Am Abend sehe ich gern fern.

In the evening I like to watch TV.

Breakdown of Am Abend sehe ich gern fern.

• ich: I
• sehen: to see
• der Abend: the evening
• gern: gladly, like
• fernsehen: to watch TV

Questions & Answers about Am Abend sehe ich gern fern.

Why is Am Abend placed at the beginning of the sentence?

In German, you can shift time expressions to the front for emphasis or variation. Placing Am Abend at the beginning sets the time frame upfront. It could also appear later, for example: Ich sehe am Abend gern fern, but starting with Am Abend is common and sounds natural.

Why do we say sehe and not some other form of the verb?

German verbs change depending on the subject. Ich requires the -e ending for the verb sehen in the present tense: ich sehe, du siehst, er/sie/es sieht, and so on. So you must use sehe when the subject is ich.

Why is gern placed after ich?

Placing gern right after the subject (ich) is a common way to indicate that you like doing the action. You could also place it elsewhere, but ich sehe gern fern is the most natural word order. If you moved gern around too much, the sentence might sound awkward or change the emphasis.

Why do we have two parts of the verb fernsehen separated in the sentence?

Fernsehen in German is a separable verb (fern + sehen). In main clauses, separable verbs split up: the prefix (fern-) goes to the end of the sentence, and the finite verb (sehe) stays in the second position. That’s why we have sehe ... fern instead of fernsehe.

Could you use Fernsehen as a noun in this context?

Yes, you could say something like Ich mag das Fernsehen am Abend, meaning you like TV in general. However, the original sentence focuses on the action of watching TV, hence the verb structure fernsehen is used logically.