Learn Hardcore Italian: Se non avessi fatto la ricarica, il GPS si sarebbe spento durante il viaggio. - If you hadn’t done the recharge, the GPS would have turned off during the trip.

Italian uses the congiuntivo trapassato in the “if” clause to express a past counterfactual—something that didn’t happen. It matches English’s third conditional (if I hadn’t charged…). You pair congiuntivo trapassato in the protasis with condizionale passato in the apodosis (il GPS si sarebbe spento).

Why is si sarebbe spento reflexive and formed with essere?

Spegnersi (“to switch itself off”) is a reflexive/intransitive verb, so Italian uses essere for its compound tenses. That’s why it’s si sarebbe spento (it would have turned off), not avrebbe spento, which would be the transitive form “would have turned something off.”

Could I say se non avessi ricaricato il GPS instead of fatto la ricarica?

Yes. ricaricare is the verb “to recharge,” so se non avessi ricaricato il GPS is perfectly correct and a bit more direct. Fare la ricarica is a common set phrase using the noun ricarica, but both convey the same idea.

What’s the role of durante il viaggio, and could I use mentre instead?

Durante il viaggio means “during the trip” and pairs with a noun. If you use mentre (“while”), you need a verb clause: mentre viaggiavo (“while I was traveling”). Both mark background time but require different structures.

Is the comma before the main clause necessary?

Yes—when the protasis (if-clause) comes first, you separate it with a comma from the apodosis (main clause). If you invert the order—starting with il GPS si sarebbe spento durante il viaggio—the comma becomes optional.

Can I invert the word order to se non avessi fatto la ricarica, si sarebbe spento il GPS?

You can, but Italians usually place the subject (il GPS) at the beginning of its clause for clarity. Il GPS si sarebbe spento is the neutral choice; putting il GPS at the end is grammatically fine but sounds less natural.

Could I use the imperfect subjunctive here, like se non facessi la ricarica?

No. The imperfect subjunctive (facessi) expresses simultaneous or habitual past actions. For an unreal past event that never happened, you need the past perfect subjunctive (avessi fatto).

What tone or register does this sentence have? Can it be made more formal or informal?

It’s neutral, suitable for spoken and written contexts. For a more formal tone you might say effettuato la ricarica instead of fatto la ricarica. For informal speech you could even shorten it to se non l’avessi ricaricata (referring to the battery).