When you want to talk about choosing one action over another—like swapping a bad habit for a healthy one—Italian uses specific phrases followed by an infinitive.
In English, you might say "instead of doing." In Italian, use invece di or anziché followed by the infinitive (the unconjugated verb).
Using "invece di"
Place invece di directly before the infinitive of the action you are rejecting.
| Instead of smoking, I combat this bad habit. | Invece di fumare, combatto questo vizio. |
| Instead of being sedentary, I walk every day. | Invece di essere sedentario, cammino ogni giorno. |
| Instead of spending out of boredom, I do something useful. | Invece di spendere per noia, faccio qualcosa di utile. |
Using "anziché"
Anziché (rather than / instead of) means the exact same thing. Note that it is a single word and does not take the preposition di.
| Instead of procrastinating, I prefer to work right away. | Anziché procrastinare, preferisco lavorare subito. |
| Instead of eating fried food, I cook vegetables. | Anziché mangiare cibo fritto, cucino la verdura. |
Placement and tenses
You can put the invece di or anziché phrase at the beginning or in the middle of a sentence.
| I think about my well-being instead of doing something harmful. | Penso al mio benessere anziché fare qualcosa di nocivo. |
The main verb can be in any tense (like the past), but the alternative action following invece di or anziché always stays in the infinitive.
| When I was young I always procrastinated, instead of studying. | Da giovane procrastinavo sempre, anziché studiare. |
| Instead of keeping that bad habit, I used to train every day. | Invece di mantenere quel vizio, mi allenavo tutti i giorni. |
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