"Rather than eat candies, why don't you eat a plate of pasta?"

Translation: Piuttosto che mangiare caramelle, perché non mangi un piatto di pasta?

[coloraday]

piuttosto che, di = rather than

invece che = rather than

invece di = instead of

[ziggKogg]

Why does it become "che mangiare" not "piuttosto mangi"?

[jeffrey.eggers]

The introductory phrase has no subject. So the infinitive is used.

[gonabarcas]

I believe that, as in English, when comparing two actions, you say the first one in "infinitive", because is kinda like an hypothetical scenario, and the second one is conjugated in the 2nd person, because is a recommendation to that person... So "rather than eating" becomes "piuttosto che mangiare" (both in infinitive form) and "why don't YOU eat a plate of" becomes "perché non MANGI un piatto di" (both conjugated in second person)... It also works that way in Spanish

[YRwdBZcX]

Why is it incorrect to use the voi form - mangiate?

[gonabarcas]

Maybe a plate of pasta is not enough for that many people hahahahahha