Breakdown of Muchas personas prefieren la cena en casa; otras cenan en la calle.
Questions & Answers about Muchas personas prefieren la cena en casa; otras cenan en la calle.
In Spanish, adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.
- personas is feminine and plural.
- Therefore, muchas (feminine plural) is required, not muchos (masculine plural).
So:
- Muchas personas = many people
If the noun were masculine plural, like muchos estudiantes, then muchos would be correct.
In Spanish, meals are often mentioned with a definite article when you’re talking about the meal in a general, habitual way.
- la cena = dinner as a general concept / typical dinner
- Saying prefieren la cena en casa sounds like “they prefer dinner at home (as a habit/in general).”
You can drop the article in some contexts (e.g. cenamos en casa = “we have dinner at home”), but with preferir, it’s very natural to keep the article when you’re talking about the meal as a category.
- la cena = the noun “dinner”
- cenar = the verb “to have dinner / to eat dinner”
Your sentence:
- prefieren la cena en casa = “they prefer dinner at home” (focusing on the meal)
- prefieren cenar en casa = “they prefer to have dinner at home” (focusing on the action)
Both are grammatically correct and natural.
The meaning is almost the same; it’s just noun vs. verb focus. In everyday speech, prefieren cenar en casa is probably more common.
Spanish often omits a repeated noun if it’s clear from context.
- First part: Muchas personas prefieren la cena en casa
- Second part: otras cenan en la calle
Here, otras = otras personas (“other people”), but personas is dropped to avoid repetition.
It’s feminine plural because:
- The implied noun personas is feminine plural.
- Adjectives and pronouns must match that: otras (feminine plural), not otros.
They are related forms from the same root:
- cena (in la cena) = a noun meaning “dinner.”
- cenan = a verb form of cenar (to have dinner):
- cenan is the third person plural present: “they have dinner / they eat dinner.”
So:
- la cena = the dinner
- cena could also be he/she/you (formal) has dinner depending on context.
- cenaN = they have dinner.
Both are correct, but they’re not identical:
- cenar = to have dinner (specifically)
- comer = to eat (in general) OR to have the midday meal in many Spanish-speaking countries
In this sentence:
- cenaN en la calle emphasizes that they have dinner in the street (or eat their evening meal out).
- comen en la calle could mean they eat out in general (not necessarily only for dinner) and, in some regions, might be interpreted as midday eating.
Using cenan keeps the parallel with la cena and makes it clear we’re talking about dinner.
Spanish is a pro‑drop language: it frequently omits subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows who the subject is.
- prefieren already indicates they prefer.
- cenan already indicates they have dinner.
Adding pronouns (Ellos/Ellas) would usually sound redundant here:
- Muchas personas prefieren la cena en casa; otras cenan en la calle.
= “Many people prefer dinner at home; others have dinner in the street.”
You would include pronouns mainly to emphasize or contrast:
Ellos cenan en la calle, pero ellas prefieren la cena en casa.
en casa is usually understood as “at home” in a general sense.
Context gives you whose home is meant:
- Here, because the subject is “many people,” it naturally means in their own homes.
If you need to be explicit:
- en mi casa = in my house / at my place
- en su casa = in his/her/their/your (formal) house
- en nuestra casa = in our house
But en casa by itself is a very common way to say “at home,” with ownership inferred from context.
Literally, en la calle is “in the street,” but in this context it has a broader, more idiomatic sense:
- It can mean eating outside the home, especially:
- at street-food stalls
- at small places that open onto the street
- or just out and about, not at home
In many Latin American contexts, cenar en la calle suggests:
- eating from food stands, street vendors, cheap eateries, or casual places out in town.
If you wanted to focus specifically on restaurants, you might say:
- cenas en restaurantes
- cenas fuera de casa (“you have dinner out / outside the home”).
The semicolon in Spanish works much like in English:
- It separates two closely related independent clauses:
- Muchas personas prefieren la cena en casa;
- otras cenan en la calle.
You could also write:
- With y: Muchas personas prefieren la cena en casa, y otras cenan en la calle.
- With a period: Muchas personas prefieren la cena en casa. Otras cenan en la calle.
All are grammatically correct. The semicolon emphasizes the contrast while keeping both ideas in a single, balanced sentence.
In Spanish, preferir is a transitive verb and directly takes a direct object without a preposition.
- prefieren la cena en casa
- prefieren = they prefer
- la cena en casa = direct object (“dinner at home”)
You would not say prefieren a la cena or prefieren de la cena here.
Compare:
- English: “prefer something”
- Spanish: preferir algo (no preposition in between).
You can change some parts, but not exactly like that if you want natural Spanish.
Grammatical, natural alternatives include:
- Muchas personas prefieren cenar en casa; otras prefieren cenar en la calle.
- Muchas personas prefieren cenar en casa; otras prefieren la cena en la calle.
But otras la cena en la calle by itself is incomplete:
- After otras, you need a conjugated verb or a clearly understood verb:
- otras cenan la cena en la calle (grammatical but redundant and odd)
- or repeat prefieren: otras prefieren la cena en la calle.
So word order is somewhat flexible, but you must keep a verb in each clause and avoid strange redundancy.