Ambos amigos quieren ver la película en el cine.

Ambos means both.

So ambos amigos means both friends.

A few useful points:

• Ambos agrees in number and gender:
  • ambos amigos = both male friends / a mixed group of friends
  • ambas amigas = both female friends
• It usually goes before the noun, as it does here.
• A very common alternative is los dos amigos (the two friends / both friends).

So this sentence could also be said as:

• Los dos amigos quieren ver la película en el cine.

That sounds very natural too.

Because amigos is the masculine plural form of amigo.

In Spanish, the masculine plural is used for:

• a group of males, or
• a mixed group of males and females

So ambos amigos could mean:

• two male friends, or
• two friends of mixed gender

If they were definitely two female friends, it would be:

• Ambas amigas quieren ver la película en el cine.

Quieren is the third-person plural form of querer in the present tense.

The subject is ambos amigos = both friends, which is plural, so the verb must also be plural.

Conjugation of querer in the present:

• yo quiero
• tú quieres
• él/ella/usted quiere
• nosotros/nosotras queremos
• vosotros/vosotras queréis
• ellos/ellas/ustedes quieren

So:

• Ambos amigos quieren... = Both friends want...

Because querer here is followed by another verb: ver.

• querer + infinitive = to want to do something

So:

• quieren ver = they want to see/watch

If you say quieren la película, that would mean something more like:

• they want the movie

That changes the meaning completely.

This is a very common Spanish pattern:

• Quiero comer = I want to eat
• Queremos salir = We want to go out
• Quieren ver la película = They want to see the movie

Because after querer, Spanish normally uses the infinitive of the next verb.

So the structure is:

• [conjugated verb] + [infinitive]

Here:

• quieren = conjugated
• ver = infinitive

You do not say:

• quieren ven
• quieren ven la película
• quieren ven la película en el cine

Those are incorrect.

The correct pattern is:

• quieren ver

La película means the movie, while una película means a movie.

Spanish often uses the definite article when the speaker has a specific thing in mind or when the context makes it clear which one is meant.

So:

• ver la película = see the movie
• ver una película = see a movie

Both are grammatically possible, but they mean slightly different things.

In your sentence, la película suggests a specific movie.

Because la película is a thing, not a person.

Spanish uses the personal a before a specific human direct object:

• Veo a mi amigo = I see my friend

But with things, you do not use it:

• Veo la película = I see the movie

So:

• quieren ver la película is correct
• quieren ver a la película is incorrect in this normal meaning

En el cine means at the cinema or at the movie theater.

Breakdown:

• en = in / at
• el cine = the cinema / movie theater

In Spain, cine is the normal word for cinema or movie theater.

So the sentence means they want to watch the movie at the cinema, not at home or somewhere else.

Because en el cine expresses where they want to watch the movie.

• ver la película en el cine = to watch the movie at the cinema

By contrast, al cine often appears with verbs of movement, especially ir:

• Van al cine = They go to the cinema

So:

• ver la película en el cine = watch the movie there
• ir al cine = go there

They are different structures:

• Quieren ver la película en el cine.
• Quieren ir al cine.

Both are correct, but they do not mean exactly the same thing.

This word order is very natural:

• Ambos amigos quieren ver la película en el cine.

Spanish word order is often flexible, but not all changes sound equally natural.

Possible alternatives include:

• Los dos amigos quieren ver la película en el cine.
• Quieren ver la película en el cine ambos amigos.
  This is possible, but much less neutral and sounds marked or emphatic.

For a learner, the original order is the safest and most natural.

In most of Spain, c before i is pronounced like the th in think.

So cine is pronounced approximately like:

• THEE-neh in much of Spain

More exactly, the first sound is /θ/, not a normal English th in this.

In many parts of Latin America, it would sound more like:

• SEE-neh

Since you asked about Spanish from Spain, the Spain pronunciation is the one to learn here.

Sometimes, but ver is the more natural choice here.

In Spanish:

• ver = to see / to watch
• mirar = to look at

When talking about films, TV, or shows, ver is very common and often the most natural verb:

• Quieren ver la película. = They want to watch the movie.

You may hear mirar una película in some places, but in standard Spanish from Spain, ver una película is the safest and most natural option.

Here is a simple breakdown:

• Ambos amigos = subject
• quieren = main verb, present tense, third-person plural
• ver = infinitive, linked to quieren
• la película = direct object
• en el cine = prepositional phrase showing place

So the basic structure is:

• Subject + conjugated verb + infinitive + object + place

That pattern is very common in Spanish.