Breakdown of В выходные я люблю смотреть этот сериал.
Questions & Answers about В выходные я люблю смотреть этот сериал.
Literally, в выходные means “in the days off”.
- выходной день = a day off
- выходные (дни) = days off, days when you don’t work or study
In modern speech, выходные is usually understood as “the weekend”, but grammatically it stays plural: “days off”.
So в выходные is best translated as “on weekends / at the weekend” in a general, habitual sense.
With time expressions, в + accusative often means “on / at (a point in time)”:
- в понедельник – on Monday
- в три часа – at three o’clock
- в выходные – on the weekend(s)
выходные here is accusative plural, but for this noun nominative plural and accusative plural look the same:
- nominative: выходные (дни) – The days off are short.
- accusative: в выходные (дни) – On the days off I rest.
So syntactically it’s в + accusative plural, but the form is identical to nominative.
All three can relate to weekends, but they feel slightly different:
в выходные
- Very common and neutral.
- Can mean “on the weekend / on weekends” (often habitual).
- Example: В выходные я люблю смотреть этот сериал. – On weekends I like to watch this show.
на выходных
- Very common in spoken Russian, slightly more colloquial.
- Often refers to a particular weekend (“this/that weekend”), but can also be general.
- Example: На выходных мы ездили к бабушке. – We went to Grandma’s at the weekend.
по выходным
- Emphasizes regularity / every weekend.
- Literally: “along weekends / on weekends (as a rule)”.
- Example: По выходным я поздно встаю. – I get up late on weekends (as a habit).
In your sentence, you could also say:
- По выходным я люблю смотреть этот сериал. – I like watching this series on weekends (with a stronger habitual sense).
In Russian, some verbs (like любить) are followed by an infinitive, not a finite verb form.
The pattern is:
- любить
- infinitive = to like/love doing something
So:
- я люблю смотреть – I like to watch / I love watching
- я люблю смотрю – ungrammatical (you’re mixing two finite verbs)
More examples:
- Я люблю читать. – I like to read.
- Она любит танцевать. – She likes dancing.
With любить + infinitive, you normally use the imperfective aspect because you’re talking about an activity in general, as a process or habit, not a completed single action.
- люблю смотреть – I like the activity of watching (in general, repeatedly).
- посмотреть would focus on a single complete viewing (to watch something once to completion).
Compare:
- Я люблю смотреть этот сериал. – I like watching this series (as a hobby).
- Я хочу посмотреть этот сериал. – I want to watch (check out) this series (once, maybe the whole season).
Both can be translated as “I like watching this series.”, but there is a nuance:
Я люблю смотреть этот сериал.
- Slightly stronger, more personal.
- Often implies a stable, maybe emotional attachment or preference.
Мне нравится смотреть этот сериал.
- More neutral: “It is pleasing to me to watch this series.”
- Sounds a bit less intense.
In many everyday contexts they are interchangeable; the difference is more about tone than grammar.
Yes, Russian word order is relatively flexible. These two sentences are both correct:
- В выходные я люблю смотреть этот сериал.
- Я люблю смотреть этот сериал в выходные.
The basic meaning is the same.
However, word order affects emphasis:
- Version 1 (as in your example) slightly highlights when: “As for the weekend, that’s when I like to watch this series.”
- Version 2 flows more like neutral English word order: “I like to watch this series on weekends.”
In normal conversation, both are completely natural.
The demonstrative этот / эта / это / эти must agree in gender, number, and case with the noun:
- этот – masculine singular
- эта – feminine singular
- это – neuter singular
- эти – plural
сериал is masculine singular. In the accusative case (direct object), a masculine inanimate noun keeps the same form as the nominative:
- nominative: этот сериал – this series (subject)
- accusative: я смотрю этот сериал – I watch this series (object)
So этот is the correct form to match сериал.
сериал in Russian is a TV series / show with episodes (often with continuing plot or at least shared characters).
Examples:
- американский сериал – American TV series
- детективный сериал – crime show
A single episode is серия:
- новая серия сериала – a new episode of the series
In everyday English translation, сериал is usually “TV series” or just “series/show”, not “serial” in the older English sense.
Yes, you can omit я:
- В выходные люблю смотреть этот сериал.
This is grammatically correct. Russian often drops subject pronouns because the verb ending -ю in люблю already shows the subject is “I”.
However:
- Including я (В выходные я люблю…) is slightly more neutral and explicit.
- Omitting я can sound a bit more informal or stylistic, like spoken language or a diary note.
Context decides:
- In your sentence, with люблю смотреть (a general preference), в выходные naturally reads as habitual: “on weekends (in general)”.
For a specific weekend, Russians often add a clarifier:
- В эти выходные – this weekend
- В те выходные – that weekend
- В прошлые выходные – last weekend
- В следующие выходные – next weekend
So:
- В выходные я люблю смотреть этот сериал. – On weekends, I like watching this series (as a rule).
- В эти выходные я люблю смотреть этот сериал. would be odd; you’d normally say something like В эти выходные я буду смотреть этот сериал. – This weekend I’ll be watching this series.
выходные can mean:
The weekend (Saturday and Sunday, or whatever days are off in your country):
- Что ты делаешь на выходных? – What are you doing at the weekend?
Days off in general, not only the regular weekend:
- У меня выходные в среду и четверг. – My days off are Wednesday and Thursday.
- У меня завтра выходной. – I have a day off tomorrow.
In your sentence, в выходные will normally be understood as “on the weekend(s)” unless the context clearly defines some other regular days off.