Abends sehe ich eine Serie.

In the evening I watch a series.

Breakdown of Abends sehe ich eine Serie.

• ich: I
• abends: in the evening
• eine: a; (feminine, accusative)
• die Serie: the series
• sehen: to watch

Questions & Answers about Abends sehe ich eine Serie.

Why is it Abends and not something like am Abend or jeden Abend?

All three are possible, but they differ slightly in style and nuance:

• abends = in the evenings / evenings (in general)

  • It’s an adverb that expresses a general habit.
  • Very natural and common in everyday German:
    
    • Abends lese ich. – I read in the evenings.

• am Abend = in the evening (on a particular evening or as a time frame)

  • More concrete, often for a specific day or a more defined time:
    
    • Am Abend gehe ich ins Kino. – (This) evening I’m going to the cinema.

• jeden Abend = every evening

  • Explicitly stresses every single evening:
    
    • Jeden Abend sehe ich eine Serie. – I watch a series every evening.

In your sentence, abends is used because the speaker is describing a general, habitual activity, not emphasizing every single evening or a specific evening.

Is it really spelled Abends with a capital A, or should it be abends?

The word itself is normally written abends (lowercase), because it’s an adverb, not a noun.

In your example, it appears as Abends only because it is the first word of the sentence, and in German (as in English) the first word of a sentence is always capitalized.

• Mid‑sentence:
  
  • Ich sehe abends eine Serie. – Here, abends would be lowercase.
• At the start of a sentence:
  
  • Abends sehe ich eine Serie. – Capital A because of sentence position, not because it’s a noun.

What exactly does abends mean? Is it “at night”?

abends usually means in the evening(s), not “at night”.

Typical time ranges:

• abends – early evening / evening (after the afternoon, before late night)
• nachts – at night
• morgens – in the mornings
• mittags – at midday / around noon
• nachmittags – in the afternoons

So Abends sehe ich eine Serie. is best understood as In the evenings I watch a series, not “at night”.

Why does the sentence start with Abends and not with ich, like Ich sehe abends eine Serie?

German has a verb‑second rule: in a main clause, the finite verb (here sehe) must be in second position. What comes before the verb (the first position) can be many things: subject, time, place, or something else you want to highlight.

Both are correct:

• Abends sehe ich eine Serie. (time emphasis)
• Ich sehe abends eine Serie. (neutral emphasis on the subject ich)

By putting Abends first, the speaker is giving extra emphasis to when the action happens. The information structure is roughly:

• Abends (as for evenings)
  sehe ich eine Serie (what I do then is watch a series).

Is Ich sehe abends eine Serie also correct? Does it mean the same thing?

Yes, Ich sehe abends eine Serie is perfectly correct and essentially means the same thing: you habitually watch a series in the evenings.

Nuance:

• Abends sehe ich eine Serie. – time is in the spotlight: “In the evenings, I watch a series.”
• Ich sehe abends eine Serie. – neutral order, focus is more on what I do: “I watch a series in the evenings.”

Both are natural sentences a native speaker would say.

Could I say Ich sehe eine Serie abends, putting abends at the end?

You can say Ich sehe eine Serie abends, and it’s grammatically possible, but it’s less natural in everyday speech.

Standard, natural orders are:

• Ich sehe abends eine Serie.
• Abends sehe ich eine Serie.

German generally prefers the order time – manner – place and often places short time adverbs like abends earlier rather than at the very end, unless you’re stressing them in a particular context.

Why is the verb sehe and not something else like schaue or gucke?

sehen is the basic verb to see / to watch. In this sentence, it’s conjugated for the 1st person singular:

• ich sehe
• du siehst
• er/sie/es sieht
• wir sehen
• ihr seht
• sie/Sie sehen

About alternatives:

• sehen – neutral, standard; can mean “see” or “watch”:
  
  • Ich sehe eine Serie.
• (an)schauen / (an)gucken – colloquial for “to watch / to look at”:
  
  • Ich schaue abends eine Serie (an).
  • Ich gucke abends eine Serie (an).
• fernsehen – specifically “to watch TV”:
  
  • Abends sehe ich fern. – In the evenings I watch TV.

In your sentence, sehe is a completely normal choice, especially in written or neutral German.

Why is sehe in the simple present? In English we would say “I am watching a series,” not “I watch a series.”

German uses one present tense (Präsens) for several meanings that English splits up:

1. Current action (present progressive)
   
   • Ich lese. = “I am reading.”
2. Habitual action
   
   • Ich lese abends. = “I read in the evenings.”
3. Near future
   
   • Ich gehe morgen ins Kino. = “I’m going to the cinema tomorrow.”

So Abends sehe ich eine Serie. naturally means I watch a series in the evenings (a habitual action). If you wanted to stress “right now,” German would still use the same form:

• Ich sehe gerade eine Serie. – I’m watching a series right now.

There is no separate “‑ing” tense in German grammar.

Why is it eine Serie and not just Serie without an article?

In German, you normally must use an article with singular countable nouns unless another determiner is present (like diese, meine, jede, etc.).

• Correct:
  
  • Ich sehe eine Serie. – I watch a series.
  • Ich sehe die Serie. – I watch the series.
  • Ich sehe meine Serie. – I watch my series.
• Incorrect in standard German:
  
  • Ich sehe Serie. ✗

So eine is the required indefinite article for Serie when you’re talking about some series in general, not a specific one that was already mentioned.

Why is the article eine and not ein or einen?

Because Serie is a feminine noun: die Serie.

In your sentence, eine Serie is the direct object of the verb sehen, so it is in the accusative case. The declension of the indefinite article for feminine nouns is simple:

• Nominative (subject): eine Serie
• Accusative (direct object): eine Serie

So:

• Eine Serie ist langweilig. – A series is boring. (subject)
• Ich sehe eine Serie. – I watch a series. (direct object)

For comparison:

• Masculine:
  
  • Nominative: ein Film – a film
  • Accusative: einen Film – a film (as object)
• Neuter:
  
  • Nominative/Accusative: ein Buch

Here, eine is correct because Serie is feminine and accusative.

What does Serie mean here? Is it always a TV series?

Serie is a general noun meaning series, and it can have different meanings depending on context:

• TV / streaming series (most common in this sentence):
  
  • Ich sehe abends eine Serie. – I watch a (TV/Netflix) series in the evenings.
• Other series:
  
  • A series of books: eine Buchserie
  • A mathematical series: eine mathematische Serie

In everyday conversation, if someone says Ich sehe abends eine Serie, it is normally understood as a TV or streaming series / show, unless the context clearly points to some other type of series.

Could the sentence use fernsehen instead, like Abends sehe ich fern? Would that mean the same thing?

Yes, you could say:

• Abends sehe ich fern. – In the evenings I watch TV.

Differences:

• Abends sehe ich eine Serie. – Focus on what you’re watching (a series).
• Abends sehe ich fern. – Focus on the activity of watching TV in general, without specifying what exactly you’re watching.

Both are natural sentences, but eine Serie is more specific about the content.

Is there any difference between Abends sehe ich eine Serie and Abends schaue ich eine Serie?

Both are correct and very similar in meaning:

• sehen – neutral standard verb, works well in written and spoken German.
• schauen – also common, especially in southern Germany and Austria; slightly more colloquial in some regions but still standard.

So:

• Abends sehe ich eine Serie. – neutral, slightly more formal.
• Abends schaue ich eine Serie. – very natural in many dialect regions, especially in spoken language.

In most contexts, Germans would understand both without feeling any strong stylistic difference.