Learn Hardcore German: Meine Schwiegermutter kocht jeden Sonntag Nudeln und erzählt Geschichten aus ihrer Jugend. - My mother-in-law cooks pasta every Sunday and tells stories from her youth.

Schwiegermutter is grammatically feminine in German (die Schwiegermutter).
In the sentence, Schwiegermutter is the subject and is in the nominative case.

The possessive must therefore match:

mein = my (for masculine or neuter in nominative singular)
meine = my (for feminine and all plural in nominative)

So you need meine Schwiegermutter, not mein Schwiegermutter.

What exactly does Schwiegermutter mean, and how is it formed?

Schwiegermutter means mother‑in‑law.

It’s a compound noun:

Schwieger‑ is a prefix used for in‑laws.
Mutter = mother.

Related words:

Schwiegervater = father‑in‑law
Schwiegersohn = son‑in‑law
Schwiegertochter = daughter‑in‑law

Why is the verb kocht and not kochen or something else?

The infinitive is kochen (to cook).
The subject is meine Schwiegermutter = she (3rd person singular).

Present tense conjugation of kochen:

ich koche
du kochst
er/sie/es kocht
wir kochen
ihr kocht
sie/Sie kochen

So with meine Schwiegermutter you must use kocht. The same rule gives you erzählt (from erzählen) later in the sentence.

Why can the sentence have two verbs kocht and erzählt with only one subject?

German (like English) allows one subject with multiple verbs joined by und:

Meine Schwiegermutter kocht … und erzählt …
= My mother‑in‑law cooks … and tells …

You don’t repeat the subject: you don’t say
✗ Meine Schwiegermutter kocht … und sie erzählt …
unless you want to emphasize or clarify something.

Both kocht and erzählt are finite verbs in the second position of their clause, but because they’re joined as one compound predicate, they can stand next to each other after the subject.

Could I say Meine Schwiegermutter Nudeln kocht jeden Sonntag instead?

No, that breaks the basic German word‑order rule:

In a main clause, the finite verb must be in second position.

In Meine Schwiegermutter kocht jeden Sonntag Nudeln …:

Meine Schwiegermutter = first position
kocht = second position (correct)

If you say Meine Schwiegermutter Nudeln kocht …, the verb is no longer second; it’s third. That’s ungrammatical in a normal main clause. Objects like Nudeln normally come after the verb.

Why is it jeden Sonntag and not jeder Sonntag or jedem Sonntag?

Sonntag is masculine: der Sonntag.

With jeden Sonntag you have:

a time expression in the accusative, meaning “every Sunday” (habitual action)
jeder declined in the masculine accusative singular:
- Nominative: jeder Sonntag (every Sunday – as subject)
- Accusative: jeden Sonntag (every Sunday – time expression here)

Time expressions like this are very often in the accusative:

jeden Tag – every day
jedes Jahr – every year

What’s the difference between jeden Sonntag and sonntags?

Both can describe a regular, repeated action:

jeden Sonntag = every Sunday, a little more explicit and “countable”
sonntags = on Sundays / on Sunday(s) in general, more adverb‑like

In most contexts they’re interchangeable here:

Meine Schwiegermutter kocht sonntags Nudeln …
sounds very natural and means almost the same as with jeden Sonntag.

Why is Nudeln plural? Can you say Nudel in the singular?

die Nudel is the singular: one piece of pasta.
die Nudeln is the plural: noodles / pasta (in general).

In practice, when talking about a meal, Germans almost always use the plural:

Heute gibt es Nudeln. – We’re having pasta today.

You would use the singular Nudel mainly when counting individual pieces or being very literal:

Ich habe nur noch eine Nudel. – I only have one noodle left.

What case is Nudeln in, and how can I tell?

Nudeln is the direct object of kocht:

Who is doing something? → meine Schwiegermutter (subject, nominative).
What is she cooking? → Nudeln (object, accusative).

So Nudeln is accusative plural.
Formally, nominative and accusative look the same in the plural; you recognize the case from the function (object of the verb).

Why is it Geschichten aus ihrer Jugend and not Geschichten von ihrer Jugend?

Both aus and von can sometimes be translated as from, but there’s a nuance:

Geschichten aus ihrer Jugend
literally: stories out of her youth → stories from the time when she was young
This is the standard, idiomatic expression for things belonging to / originating in that life period.
Geschichten von ihrer Jugend
is understandable, but sounds less idiomatic. With von, it can feel more like “stories about her youth” (the topic), not necessarily personal memories.

Native speakers strongly prefer aus ihrer Jugend for personal memories.

Why is it aus ihrer Jugend and not aus ihre Jugend? What is ihrer here?

aus always takes the dative case.

Jugend is feminine: die Jugend.
Feminine singular in the dative with a possessive looks like this:

aus meiner Jugend – from my youth
aus deiner Jugend – from your youth
aus ihrer Jugend – from her/their youth
aus seiner Jugend – from his/its youth

So ihrer is the feminine dative singular form of the possessive pronoun ihr.
You can’t say ✗ aus ihre Jugend – that would be incorrect case.

Does ihrer here mean her or their? How do I know?

On its own, ihrer could mean her or their in German.
You work it out from context:

The sentence talks about meine Schwiegermutter (singular person).
So ihrer Jugend naturally refers back to her youth.

If the context had been a plural group (e.g., meine Großeltern), ihrer Jugend could be read as their youth. Context is crucial.

Why is Jugend capitalized? Is it a noun or an adjective?

Jugend is a noun meaning youth (the period of life).

In German, all nouns are capitalized, regardless of position in the sentence:

die Jugend – the youth
in meiner Jugend – in my youth
aus ihrer Jugend – from her youth

Adjectives are normally not capitalized, but here Jugend is clearly a noun.

Why is the present tense (kocht, erzählt) used for a repeated action? Could you use a different tense?

German uses the simple present for:

actions happening now
regular / habitual actions (like English: She cooks every Sunday.)

So Meine Schwiegermutter kocht jeden Sonntag … already naturally means She cooks every Sunday (repeated action).

You wouldn’t normally use a different tense here. There is no separate “present progressive” form like is cooking that you’d prefer in this context.

Can I move jeden Sonntag to the beginning: Jeden Sonntag kocht meine Schwiegermutter Nudeln …?

Yes, that’s perfectly correct and very natural:

Jeden Sonntag kocht meine Schwiegermutter Nudeln und erzählt Geschichten aus ihrer Jugend.

Word order rule:

You can put a time phrase in the first position.
The finite verb must still be in second position.

So:

Jeden Sonntag (time) – first position
kocht – second position (verb)
meine Schwiegermutter – comes after the verb

Both versions are fine; putting Jeden Sonntag first slightly emphasizes the regularity.