Learn Italian: Preferiamo guardare un film romantico che studiare. - We prefer watching a romantic film to studying.

Preferiamo guardare un film romantico che studiare.

We prefer watching a romantic film to studying.

Breakdown of Preferiamo guardare un film romantico che studiare.

a / an (masculine)

guardare

to look at / to watch

Questions & Answers about Preferiamo guardare un film romantico che studiare.

Why do we use che here instead of di?

We use che because we are comparing two verbs (guardare and studiare). When comparing two verbs, adjectives, or adverbs, Italian uses che. If you were comparing two nouns or pronouns (like preferring dogs over cats), you would usually use di.

The English translation says "watching" and "studying", but the Italian uses the infinitives guardare and studiare. Why?

In English, we often use the "-ing" form of a verb when talking about an activity as a general concept. In Italian, you cannot use the "-ing" equivalent for this; you must use the infinitive (the base dictionary form ending in -are, -ere, or -ire).

Preferire is a verb that usually adds -isc-, like in io preferisco. Why is it missing in preferiamo?

You are right that preferire takes the -isc- pattern! However, those extra letters are only added to the io, tu, lui/lei, and loro forms. The noi (preferiamo) and voi (preferite) forms skip the -isc- and conjugate regularly.

Why does romantico come after ?