Breakdown of Lo studente ha detto che non avrebbe fatto errori all'esame ripassando gli appunti.
non
not
lo studente
the student
avere
to have
fare
to do / to make
a
to / at
l'esame
exam
dire
to say, to tell
che
that (conjunction introducing a clause)
l'appunto
the note
ripassare
to review
l'errore
the mistake
Questions & Answers about Lo studente ha detto che non avrebbe fatto errori all'esame ripassando gli appunti.
Why is the gerund ripassando used here to mean "by reviewing"?
In Italian, the present gerund is frequently used to express the means or method by which something is done. You do not need a preposition like the English word "by"; the gerund ripassando alone carries the meaning of "by reviewing".
Why does the sentence use the past conditional avrebbe fatto instead of the present conditional farebbe?
This is a classic example of expressing the future in the past. Because the main clause happened in the past (ha detto), any action that was in the future from that perspective must use the past conditional. While English uses the simple conditional "would not make", Italian strictly requires non avrebbe fatto.
Why is it all'esame instead of a literal translation for "on the exam"?
Prepositions rarely translate word-for-word. While in English you make a mistake "on" a test, Italian treats the exam as an event you are at, using the preposition a. Combined with the article l' for esame, it becomes all'esame.
Why is the article gli used before appunti?
Appunti (notes) is a masculine plural noun that starts with a vowel. In Italian, masculine plural nouns starting with a vowel always take the definite article gli instead of i.
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