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Ha imparato tutto il capitolo leggendo e memorizzando le parole.

Ha imparato tutto il capitolo leggendo e memorizzando le parole.
He learned the whole chapter by reading and memorizing the words.
From Lesson 196:Present gerund (-ando, -endo)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Ha imparato tutto il capitolo leggendo e memorizzando le parole.

Why is there no word for "by" before leggendo e memorizzando?
In English, we say "by reading" to explain how something was done (the means or method). In Italian, the present gerund (verbs ending in -ando or -endo) does this job all by itself. You don't need a preposition like per or con; the gerund leggendo already translates to "by reading" in this context.
How do we know who is doing the reading and memorizing here?
The Italian gerund (leggendo, memorizzando) doesn't change its ending to show who is doing the action. Instead, it relies on a strict rule: it almost always shares the same subject as the main verb. Because the main verb is ha imparato (he learned), we automatically know "he" is also the person doing the reading and memorizing.
Why is it tutto il capitolo and not just tutto capitolo?
When tutto means "the whole" or "all of the," it must be followed by a definite article (il, la, i, le) right before the noun. So "the whole chapter" is phrased literally as "all the chapter" (tutto il capitolo).
How exactly are the gerund forms leggendo and memorizzando created?
To form the present gerund, you drop the infinitive ending (-are, -ere, -ire) from the dictionary form of the verb. For -are verbs like memorizzare, you attach the ending -ando, making it memorizzando. For -ere verbs like leggere (and most -ire verbs), you attach -endo, making it leggendo.

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