אני מעדיפה לקרוא ספר בבית מאשר לראות טלוויזיה.

Because מעדיפה is the feminine singular form of prefer in the present tense.

• אני מעדיפה = I (female speaker) prefer
• אני מעדיף = I (male speaker) prefer

In Hebrew present tense, the verb agrees with the speaker’s gender and number.

In the present tense, Hebrew verbs usually show gender and number, but not person clearly enough on their own. So מעדיפה means something like prefering / prefers in feminine singular, and the pronoun אני helps show that the subject is I.

So:

• אני מעדיפה = I prefer
• היא מעדיפה = she prefers

Without אני, the sentence could be understood differently depending on context.

Because Hebrew commonly uses the infinitive after verbs like prefer, want, like, can, and so on.

• לקרוא = to read
• לראות = to see / to watch

So:

• מעדיפה לקרוא = prefer to read
• מעדיפה לראות = prefer to watch

The ל־ at the beginning is the normal marker for the infinitive in Hebrew.

Because את is used before a definite direct object, and ספר here is indefinite: a book, not the book.

Compare:

• לקרוא ספר = to read a book
• לקרוא את הספר = to read the book

So no את appears because the object is not definite.

Because the sentence means a book, not the book.

• ספר = a book / book
• הספר = the book

Hebrew often leaves nouns without an article when they are indefinite, just like English uses a.

בבית means at home or in the house/home.

It comes from:

• ב־ = in / at
• בית = house / home

In natural Hebrew, בבית is a very common way to say at home.

מאשר means than or rather than in comparisons.

In this sentence:

• לקרוא ספר בבית מאשר לראות טלוויזיה
  = to read a book at home rather than watch TV

It connects the two things being compared:

1. reading a book at home
2. watching TV

So מעדיפה X מאשר Y = prefer X rather than Y.

Yes, but it would be a different structure.

Hebrew often expresses prefer in two main ways:

1. להעדיף / מעדיף + infinitive

   • אני מעדיפה לקרוא...
     = I prefer to read...

2. יותר מאשר = more than / rather than

   • אני אוהבת לקרוא יותר מאשר לראות טלוויזיה
     = I like reading more than watching TV

Your sentence uses the first pattern, which is very natural.

Because it refers to watching TV/television in general, not the television as a specific object.

• לראות טלוויזיה = to watch TV
• לראות את הטלוויזיה would usually mean seeing the television set, which is a different idea

So in this sentence, טלוויזיה is being used more like an activity or general medium.

Yes, literally לראות means to see, but in Hebrew it is also commonly used where English would say watch, especially with things like TV.

So:

• לראות טלוויזיה = to watch TV
• לראות סרט can also mean to watch a movie

Hebrew does not always separate see and watch the same way English does.

Yes, this word order is very natural:

• אני מעדיפה לקרוא ספר בבית מאשר לראות טלוויזיה

It starts with the subject, then the verb, then the first preferred action, and finally the comparison.

Hebrew word order is somewhat flexible, but this version is smooth and standard for everyday speech. If you rearranged it, the sentence might still be correct, but it could sound more marked or less natural depending on the context.

A male speaker would say:

אני מעדיף לקרוא ספר בבית מאשר לראות טלוויזיה.

The only change is:

• מעדיפה → מעדיף

Everything else stays the same.