Mein Mann liest die Zeitung während er sein Frühstück isst.

Sentence Discussions German
#1
English Translation

My husband reads the newspaper while eating breakfast.

I can’t understand what “sein” is doing in this sentence. It almost looks like an English construct that was translated literally:

während er Frühstück isst = while he is eating breakfast

But the English usage of “is/are/am” with verbs never translates to German. Or does it?

He is playing baseball = Er spielt Baseball

They are playing cards = Sie spielen Karten

We are leaving now = Wir fahren jetzt ab

You wouldn’t say “er ist Frühstück essen” for “he is eating breakfast”… would you?

#2

Oh my god, I’m an idiot. It’s not “sein” as in “to be”, it’s “sein” as in “his”. Wow. Disregard everything I said above, I obviously haven’t drank enough coffee yet today.

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