Tijdens het ontbijt zaten wij naar de regen op het raam te staren en te zuchten, omdat we liever naar het strand wilden gaan.

Tijdens means during and is followed by a noun phrase: tijdens het ontbijt = during breakfast.

Terwijl means while, but it introduces a full clause:

• Tijdens het ontbijt... = during breakfast
• Terwijl we ontbeten... = while we were having breakfast

So in this sentence, tijdens is the correct choice because it is followed by het ontbijt, not by a whole clause.

Dutch main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb must come in the second position.

If you put Tijdens het ontbijt first, then the finite verb zaten must come next:

• Tijdens het ontbijt zaten wij...

If you start with the subject, that is also possible:

• Wij zaten tijdens het ontbijt...

Both are correct. The version with Tijdens het ontbijt first gives a bit more emphasis to the time setting.

Both wij and we mean we.

The difference is mainly:

• we = unstressed, very common in everyday speech
• wij = stressed, more formal, or slightly more emphatic

So:

• zaten wij sounds a bit more careful or literary than zaten we
• omdat we liever... uses the more neutral unstressed form

In everyday spoken Dutch, many people would probably say zaten we.

This is a very common Dutch pattern:

zitten / staan / lopen / liggen + te + infinitive

It describes an ongoing action, often with a physical posture or position.

So:

• zaten ... te staren = were sitting staring / were staring while sitting
• zaten ... te zuchten = were sitting sighing / were sighing while sitting

Here zaten is the past tense of zitten, and the whole construction gives a kind of past continuous sense.

Dutch often uses these posture verbs where English would simply use was/were + -ing.

Yes, naar often means to when there is movement:

• naar het strand gaan = go to the beach

But with verbs of looking, naar often means at:

• kijken naar = look at
• staren naar = stare at

So naar de regen staren means to stare at the rain.

This is something you usually just learn with the verb: staren takes naar.

It belongs with de regen:

• de regen op het raam = the rain on the window

So they were staring at the rain on the window, not just at rain in general.

In other words, op het raam describes where the rain was visible.

A learner might also notice that Dutch can sometimes use other prepositions in similar situations, such as tegen het raam, especially if the idea is rain hitting the window. Here op het raam focuses on the rain being on the surface of the window.

Because both infinitives are part of the construction, and in standard Dutch you normally repeat te before each coordinated infinitive:

• te staren en te zuchten

That makes it clear that both verbs depend on zaten.

Dutch usually prefers:

• Hij zat te lezen en te schrijven

rather than leaving the second te out. Repeating it sounds more natural and standard.

Liever means rather or preferably.

It is the comparative form of graag, which Dutch uses with verbs to express liking or preference:

• Ik ga graag = I like going / I go gladly
• Ik ga liever = I would rather go
• Ik ga het liefst = I prefer going most of all

So:

• we liever naar het strand wilden gaan = we would rather go to the beach

English often uses prefer or would rather, but Dutch commonly uses graag / liever / liefst instead.

Because naar has more than one use.

In this sentence it appears in two different roles:

1. staren naar de regen
   Here naar belongs to the verb staren and means at.

2. naar het strand gaan
   Here naar shows direction/destination and means to.

So the same preposition is used, but the meaning depends on the verb and the context.

Omdat means because and introduces a subordinate clause.

In Dutch subordinate clauses, the verbs usually move toward the end:

• omdat we liever naar het strand wilden gaan

Compare that with a main clause:

• We wilden liever naar het strand gaan.

So omdat is one of the words that triggers this typical Dutch subordinate-clause word order.

Because willen needs an infinitive when you say what someone wanted to do:

• willen gaan = want to go

In the past tense plural, willen becomes wilden:

• we wilden gaan = we wanted to go

In a subordinate clause after omdat, that verb combination moves to the end:

• omdat we ... wilden gaan

So:

• wilden = finite past-tense modal verb
• gaan = infinitive giving the main action

Dutch often uses the simple past in narration, description, and background scenes:

• zaten
• wilden

It can sound more natural for telling what was going on at that moment.

The perfect tense is also possible in Dutch in many contexts, but it often feels more like reporting completed facts, especially in speech:

• we hebben zitten staren
• we hebben liever naar het strand willen gaan
  (this second one is also more awkward in practice)

So the simple past fits very well here because the sentence describes a scene in the past.