Meine Schwester liest ein Buch, statt einen aufregenden Film zu schauen.

the book

Breakdown of Meine Schwester liest ein Buch, statt einen aufregenden Film zu schauen.

• lesen: to read
• mein: my
• der Film: the film
• die Schwester: the sister
• statt: instead of
• einen: a; (masculine, accusative)
• ein: a; (neuter, accusative)
• schauen: to watch
• aufregend: exciting

Questions & Answers about Meine Schwester liest ein Buch, statt einen aufregenden Film zu schauen.

What exactly does statt do in this sentence, and why is there a comma before it?

statt here means instead of and introduces an alternative action that does not happen.

• Meine Schwester liest ein Buch – this is the action that does happen.
• statt einen aufregenden Film zu schauen – this is the action that would be the alternative, but does not happen.

So the structure is basically:

(She) does A, instead of doing B.

The comma is required because statt introduces an infinitive clause with zu (statt … zu schauen). In modern German spelling rules, a comma must be used when an infinitive group is introduced by words like um, ohne, statt, anstatt, außer, als.

Why is it einen aufregenden Film and not ein aufregender Film?

Because Film is:

• masculine,
• singular,
• a direct object in the clause (sie schaut) einen aufregenden Film.

Direct objects in German normally take the accusative case.
Masculine accusative with the article ein is:

• ein → einen
• Adjective ending: aufregend → aufregenden
• Noun: Film

So you get einen aufregenden Film.

If it were the subject (nominative), you would say ein aufregender Film:

• Ein aufregender Film läuft heute im Kino. – An exciting film is playing in the cinema today.

Why is it zu schauen at the end and not schaut?

zu schauen is the infinitive with zu, similar to English “to watch”.

The underlying full clause would be:

• … statt dass sie einen aufregenden Film schaut.
  … instead of (the fact) that she watches an exciting film.

German often shortens this with an infinitive construction:

• statt (dass sie) einen aufregenden Film zu schauen → subject and dass disappear, verb becomes infinitive with zu.

So:

• Conjugated verb in a full clause: sie schaut
• Infinitive construction: zu schauen

This is why the verb appears as schauen (infinitive) with zu, and moves to the end of that infinitive phrase.

Why is there no subject in the second part statt einen aufregenden Film zu schauen?

The subject meine Schwester (or sie) is understood to be the same in both parts:

• Meine Schwester liest ein Buch,
  (sie) statt einen aufregenden Film zu schauen.

You could expand it to a full clause if you wanted to make the structure very explicit:

• Meine Schwester liest ein Buch, statt dass sie einen aufregenden Film schaut.

But in natural German, if the subject is the same in both actions, it is normally left out in the infinitive construction:

• X macht A, statt B zu machen.
  (X does A, instead of doing B.)

So there is no need to repeat meine Schwester.

Could I also say statt eines aufregenden Films? What is the difference?

Yes, you can:

• Meine Schwester liest ein Buch, statt eines aufregenden Films.

Here statt behaves purely as a preposition meaning instead of, and it governs the genitive (eines aufregenden Films).

Differences in feel and structure:

1. With genitive noun:

   • statt eines aufregenden Films
   • Slightly more formal/written style.
   • You express the alternative as a thing: instead of a film (as an object/option).

2. With infinitive clause:

   • statt einen aufregenden Film zu schauen
   • Very common in spoken and written German.
   • You express the alternative as an action: instead of watching a film.

Both are correct; the choice is about style and whether you want to emphasise the action (watching) or just the alternative option (the film).

I thought statt takes the genitive. Why is it followed by an accusative (einen aufregenden Film) here?

You are right that as a preposition, statt normally takes the genitive:

• statt eines aufregenden Films – genitive.

But in statt einen aufregenden Film zu schauen, statt is not directly followed by a bare noun phrase. It introduces an infinitive clause:

• statt (sie) einen aufregenden Film zu schauen

Inside that “hidden” clause, einen aufregenden Film is simply the accusative direct object of schauen.

So:

• As a preposition: statt + Genitive
  → statt eines aufregenden Films
• As part of an infinitive clause:
  → statt (dass sie) einen aufregenden Film schaut / zu schauen
  (here the case is determined by the verb schauen, not by statt itself)

That is why you see accusative einen aufregenden Film here and not a genitive form.

What is the difference between statt and anstatt in this kind of sentence?

Here, statt and anstatt are basically interchangeable:

• Meine Schwester liest ein Buch, statt einen aufregenden Film zu schauen.
• Meine Schwester liest ein Buch, anstatt einen aufregenden Film zu schauen.

Differences:

• statt is shorter, a bit more common in everyday language.
• anstatt can sound slightly more formal or emphatic, but in many contexts they feel the same.

Grammar and word order are identical; both can introduce a genitive phrase or a zu‑infinitive:

• statt / anstatt eines aufregenden Films
• statt / anstatt einen aufregenden Film zu schauen

Could I use sehen instead of schauen, like statt einen aufregenden Film zu sehen?

Yes, you can:

• Meine Schwester liest ein Buch, statt einen aufregenden Film zu sehen.

Both sehen and schauen are correct here.

Nuances:

• sehen – more general “to see”, neutral, used everywhere.
• schauen – “to look / to watch”; in the sense of “watch a film/TV”, it is very common in southern Germany and Austria (e.g. Fernsehen schauen, einen Film schauen).

In many regions, people would more typically say:

• einen Film sehen
• einen Film gucken (colloquial, especially in northern/central Germany)

Your original … einen aufregenden Film zu schauen is fully idiomatic, especially in the south.

Why is the verb liest in the present tense? Does it mean “reads” or “is reading”?

German uses the same present tense form for both English “reads” and “is reading”.

• Meine Schwester liest ein Buch can mean:
  • My sister reads a book (in general, habitually), or
  • My sister is reading a book (right now).

Context usually tells you which meaning is intended. In your sentence, combined with statt einen aufregenden Film zu schauen, it most naturally suggests a current situation:

• Right now, my sister is reading a book instead of watching an exciting film.

Can I move statt einen aufregenden Film zu schauen to another position, like:
Meine Schwester liest statt einen aufregenden Film zu schauen ein Buch?

This version:

• Meine Schwester liest statt einen aufregenden Film zu schauen ein Buch

is understandable, but sounds awkward and unnatural to most native speakers. The “standard” and most natural positions are:

1. After the main clause (as in the original):

   • Meine Schwester liest ein Buch, statt einen aufregenden Film zu schauen.

2. At the very beginning (with a comma):

   • Statt einen aufregenden Film zu schauen, liest meine Schwester ein Buch.

In German, longer infinitive clauses (… zu schauen) are usually kept together as one block and placed either at the end of the sentence or at the beginning, not inserted into the middle of the verb–object pair.

What case is ein Buch in, and why is it not einem Buch?

ein Buch here is the direct object of the verb liest:

• Wer liest? – Meine Schwester → subject → nominative.
• Was liest sie? – ein Buch → direct object → accusative.

For Buch (neuter, singular), the forms for nominative and accusative with ein look the same:

• Nominative: ein Buch
• Accusative: ein Buch

So even though the form doesn’t change, in this sentence ein Buch is accusative, not dative.

einem Buch would be dative, which you would use for an indirect object, for example:

• Sie hilft einem Buchautor. – She helps a book author.
• Sie ist mit einem Buch zufrieden. – She is satisfied with a book.

In Meine Schwester liest ein Buch, the correct form is ein Buch (accusative).