Learn Hardcore French: Quand je suis stressé, je préfère faire de la méditation plutôt que regarder une série. - When I am stressed, I prefer to do meditation rather than watch a series.

In French, when you talk about a general situation or a habit, you use the present tense after quand, even if in English you would often say “when I’m stressed” or “when I get stressed” (also present) or sometimes “when I will be stressed” (future).

Quand je suis stressé, je préfère…
= Whenever I’m stressed, I prefer… (general habit)

You would use quand je serai stressé only for a specific future moment, for example:

Quand je serai stressé à l’examen, je penserai à ma respiration.
When I’m stressed during the exam, I will think about my breathing.

So here, it’s about a general habit → present tense is correct: quand je suis stressé.

Why is it stressé and how does it change for feminine or plural?

Stressé is originally a past participle of stresser, but it’s used as an adjective, like stressed in English.

It agrees with the subject:

Je suis stressé – a man speaking (masculine singular)
Je suis stressée – a woman speaking (feminine singular)
Nous sommes stressés – a group of men or mixed group
Nous sommes stressées – a group of women only

So you choose stressé / stressée / stressés / stressées depending on who is speaking or who is stressed.

Could I say je me sens stressé instead of je suis stressé? Is there a difference?

Yes, you can say both, and both are natural:

Je suis stressé = I am stressed. (state, fact)
Je me sens stressé = I feel stressed. (focus on perception/feeling)

The nuance is very similar to English:

Je suis stressé can sound slightly more neutral or objective.
Je me sens stressé emphasizes your subjective feeling at that moment.

In everyday conversation, both are very common and often interchangeable.

Why is it je préfère faire de la méditation instead of simply je préfère méditer?

Both are correct:

Je préfère faire de la méditation.
Je préfère méditer.

The difference is mostly style:

faire de la méditation = literally to do meditation; sounds a bit more like the activity or practice.
méditer = to meditate (the verb form), slightly more concise and maybe a bit more “elevated” or direct.

In everyday speech, faire de la méditation is very common.
You could rewrite the sentence as:

Quand je suis stressé, je préfère méditer plutôt que regarder une série.

and it would still be completely natural.

What exactly does faire de la méditation mean, and why de la?

Faire de la méditation is a common French pattern:

faire du / de la / des + noun to talk about doing an activity.

Examples:

faire du sport – to do sport / work out
faire de la natation – to do swimming
faire de la musique – to make / play music

Méditation is a feminine noun, so you use the partitive article de la:

faire de la méditation – to do some meditation / to meditate (as an activity)

You do not say:

faire la méditation (that would sound like “do the meditation” – very specific)
faire de méditation (missing the article, incorrect here)

Should it be plutôt que regarder or plutôt que de regarder? What’s the difference?

Both forms are used:

plutôt que regarder une série
plutôt que de regarder une série

In more careful or traditional grammar, many teachers prefer:

plutôt que de + infinitive

So a very “safe” version would be:

Quand je suis stressé, je préfère faire de la méditation plutôt que de regarder une série.

However, leaving out de (plutôt que regarder) is very common in modern French, especially in speech, and many native speakers say it spontaneously. You will see both, and both are widely understood.

If you want to be on the safe side in writing: use plutôt que de + infinitive.

Why does préférer take an infinitive (faire, regarder) and not something like a subjunctive clause?

With préférer, when you talk about actions done by the same subject, French normally uses the infinitive:

Je préfère rester ici. – I prefer to stay here.
Nous préférons manger dehors. – We prefer eating outside.

So in your sentence:

Subject: je
Actions: faire de la méditation / regarder une série

→ You use the infinitive:

je préfère faire… plutôt que (de) regarder…

You get a subjunctive with préférer que when the subject changes:

Je préfère que tu viennes. – I’d rather you came.
Je préfère qu’elle regarde une série. – I’d rather she watched a series.

Here the subject stays je, so infinitives are normal.

Why don’t we repeat faire before regarder?

Because faire doesn’t go with regarder in this meaning.

You can say:

faire de la méditation (correct) but not
faire regarder une série (that would mean “to make someone watch a series,” a different verb pattern).

What je préfère is comparing is simply two actions:

faire de la méditation
regarder une série

Both are infinitive groups; only the first needs faire:

je préfère [faire de la méditation] plutôt que [regarder une série].

There is no missing verb; French doesn’t require you to repeat a verb if it doesn’t belong to the second expression.

Can I change the word order to put quand je suis stressé at the end of the sentence?

Yes. Both are correct:

Quand je suis stressé, je préfère faire de la méditation plutôt que regarder une série.
Je préfère faire de la méditation plutôt que regarder une série quand je suis stressé.

The meaning is the same.
Putting quand je suis stressé at the beginning slightly emphasizes the condition or context (“When I’m stressed…”), which matches the English style.

Why is it regarder une série and not something with a preposition like regarder à?

In French, regarder is a direct transitive verb: it takes a direct object without a preposition.

regarder la télé – to watch TV
regarder un film – to watch a movie
regarder une série – to watch a series/show

So you say regarder une série, not regarder à une série or regarder sur une série.
This is one of the classic differences from English look at / watch, which sometimes need prepositions.

Does une série mean exactly the same as “a series” in English?

Not exactly, but they are close.

In everyday modern French:

une série usually means a TV series or streaming series (like a show on Netflix, etc.).

If you want to be explicit, you can also say:

une série télé / une série télévisée – a TV series

But in most contexts today, regarder une série is understood as watching a (TV/streaming) show or series.