Learn Hardcore German: Abends liege ich in der Badewanne und höre leise Musik. - In the evening I lie in the bathtub and listen to quiet music.

In this sentence, Abends is a time expression meaning in the evenings. The speaker has put it at the beginning for emphasis or style. Because something other than the subject is in first position, the verb must come next:

Abends (1st position)
liege (2nd position – the verb)
ich (3rd position – the subject)

If you start with the subject, you get:

Ich liege abends in der Badewanne …

Both orders are correct; the meaning is the same. Starting with Abends just emphasizes when this happens.

What exactly does Abends mean? Is it “in the evening” or “every evening”?

Abends usually means something like:

in the evenings
in the evening (as a general routine)
every evening / in the evening, usually

So:

Abends liege ich in der Badewanne …
→ In the evenings I lie in the bathtub … (habitual action)

Compare:

am Abend = in the evening on a particular day or time
- Am Abend liege ich in der Badewanne.
  → This evening / that evening, I’m in the bathtub.

So:

abends → general, repeated, habitual
am Abend → specific evening

Why is Abends capitalized and why does it end with -s?

Abends is historically based on the noun der Abend (evening). German often forms adverbs of time from nouns by adding -s:

der Morgen → morgens (in the mornings)
der Mittag → mittags (at midday / around noon)
die Nacht → nachts (at night)
der Abend → abends (in the evenings)

These words function as adverbs, but many learners’ materials still show them capitalized because they come from nouns and visually resemble them. In modern spelling, you will usually see them lowercase (abends), but capitalized versions sometimes appear in teaching contexts or for emphasis.

Key idea: abends expresses a general time frame (“in the evenings”) and is built from Abend + -s.

Why is it in der Badewanne and not in die Badewanne?

The preposition in can take either dative or accusative, depending on the meaning:

Dative → location / where something is (no movement)
Accusative → direction / movement into something

In this sentence, the person is already in the bathtub; there is no movement happening:

Ich liege in der Badewanne.
→ I am lying in the bathtub (location, dative).

If we described movement into the bathtub, we would use the accusative:

Ich steige in die Badewanne.
→ I get into the bathtub (movement, accusative).

So in der Badewanne is correct because it describes a static location, not movement.

Why is it der Badewanne here, when the dictionary says die Badewanne?

The noun is indeed die Badewanne (feminine), but articles change with case:

Nominative (subject): die Badewanne
Accusative (direct object): die Badewanne
Dative (location, “in the bathtub”): der Badewanne
Genitive: der Badewanne

In in der Badewanne, in is used with the dative (location), so die changes to der:

in + der Badewanne → in der Badewanne (dative feminine)

What is the difference between liegen and legen, and why do we use liege here?

German distinguishes between:

liegen – to lie, to be lying (intransitive, no direct object)
- Ich liege in der Badewanne. → I am lying in the bathtub.
legen – to lay, to put something down (transitive, with a direct object)
- Ich lege das Buch auf den Tisch. → I lay the book on the table.

In this sentence, the speaker describes their own position, not putting something somewhere. So we use liegen:

ich liege (I am lying)

Using legen here would be ungrammatical, because there is no object being laid down.

Why can we leave out ich in the second part: und höre leise Musik?

The subject ich is shared by both verbs and does not need to be repeated after und:

Abends liege ich in der Badewanne und (ich) höre leise Musik.

In German (and in English), when two main clauses share the same subject and are joined with und, it is very common to omit the repeated subject in the second clause if the meaning is clear.

If you say the full form:

Abends liege ich in der Badewanne, und ich höre leise Musik.

it is still correct, but in such a short sentence it feels a bit heavier and less natural in everyday speech.

Is there anything wrong with und höre ich leise Musik instead of und höre leise Musik?

Yes, that would be unusual in this context.

After und, you can either:

Start a new main clause with its own subject:
- … und ich höre leise Musik.
Reuse the subject and omit it:
- … und höre leise Musik.

But und höre ich leise Musik (verb before subject) is typically used only in special contexts, like emphasis, questions, or poetic style. In a neutral, straightforward sentence like this, native speakers would not say:

Abends liege ich in der Badewanne und höre ich leise Musik. ✗

They would use either:

… und ich höre leise Musik.
… und höre leise Musik.

Why is there no article before leise Musik?

In German, Musik is often treated like a mass noun (like “water”, “coffee”, “music” in English) when you mean it in general. In that general sense, you normally omit the article:

Ich höre Musik. → I listen to music.
Ich höre leise Musik. → I listen to soft/quiet music.

Adding an article changes the meaning:

Ich höre eine Musik.
→ very unusual; would sound like “I hear a piece of music” and would need special context.
Ich höre die Musik.
→ I listen to the music (specific, known music, e.g. “the music from the neighbor”).

So in this general habitual sentence, no article before Musik is the natural choice.

Is leise here an adjective or an adverb, and could I say höre ich Musik leise instead?

In leise Musik, leise is an adjective describing Musik:

leise Musik → soft/quiet music

Grammatically, leise here has an adjective ending -e, but because the base form and the declined form look the same, you don’t see the ending change.

You can also use leise as an adverb:

Ich höre leise. → I listen quietly.
Ich spreche leise. → I speak quietly.

In theory, Ich höre Musik leise is possible, but:

Ich höre leise Musik.
→ focuses on the type of music (soft music)
Ich höre Musik leise.
→ would be understood as “I listen to music quietly”, focusing more on how you listen, not on the music itself.

In everyday use, Ich höre leise Musik is much more idiomatic in this context.

Does höre here mean “hear” or “listen to”?

The verb hören can mean both:

to hear (perceive with your ears)
to listen (to something)

In Ich höre leise Musik, the natural interpretation, especially in a context like lying in the bathtub, is “I listen to soft music”, i.e. intentional listening.

If you wanted to be very explicit about intentional listening, you can also say:

Ich höre mir leise Musik an.
(using anhören, “to listen to”, plus a dative pronoun mir)

But in everyday German, Ich höre Musik is normally understood as “I listen to music” unless context clearly suggests otherwise.

Can I also say Ich liege abends in der Badewanne und höre leise Musik? Is that different?

Yes, that version is fully correct and very natural:

Ich liege abends in der Badewanne und höre leise Musik.

The difference is mainly word order and emphasis:

Abends liege ich in der Badewanne …
→ Slightly stronger focus on when this happens (in the evenings).
Ich liege abends in der Badewanne …
→ More neutral; starts with the subject, like English.

In everyday conversation, both are common. Germans often put time expressions like abends, morgens, am Wochenende at the beginning for style and flow.

Should there be a comma before und in this sentence?

In modern German spelling, a comma before und that connects two main clauses is usually optional when the clauses are short and closely related.

So both of these are correct:

Abends liege ich in der Badewanne und höre leise Musik.
Abends liege ich in der Badewanne, und höre leise Musik.

However, in such a short and simple sentence, native speakers almost always omit the comma:

Abends liege ich in der Badewanne und höre leise Musik. ✅ (most natural)

A comma is more common when the clauses are longer or more complex, to improve readability.