Learn Hardcore Norwegian: Etter møtet føles inntrykket bedre enn i går. - After the meeting the impression feels better than yesterday.

Using etter møte (indefinite) here would sound wrong in normal Norwegian. You might see the indefinite form with some time expressions (etter jobb, etter middag), but with møte in this kind of sentence, the definite is what sounds natural.

Why is the word order Etter møtet føles inntrykket … and not Etter møtet inntrykket føles …?

Norwegian main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must be in second position in the sentence.

In this sentence:

Etter møtet – adverbial (comes first)
føles – finite verb (must come second)
inntrykket – subject
bedre enn i går – rest of the predicate

So the correct order is:

Etter møtet føles inntrykket …

If you said Etter møtet inntrykket føles …, the verb would be in third position, which breaks the V2 rule and sounds ungrammatical in standard Norwegian.

Could I also say Inntrykket føles bedre etter møtet? Is that different?

Yes, Inntrykket føles bedre etter møtet is perfectly correct and very natural.

The difference is just what you put in first position (what you highlight slightly):

Etter møtet føles inntrykket bedre enn i går.
– Slight emphasis on “after the meeting” as a time frame.
Inntrykket føles bedre etter møtet enn i går.
– Slight emphasis on “the impression” itself.

Both are grammatical; it’s a matter of nuance and focus, not correctness.

What exactly is inntrykket grammatically?

Inntrykket is:

the definite singular form of the neuter noun et inntrykk (an impression → the impression),
and it functions as the subject of the sentence.

Forms:

et inntrykk – an impression
inntrykk – impression (indefinite, used after an article or in some other contexts)
inntrykket – the impression (definite)

In the sentence, inntrykket is “what feels better”, so it is the subject.

What’s the difference between føles and føler? Why do we use føles here?

å føle = to feel (active; how a person feels)
å føles = to feel / to seem (middle voice; how something feels to someone)

Examples:

Jeg føler meg bra. – I feel good. (my own feelings)
Stolen føles hard. – The chair feels hard. (how the chair is experienced)

In inntrykket føles bedre, the impression is not actively feeling anything. You’re describing how it seems or comes across, so Norwegian uses føles, not føler.

Using inntrykket føler would be wrong, because an impression doesn’t “feel” in the active sense.

Could I say inntrykket er bedre instead of inntrykket føles bedre? What’s the nuance?

Yes, both are possible, but they’re not identical in nuance:

Inntrykket er bedre – The impression is better.
- Sounds more definite, almost like a statement of fact.
Inntrykket føles bedre – The impression feels better / seems better.
- Emphasizes your subjective experience or perception.

In many contexts, føles sounds a bit softer and more about your personal impression, which matches the idea of talking about “inntrykk” (impression).

Is føles some kind of passive form because of the -s ending?

The -s ending can mark passive in Norwegian, but here it is the so‑called middle voice, not a true passive.

Passive example:
Døren åpnes klokka åtte. – The door is opened at eight.
Middle voice / “feels” example:
Døren føles tung. – The door feels heavy.

In inntrykket føles bedre, nothing is done to the impression (no agent). The -s here shows that the verb describes how something is experienced, not a passive action done by someone.

How does enn work in bedre enn i går? Can I use som instead?

Enn is the standard conjunction in comparisons where something is more/less X than something else.

Structure:
[comparative adjective] + enn + [what you compare with]

bedre enn i går – better than yesterday
større enn huset – bigger than the house
mer interessant enn det andre – more interesting than the other

You cannot use som in this structure.
bedre som i går is wrong in this meaning.

Som is used in other comparative structures, e.g.:

like god som – as good as
- Det er like bra som i går. – It’s as good as yesterday.

Why do we say i går and not just går?

I går is a fixed expression meaning yesterday.

Literally:

i – in / on
går – an old form related to “yesterday”

But in modern Norwegian i går behaves as one unit meaning “yesterday”; you don’t normally drop the i.

So:

i går = yesterday
i morgen = tomorrow
i dag = today

All three are fixed adverbial expressions with i.

Why is føles in the present tense when we’re talking about something “after the meeting”? Shouldn’t it be past?

Norwegian often uses the present tense to describe a current state, even if that state is the result of something that already happened.

In this sentence, you’re talking about how the impression currently feels after the meeting, compared to yesterday. That’s a present situation, so present tense is natural:

Nå føles inntrykket bedre enn i går. – Now the impression feels better than yesterday.

You would use past tense if you wanted to place the “feeling” itself in the past:

Etter møtet føltes inntrykket bedre enn dagen før.
– After the meeting, the impression felt better than the day before. (reporting about a past situation)

Could I say etter at møtet var over instead of etter møtet? What’s the difference?

Yes, you can, but the structure changes and the nuance is slightly different:

Etter møtet føles inntrykket bedre enn i går.
– Simple prepositional phrase; “after the meeting” as a whole event.
Etter at møtet var over, føltes inntrykket bedre enn i går.
– A full clause: “after the meeting was over”; you explicitly mention that the meeting had ended.

Etter + noun (etter møtet) is shorter and very common.
Etter at + clause is used when you want to specify more about the event (e.g., etter at møtet var ferdig, etter at vi hadde snakket sammen, etc.).

Both are grammatically fine; you choose based on how much detail you want to add.