Learn Hardcore Japanese: kazokuzenin de ribingu no sofa ni suwatte eiga wo mimasu. - My whole family sits on the sofa in the living room and watches a movie.

If you said 家族全員は映画を見ます, the nuance would be more like “as for everyone in the family, (they) watch movies” – focusing on them as a topic, not on them doing the action together.

So:

家族全員で = as a group / together (participant marker)
家族全員は = as for the whole family (topic marker, different nuance)

What exactly does 家族全員 mean? How is it different from 家族みんな or just みんな?

家族全員 (かぞくぜんいん) literally means “all members of the family”.

Common similar expressions:

家族全員 – all members of the family (slightly formal/specific)
家族みんな – everyone in the family (more casual)
みんな – everyone (could be family, friends, classmates, etc., depends on context)

In your sentence:

家族全員で映画を見ます。
家族みんなで映画を見ます。

Both are natural and close in meaning: “The whole family watches a movie (together).”

Using 全員 emphasizes “every single member,” while みんな feels a bit more casual and conversational.

Why is there no word for “we” or “I” in the sentence? Who is the subject?

Japanese often omits the subject when it’s clear from context.

In 家族全員でリビングのソファに座って映画を見ます。, the subject is understood as “we (the family)” or “my family and I”, but it doesn’t need to be said explicitly.

If you wanted to show the subject clearly, you could say:

私たちは家族全員でリビングのソファに座って映画を見ます。
We, the whole family, sit on the sofa in the living room and watch a movie.

But in natural Japanese, leaving out 私たち or 私 is very common when it’s obvious who is being talked about.

Why is there の between リビング and ソファ? What does リビングのソファ literally mean?

の often links two nouns, like “X’s Y” or “Y of X.”

リビングのソファ literally means “the sofa of the living room” or more naturally “the living room sofa.”

Structure:

リビング – living room
ソファ – sofa
リビングのソファ – the sofa that belongs to / is located in the living room

This Noun の Noun pattern is extremely common:

日本の映画 – Japanese movie
学校の先生 – school teacher / teacher at the school
友だちの家 – my friend’s house

So リビングのソファ is simply “the living-room sofa.”

Why is it ソファに座って and not ソファで座って? What does the particle に do here?

With the verb 座る (すわる – to sit), the place you sit takes に, not で.

ソファに座る – to sit on the sofa
いすに座る – to sit on a chair
床に座る – to sit on the floor

Here に marks the target/point where your body comes to rest. English uses “on” (“sit on the sofa”), but Japanese uses に.

If you used で with 座る, it would sound unnatural in standard Japanese. Just remember the fixed pattern:

X に座る = sit on X

So ソファに座って = “sitting on the sofa / sit on the sofa and…”

What is the role of で after 家族全員, and how is it different from a place で like in リビングで?

The same particle で has different main uses. In this sentence, it’s the “together as a group” use:

家族全員で – with the whole family / as the whole family (group doing the action)

Another common use of で is for locations of activities:

リビングで映画を見ます。
We watch a movie in the living room.

Here, で marks where the action happens.

In your sentence:

家族全員で – marks who is participating together
ソファに – marks where they sit

You could also say:

家族全員でリビングで映画を見ます。
The whole family watches a movie in the living room.

But in 家族全員でリビングのソファに座って映画を見ます, the location nuance is expressed more specifically by リビングのソファに instead of リビングで.

Why is 座って in the て-form? What does 座って映画を見ます mean literally?

座って is the て-form of 座る (to sit). The て-form is often used to connect actions.

座って映画を見ます literally is:

“(We) sit and watch a movie.”
Or “(We) sit [down], then watch a movie.”
Or “(While) sitting, (we) watch a movie.”

The て-form here links 座る (sit) and 見る (watch):

座って、映画を見ます。
We sit (on the sofa) and watch a movie.

Depending on context, the て-form can feel:

sequential: do A, then do B
or simultaneous: do A while doing B

Here it’s basically “We sit on the sofa and (then) watch a movie.”

Why is it 映画を見ます and not 映画が見ます? What does the particle を do?

を見る is the standard pattern “to watch / to look at / to see (something).”

映画を見る – to watch a movie
テレビを見る – to watch TV
空を見る – to look at the sky

The particle を marks the direct object of a transitive verb – the thing that is watched, read, eaten, etc.

パンを食べる – eat bread
本を読む – read a book
映画を見る – watch a movie

So:

映画を見ます。 – (We) watch a movie.

映画が見ます would be wrong, because 映画 is not the doer; it’s the thing being watched. That’s why it takes を, not が.

The verb is in the form 見ます (present tense polite). Does this mean “watch”, “will watch”, or “usually watch”?

The Japanese non-past polite form 見ます can cover several English tenses, depending on context:

Future / planned action
- 明日映画を見ます。
  I’ll watch a movie tomorrow.
Habit / regular action
- よく映画を見ます。
  I often watch movies.
General present
- 家族全員で映画を見ます。
  We (as a rule / typically) watch movies as a whole family.

In your sentence, without extra context, it could be:

a general statement: “The whole family sits on the sofa and watches movies (as something we do).”
or a specific plan (if used in a context like “On Saturday, …”): “We’ll sit on the sofa and watch a movie.”

Japanese doesn’t strictly separate “watch” vs “will watch” the way English does; 見ます can cover both.

Can I change the word order, like putting 映画 earlier or moving 家族全員で? How flexible is this sentence?

Japanese word order is somewhat flexible, but there are patterns that sound more natural.

Your original sentence:

家族全員でリビングのソファに座って映画を見ます。

Some acceptable variations:

家族全員で映画をリビングのソファに座って見ます。
リビングのソファに座って家族全員で映画を見ます。

They still mean essentially the same thing, though the focus might feel slightly different depending on what comes earlier or later.

General guidelines:

The main verb (here 見ます) usually comes at the end.
Things that modify nouns must come before them (e.g., リビングのソファ, not ソファリビングの).
Moving chunks like 家族全員で, リビングのソファに, 映画を before the verb is usually fine, but completely random order can sound unnatural or confusing.

For learners, it’s safest to keep a clear order like:

[who/how] + [where] + [how/what else] + [object を] + [verb]
家族全員で + リビングのソファに座って + 映画を + 見ます。

Why is the verb in polite form 見ます instead of the dictionary form 見る? When would I use each?

見ます is the polite form, and 見る is the plain (casual) form of the same verb.

見ます – polite, used in most conversations with people you’re not very close to, in class, in writing, etc.
見る – casual, used with close friends, family (depending on relationship), in informal writing, etc.

Your sentence is in polite style:

家族全員でリビングのソファに座って映画を見ます。

Casual version:

家族全員でリビングのソファに座って映画を見る。

Both mean the same thing; only the level of politeness changes.