Breakdown of Er liest das Buch, anstatt zu zaubern.
er
he
das Buch
the book
lesen
to read
zu
to (infinitive marker)
Questions & Answers about Er liest das Buch, anstatt zu zaubern.
How does the anstatt ... zu structure work in this sentence?
This structure translates to "instead of doing [something]." You use anstatt at the beginning of the phrase, followed by zu and the infinitive (original, dictionary form) of the verb at the very end. Here, zu zaubern acts as "to do magic" or "doing magic".
Could I use just statt instead of anstatt here?
Yes! You can simply say statt zu zaubern. Both statt and anstatt mean exactly the same thing in this context and are completely interchangeable, though statt is a bit shorter and very common in spoken German.
Why is there a comma before anstatt?
In German, you must use a comma to separate the main sentence (Er liest das Buch) from the infinitive clause (anstatt zu zaubern). This is a strict punctuation rule that helps break the sentence into clear chunks, which is different from English where we usually wouldn't use a comma before "instead of".
If he was doing magic with a wand, where would that extra information go in the second half?
Any extra details get sandwiched between anstatt and the zu + verb block. For example, to say "instead of doing magic with a wand", you would say anstatt mit einem Zauberstab zu zaubern. The zu zaubern part must stay firmly anchored at the very end of the sentence.