Breakdown of Abbiamo scelto l’arrosto anziché il pesce, perché era più fresco.
Questions & Answers about Abbiamo scelto l’arrosto anziché il pesce, perché era più fresco.
Anziché means “instead of” or “rather than,” introducing an alternative choice. It’s slightly more formal or literary than invece di, but both convey the same idea.
• anziché + noun/infinitive: Abbiamo scelto il vino anziché l’acqua.
• invece di + noun/infinitive: Abbiamo scelto il vino invece di (dell’)acqua.
Note: With invece di you often see the preposition + definite article (e.g. invece dell’acqua), whereas anziché can attach directly to the word that follows.
After prepositions (including anziché), the article is optional if you speak generally or refer to a category:
• anziché il pesce would specify “instead of the fish (we had in mind).”
• anziché pesce implies “instead of any fish, in general.”
In everyday speech you can omit the article when the meaning remains clear.
The choice of tense depends on context:
• Passato prossimo (abbiamo scelto) describes a completed action with present relevance (“we have chosen/we chose”). It’s the default past in spoken Italian.
• Imperfetto (sceglievamo) would imply an ongoing or habitual past action (“we were choosing” or “we used to choose”), which doesn’t fit here.
• Passato remoto (scegliemmo) is literary or used in certain regions for remote past and sounds too formal in conversation.
Italian comparatives use più + adjective + di/che:
• più + fresco = “fresher”
• You say era più fresco di/che but after perché you often drop di/che and rely on context: era più fresco (“it was fresher”).
Translated: “because it was fresher.”
In Italian, a comma often precedes perché when introducing an explanatory subordinate clause (reason). It marks the shift from main clause to justification:
Abbiamo scelto l’arrosto anziché il pesce, perché era più fresco.
Without the comma it could read as a restrictive clause or feel rushed in speech.
• Perché (with accent) means “because” or “why” in questions.
• Perche (without accent) is not a standalone word in Italian.
Always use perché with the accent to avoid confusion and to mark the open vowel [ɛ].