Learn Hardcore Portuguese (Portugal): É fácil errar no exame. - It is easy to make mistakes in the exam.

So errar is in the infinitive because it is the verb that completes the idea started by é fácil. There is no explicit subject (it’s an impersonal, general statement), just like English “It’s easy to…” + infinitive.

Could I also say É fácil de errar no exame?

In this exact structure, with no explicit subject, the natural and standard form is É fácil errar no exame, without de.

Rough guideline:

Impersonal, no subject:
- ✅ É fácil errar no exame.
- ⛔ É fácil de errar no exame. (sounds wrong/unnatural in European Portuguese)
With a clear subject (often a thing you’re describing), you do use de:
- Este exercício é fácil de fazer. – This exercise is easy to do.
- O carro é difícil de estacionar.

So:

É fácil errar no exame. (general statement)
O exame é fácil de errar? – This is already strange; you’d more likely say O exame é fácil de fazer?

For the learner: remember É fácil + infinitive (no de) for general impersonal sentences.

Why is it é and not está fácil?

É (from ser) is used for more permanent, general, or characteristic statements; está (from estar) is used for temporary states or situations.

É fácil errar no exame is a general observation about the nature of the exam situation: in that kind of context, it is easy to make mistakes.

If you said Está fácil errar no exame, it would sound odd in European Portuguese; at best it might suggest a very specific, temporary situation (and even then, a Portuguese speaker would normally still say É fácil here).

So, for general It’s easy / hard / dangerous / important to…, always use é:

É fácil aprender isto.
É difícil encontrar lugar para estacionar.

What does no mean in no exame, and how is it formed?

No is a contraction:

em (in / on / at) + o (the, masculine singular) → no

So:

no exame = em + o exame → in the exam / on the exam

Some related contractions:

na = em + a (feminine singular)
nos = em + os (masculine plural)
nas = em + as (feminine plural)

Examples:

no exame – in the exam
na aula – in class
nos testes – in the tests
nas provas orais – in the oral exams

Does errar mean “to fail the exam” here?

No. Errar mainly means “to make a mistake / to get something wrong”.

So:

É fácil errar no exame.
= It’s easy to make mistakes in the exam / to get things wrong.

To say to fail the exam in European Portuguese, you normally use:

chumbar no exame (very common and informal-neutral)
reprovar no exame (a bit more formal/academic)

For example:

É fácil chumbar no exame. – It’s easy to fail the exam.
Ele chumbou no exame de Matemática. – He failed the Maths exam.

So errar no exame is about individual mistakes, not necessarily failing the whole exam.

Can I change the word order to Errar no exame é fácil?

Yes, that is grammatically correct and understandable:

Errar no exame é fácil.

However:

É fácil errar no exame. is the most natural and neutral order.
Errar no exame é fácil. can sound slightly more emphatic, as if you’re stressing Errar no exame by putting it first.

In everyday speech and writing, Portuguese speakers overwhelmingly prefer É fácil + infinitive word order for this kind of sentence.

Can I specify who is making the mistake, like É fácil errarmos no exame or É fácil eu errar no exame?

Yes, Portuguese allows this using the personal infinitive, which is very characteristic of Portuguese:

É fácil errar no exame. – It’s easy to make mistakes in the exam. (general)
É fácil errarmos no exame. – It’s easy for us to make mistakes in the exam.
É fácil errares no exame. – It’s easy for you (tu) to make mistakes in the exam.
É fácil eu errar no exame. – It’s easy for me to make mistakes in the exam.

All of these are grammatically possible in European Portuguese.

In practice:

General statement: É fácil errar no exame.
If you really want to highlight the subject (I/you/we), you can use the personal infinitive, especially in more careful or written language:
- É fácil nós errarmos no exame.
- É fácil vocês errarem no exame.

English usually needs “for + person + to…” to express this idea; in Portuguese the person is directly attached to the infinitive.

Is this the same as saying É fácil cometer erros no exame?

The meaning is very close, but there is a slight nuance:

É fácil errar no exame.
– More direct, natural, and idiomatic. Focuses on getting things wrong in general.
É fácil cometer erros no exame.
– A bit more explicit and slightly more formal or “spelled out”, because cometer erros literally means “to commit errors”.

Both are correct and understandable. In everyday speech, errar no exame is shorter and more common.

How is É fácil errar no exame pronounced in European Portuguese?

Approximate IPA (European Portuguese):

É → [ɛ] (open “eh”)
fácil → [ˈfas.il] (stress on fá)
errar → [ɛˈʁaɾ] or [ɨˈʁaɾ] depending on the speaker; the rr is a guttural sound, similar to French r
no → [nu] (almost like English “noo”)
exame → [ɨˈzɐm(ɨ)] – the x here sounds like z, and the final e is very reduced or almost silent

Put together roughly:

É fácil errar no exame.
→ [ɛ ˈfas.il ɛˈʁaɾ nu ɨˈzɐm(ɨ)]

Key points for learners:

é and errar have an open é sound at the start.
rr in errar is the throaty Portuguese r, not the English r.
In exame, the x sounds like z.

Is this sentence also natural in Brazilian Portuguese?

Yes, the sentence É fácil errar no exame is perfectly correct and natural in Brazilian Portuguese as well.

Some differences you might notice:

In Brazil, people often say na prova instead of no exame in everyday speech:
- É fácil errar na prova.
Pronunciation will be different (open final vowels, less reduction of unstressed vowels, slightly different r sounds), but the grammar is the same.

So you can safely use this structure in both European and Brazilian Portuguese.

What’s the difference between errar and enganar-se?

Both relate to the idea of making mistakes, but they’re used a bit differently:

errar – to get something wrong; to make a mistake:
- Erraste a pergunta. – You got the question wrong.
- É fácil errar no exame.
enganar-se – to be mistaken / to fool oneself / to be wrong about something:
- Enganei-me no caminho. – I took the wrong way / I got the way wrong.
- Se achas que é fácil, estás a enganar-te. – If you think it’s easy, you’re mistaken.

In the context of an exam, errar no exame (or errar as perguntas) is the most straightforward and usual way to say get things wrong on the exam. Enganar-se often has more of a “being mistaken / misleading oneself” flavour.

Are there other common patterns like É fácil + infinitive that I should know?

Yes, this pattern is very productive in Portuguese. You can use many adjectives with an infinitive:

É difícil aprender português europeu. – It’s hard to learn European Portuguese.
É importante estudar todos os dias. – It’s important to study every day.
É perigoso conduzir depressa. – It’s dangerous to drive fast.
É bom praticar a pronúncia. – It’s good to practise pronunciation.
É chato esperar tanto tempo. – It’s annoying to wait so long.

The model is:

É + adjective + infinitive

So É fácil errar no exame fits exactly into this very common and useful structure.