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Mi sono piaciuti quei vecchi mobili da restaurare.

Mi sono piaciuti quei vecchi mobili da restaurare.
I liked those old pieces of furniture to restore.
From Lesson 159:Preposition da with infinitives (da fare, da bere)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Mi sono piaciuti quei vecchi mobili da restaurare.

Why do we use da before restaurare?
In Italian, you use da + an infinitive verb right after a noun to show its purpose, its function, or what needs to be done to it. Here, mobili da restaurare means "furniture to be restored" or "furniture for restoring."
Why is the verb plural (sono piaciuti) if the English translation is "I liked"?
The verb piacere works backwards compared to English; it literally means "to be pleasing to." The sentence is actually structured as "Those old pieces of furniture were pleasing to me." Because the furniture is the subject doing the pleasing, the verb is plural (sono), and the past participle ends in -i to agree with the masculine plural mobili.
Why is the word for "those" quei instead of quelli?
Quei is the masculine plural form of quello (that) used when it comes directly before a word starting with most standard consonants (like vecchi). You would use quelli only when the word stands alone as a pronoun, like saying "I liked those ones" (Mi sono piaciuti quelli).
Why is "furniture" plural (mobili) in Italian here?
In English, "furniture" is an uncountable noun, meaning it is always grammatically singular. In Italian, un mobile refers to a single, countable piece of furniture. Since the speaker is talking about multiple pieces, it is made plural (i mobili).

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