Meine Mutter schaut lieber ihre Lieblingsserie, während ich meinen Krimi lese.

My mother prefers to watch her favourite series while I read my crime novel.

Breakdown of Meine Mutter schaut lieber ihre Lieblingsserie, während ich meinen Krimi lese.

• ich: I
• lesen: to read
• lieber: rather
• mein: my
• die Mutter: the mother
• während: while
• ihr: her
• schauen: to watch
• der Krimi: the crime novel
• die Lieblingsserie: the favourite series

Questions & Answers about Meine Mutter schaut lieber ihre Lieblingsserie, während ich meinen Krimi lese.

Why is lieber used here, and how is it different from gern?

gern means you like doing something: Ich lese gern Krimis = I like reading crime novels.

lieber is the comparative of gern and means “rather / prefer to”. It expresses a preference between options:

• Meine Mutter schaut lieber ihre Lieblingsserie, während ich meinen Krimi lese.
  = My mother prefers watching her favourite series (rather than doing something else, e.g. reading with me).

So:

• gern = like doing
• lieber = prefer doing (rather)

Why does the verb go to the end in während ich meinen Krimi lese?

während is a subordinating conjunction. Subordinating conjunctions (like weil, dass, wenn, während) send the finite verb to the end of their clause.

So:

• Main clause (verb in 2nd position): Meine Mutter schaut lieber ihre Lieblingsserie.
• Subordinate clause (verb at the end): während ich meinen Krimi lese.

✗ während ich lese meinen Krimi is wrong in standard German. The correct order is während ich meinen Krimi lese.

Why is it meinen Krimi and not mein Krimi?

Krimi is masculine: der Krimi.

In the sentence, Krimi is the direct object of lese, so it must be in the accusative case:

• Nominative: mein Krimi (as subject: Mein Krimi ist spannend.)
• Accusative: meinen Krimi (as object: Ich lese meinen Krimi.)

The ending -en on meinen tells you it’s masculine accusative.

Why do we say ihre Lieblingsserie and not ihr Lieblingsserie?

Lieblingsserie is feminine: die Lieblingsserie. In the sentence, it is the direct object of schaut, so it’s in the accusative singular feminine.

Possessive pronouns like ihr- behave like ein- words and must agree with the noun in gender, number, and case:

• Feminine nominative/accusative: ihre Lieblingsserie
• Masculine nominative: ihr Lieblingsfilm
• Masculine accusative: ihren Lieblingsfilm

So here, feminine accusative singular → ihre Lieblingsserie.

Whose favourite series is it? Does ihre Lieblingsserie mean “her” or “their” favourite series?

ihre can mean her or their, depending on context. Grammatically, ihre here is:

• feminine
• singular
• accusative

It refers back to the subject meine Mutter (she), so ihre Lieblingsserie = her favourite series (your mother’s).

For their favourite series, you would normally need a plural antecedent in the context (e.g. meine Eltern … ihre Lieblingsserie). Here, there is only meine Mutter, so the natural reading is her.

Is schaut the same as sieht here?

Yes, in this context schaut and sieht are essentially synonyms. Both can mean to watch (a series, TV, a film).

• schauen is very common in southern Germany, Austria, and Switzerland: eine Serie schauen, Fernsehen schauen.
• sehen is more neutral and widespread: eine Serie sehen, fernsehen.

So you could also say: Meine Mutter sieht lieber ihre Lieblingsserie … and it would be perfectly correct.

Why is there a comma before während?

German almost always uses a comma between a main clause and a subordinate clause.

Here:

• Main clause: Meine Mutter schaut lieber ihre Lieblingsserie
• Subordinate clause: während ich meinen Krimi lese

Because während introduces a subordinate clause, a comma is mandatory:
Meine Mutter schaut lieber ihre Lieblingsserie, während ich meinen Krimi lese.

Can I put the während-clause at the beginning of the sentence?

Yes. You can start with the während-clause; the meaning stays the same:

• Während ich meinen Krimi lese, schaut meine Mutter lieber ihre Lieblingsserie.

Notice two things stay true:

1. In the während-clause, the finite verb lese is still at the end.
2. In the main clause that follows, schaut is still in second position (schaut comes right after the entire subordinate clause, which counts as position 1).

What exactly does Krimi mean?

Krimi is short for Kriminalroman or Kriminalgeschichte.

It usually means:

• a crime novel, detective story, or thriller (in book form), and
• it can also refer to a crime series or crime film on TV.

In this sentence, from the verb lese, it’s clear that Krimi means a crime novel / detective book, not a TV show.

Why do we say Meine Mutter and not just Mutter, and why is Mutter capitalized?

All nouns in German are capitalized, so Mutter, Mutter, Krimi, Lieblingsserie all begin with capital letters.

For family members as subjects, German normally uses a possessive:

• Meine Mutter schaut … = My mother watches …

Using bare Mutter without a possessive is much more limited (e.g. in direct address: Mutter! Komm mal!, or in diary-style language). In neutral description, you say meine Mutter rather than just Mutter, unlike English where Mom watches TV is common.