Breakdown of Sono già le otto, ceniamo a casa piuttosto che svuotare il salvadanaio al ristorante.
essere
to be
la casa
the house
il ristorante
the restaurant
otto
eight
a
to / at
al
to the / at the
già
already
svuotare
to empty
cenare
to have dinner
piuttosto che
rather than (preference)
il salvadanaio
the piggy bank
Questions & Answers about Sono già le otto, ceniamo a casa piuttosto che svuotare il salvadanaio al ristorante.
Why is the infinitive svuotare used after piuttosto che?
This is an implicit alternative clause. When the subject of both actions (having dinner and emptying the piggy bank) is the same (in this case, 'we'), we use piuttosto che followed by the present infinitive to say 'rather than doing' something.
The translation says 'let's have dinner', but isn't ceniamo just the present tense 'we have dinner'?
You are right that ceniamo is the present indicative, but in Italian, the noi (we) form of the present tense is identical to the imperative form used for 'let's...'. Here, the context of suggesting an alternative tells us it is being used as a suggestion or command.
Why does the sentence use the plural Sono in Sono già le otto to say 'It is already eight'?
Salvadanaio is an interesting word for 'piggy bank'. How is it formed?
It is a compound noun made from the verb salvare (to save) and an older variant of the word denaro (money). So a piggy bank in Italian is quite literally a 'money saver'!
Learn Sono già le otto, ceniamo a casa piuttosto che svuotare il salvadanaio al ristorante 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