Breakdown of Invece di restare sedentari, corriamo per il nostro benessere.
nostro
our
correre
to run
per
for / in order to / because of
restare
to stay, to remain
invece di
instead of
sedentario
sedentary
il benessere
well-being
Questions & Answers about Invece di restare sedentari, corriamo per il nostro benessere.
Why is restare in the infinitive instead of conjugated like restiamo?
After phrases of substitution like invece di (instead of), Italian uses the infinitive verb as long as the subject is the same for both actions. Since the implied "we" who runs is the same "we" who isn't staying sedentary, restare stays in the infinitive. Note that while English uses the "-ing" form ("staying"), Italian uses the infinitive.
Can I use anziché instead of invece di in this sentence?
Yes! Anziché means the exact same thing as invece di and works the exact same way with the infinitive. You could say Anziché restare sedentari to mean "Rather than staying sedentary."
If restare is an infinitive with no explicit subject, why is sedentari in the plural form?
Adjectives must always agree with the noun or pronoun they describe. Even though restare is in the infinitive, the implied subject of the whole sentence is "we" (noi), which we know from the verb corriamo. Because "we" is plural, the adjective sedentari must be plural too.
Why do we say il nostro benessere and not just nostro benessere?
In Italian, possessive adjectives almost always require a definite article (like il, la, i, le) right before them. The main exception is with singular family members (like mio fratello). Since benessere (well-being) isn't a family member, we need the article il.
Learn Invece di restare sedentari, corriamo per il nostro benessere and more in Italian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free