nur befristet ist

So the structure is:

• Der Makler erklärte uns, dass ... = The agent explained to us that ...

Später is an adverb meaning later.

In German, adverb placement is flexible, but there are common patterns. In this sentence:

• der Makler erklärte uns später, dass ...

This sounds natural and means:

• the agent explained to us later that ...

You could also hear:

• der Makler erklärte später uns ...

But that sounds less natural here.

German often places pronouns like uns fairly early in the clause, so uns später feels very normal.

Because dass is a subordinating conjunction.

In a normal main clause, the conjugated verb is usually in second position:

• Der Vertrag ist nur befristet.

But after dass, German sends the conjugated verb to the end of the clause:

• ..., dass der Vertrag nur befristet ist.

So:

• main clause: Der Vertrag ist nur befristet.
• subordinate clause: ..., dass der Vertrag nur befristet ist.

That is one of the most important German word-order rules.

Because the whole part after dass is a subordinate clause, and in subordinate clauses the conjugated verb normally goes to the end.

So instead of:

• dass der Vertrag ist nur befristet ❌

German requires:

• dass der Vertrag nur befristet ist ✅

A good shortcut is:

• After dass, put the finite verb at the end.

Befristet means limited in time, fixed-term, or temporary.

In this context:

• der Vertrag ist nur befristet means
• the contract is only temporary
• the contract is fixed-term
• the contract has a time limit

It comes from the noun die Frist = deadline / time limit / term.

So befristet literally means something like given a time limit.

Because befristet is not being used directly before a noun here. It is part of the predicate after ist.

Compare:

Before a noun:

• ein befristeter Vertrag = a fixed-term contract
• here it needs an adjective ending: -er

After sein:

• Der Vertrag ist befristet.
• here there is no adjective ending

That is normal in German. Predicate adjectives do not take adjective endings.

Good question. German does not always force a strict sequence of tenses the way English sometimes seems to.

• erklärte is past: the explaining happened later, at some point in the past
• ist is present: the contract is fixed-term

Using ist suggests that this is presented as a fact that is true at the relevant point, and possibly still true now in the story.

German often keeps the tense that best matches the fact being stated, rather than automatically shifting everything into the past.

You could imagine:

• ... erklärte uns später, dass der Vertrag nur befristet ist. = He told us later that the contract is fixed-term.

This sounds very natural in German.

Nur means only.

So:

• der Vertrag ist nur befristet

means something like:

• the contract is only temporary
• the contract is only fixed-term

It adds the idea of limitation: the contract is not permanent, just limited in duration.

In context, it signals the disappointing catch in what otherwise sounded like a perfect listing.

Sometimes yes, but moving nur can change the emphasis.

Here:

• dass der Vertrag nur befristet ist emphasizes that the contract is only temporary.

If you move nur, the focus may shift. For example:

• dass nur der Vertrag befristet ist would sound like only the contract is temporary — which suggests that something else is not.

So in the original sentence, nur is placed to modify the idea of befristet most naturally.

There are two commas for two different reasons.

1. Before doch

   • Die Wohnungsanzeige klang perfekt, doch der Makler ...

   This comma separates two main clauses joined by doch.

2. Before dass

   • ..., erklärte uns später, dass der Vertrag nur befristet ist.

   In German, subordinate clauses introduced by dass are separated by a comma.

So both commas are required.

Yes. That is a great way to understand it.

Main clause 1:

• Die Wohnungsanzeige klang perfekt
• subject: Die Wohnungsanzeige
• verb: klang

Main clause 2:

• doch der Makler erklärte uns später
• subject: der Makler
• verb: erklärte
• indirect object: uns
• adverb: später

Subordinate clause:

• dass der Vertrag nur befristet ist
• conjunction: dass
• subject: der Vertrag
• predicate: nur befristet
• verb at the end: ist

This kind of breakdown makes German word order much easier to follow.

Yes, definitely. It sounds natural and correct.

A few style notes:

• doch makes it sound a bit more polished or written than aber
• klang and erklärte in the simple past also fit a written or narrative style well
• In everyday speech, someone might say:
  • Die Wohnungsanzeige hat perfekt geklungen, aber der Makler hat uns später erklärt, dass der Vertrag nur befristet ist.

That spoken version is a bit more conversational, but the original sentence is completely natural German.