Learn Hardcore German: Abends ist die Versuchung groß, noch eine Serie zu schauen. - In the evening the temptation is great to watch another series.

abends = in the evenings / at night (in general, regularly)
- It’s an adverb of time meaning “in the evenings as a habit/typically.”
- It sounds like a general statement about what usually happens in the evenings.
am Abend = in the evening (on a particular evening, or more concrete)
- Often refers more to a specific evening or a more concrete time frame, depending on context.

In your sentence, Abends ist die Versuchung groß… suggests a regular pattern: “In the evenings (in general), the temptation is strong…”.
You could say Am Abend ist die Versuchung groß…, but it shifts slightly toward a more specific time or a more “situational” description rather than a habitual one.

Why does the verb ist come in second position after Abends?

German main clauses follow the V2 rule: the finite verb (here: ist) must be in second position in the sentence, no matter what comes first.

First position: Abends (an adverbial of time)
Second position (the verb): ist
The rest: die Versuchung groß, noch eine Serie zu schauen.

So if you start with Abends, the verb must come next: Abends ist …
If you started with the subject, it would be: Die Versuchung ist abends groß, … — the verb is still second.

What is the subject of the sentence, and how do I know?

The subject is die Versuchung.

Structure:

Abends – time adverb (not the subject)
ist – verb
die Versuchung – noun phrase in nominative = subject
groß – predicate adjective describing die Versuchung

You can test this by reordering the sentence:

Die Versuchung ist abends groß, noch eine Serie zu schauen.

die Versuchung is the thing that “is” something (it “is” groß), so that’s the subject.

Why is groß used here, and what exactly does it mean?

groß literally means “big/large,” but in this context it means “strong” (a strong temptation).

This is a very common metaphorical use in German:

Die Versuchung ist groß. – The temptation is strong.
Die Gefahr ist groß. – The danger is great/high.
Die Freude war groß. – The joy was great.

Grammatically, groß is a predicate adjective after the verb sein (ist). Predicate adjectives in German are not declined (no ending):

Die Versuchung ist groß. (not große)
Der Hund ist klein.
Die Kinder sind müde.

Why is there a comma before noch eine Serie zu schauen?

Because noch eine Serie zu schauen is a zu-infinitive clause that depends on the noun Versuchung.

Basic pattern:

die Versuchung, noch eine Serie zu schauen
= “the temptation to watch another series”

In modern German spelling rules, an infinitive clause with zu takes a mandatory comma if it depends on a noun, like here:

die Hoffnung, bald zu gewinnen
die Möglichkeit, später zu kommen
die Versuchung, noch eine Serie zu schauen

So the comma is required in this particular structure.

What exactly does noch mean here in noch eine Serie?

noch here means “another / one more”, not “still.”

noch eine Serie → “another series / one more show”

Compare:

Ich schaue noch eine Serie. – I’ll watch one more series/show.
Ich schaue noch. – I’m still watching.

So in your sentence, noch adds the idea of additional:

The temptation is strong to watch one more series.

Why is it eine Serie? What case is that?

eine Serie is in the accusative case as the direct object of the verb schauen.

Verb: (etwas) schauen – to watch (something)
Object: eine Serie – what is being watched

For a feminine noun (die Serie), nominative and accusative singular articles are both eine, so the form looks the same:

Nominative: Eine Serie ist spannend.
Accusative: Ich schaue eine Serie.

In your sentence: … noch eine Serie zu schauen → “to watch another series.”

Why do we say eine Serie schauen and not eine Serie sehen?

You can say eine Serie sehen, but (eine) Serie schauen is very common and sounds natural and colloquial in many parts of the German-speaking world.

Rough tendencies:

sehen – neutral “to see / to watch”
- einen Film sehen, eine Serie sehen, fernsehen
schauen / gucken – more colloquial “to watch”
- eine Serie schauen
- einen Film gucken
- Fernsehen schauen / gucken

In your sentence, eine Serie schauen fits the casual context of watching TV shows in the evening.

What does zu schauen mean, and why is zu there?

zu schauen is the infinitive with zu, roughly corresponding to English “to watch” in infinitive clauses.

Pattern:

bare infinitive: schauen – “to watch”
infinitive with zu: zu schauen – “to watch (in order to / as an action considered abstractly)”

In German, many infinitive clauses that correspond to English “to do something” use zu + infinitive at the end of the clause:

… die Absicht, Deutsch zu lernen.
… die Idee, früher aufzustehen.
… die Versuchung, noch eine Serie zu schauen.

So zu is just part of the standard infinitive-clause construction.

Why is the word order noch eine Serie zu schauen and not zu schauen noch eine Serie?

In a zu-infinitive clause, zu is placed directly in front of the main verb, and that verb goes at the end of the clause. Any objects and adverbs come before zu + verb.

Typical pattern:

[Adverbs / Objects] + zu + [Infinitive]

Examples:

etwas zu essen – something to eat
Deutsch fließend zu sprechen – to speak German fluently
noch eine Serie zu schauen – to watch another series

So:

✅ noch eine Serie zu schauen
❌ zu schauen noch eine Serie (ungrammatical in standard German)

Could I also say Abends ist die Versuchung groß, noch eine Serie anzuschauen? What’s the difference between schauen and anschauen?

Yes, you can say:

Abends ist die Versuchung groß, noch eine Serie anzuschauen.

This is also correct and natural.

Difference:

schauen – “to watch” (more general)
anschauen – “to look at / to watch (something specifically)”

With separable-prefix verbs like anschauen, the zu attaches in the infinitive:

anzuschauen (not zu anschauen)

Nuance:

eine Serie schauen and eine Serie anschauen are very close in meaning; both can mean “to watch a show/series.”
anschauen can sound slightly more like “to look at / to view,” but in casual TV context, it’s often interchangeable with schauen.