Breakdown of Che cosa guardano in televisione?
in
in / made of (material)
guardare
to look at / to watch
che
what
la cosa
the thing
la televisione
the television
Questions & Answers about Che cosa guardano in televisione?
Why does 'what' translate to two words here, che cosa?
Where is the word for 'they' in this sentence?
It is hidden in the verb! In Italian, you usually drop subject pronouns like loro (they) because the verb ending already tells you who is doing the action. The -ano ending on guardano clearly points to 'they'.
The English translation says 'are they watching', but isn't guardano just 'they watch'?
Italian often uses the simple present tense (guardano) for actions happening right now. While Italian does have a specific way to say 'are watching', using the simple present tense is perfectly natural and very common for both 'they watch' and 'they are watching'.
Why is it in televisione instead of 'on television'?
Languages often disagree on which little connecting words (prepositions) to use for media! In English we watch things 'on' television, but in Italian, you watch things 'in' television (in televisione). It is best to memorize this as a set phrase.
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