Learn Italian: Marco precisava sempre che odiava la nostra assemblea. - Marco always used to specify that he hated our assembly.

In indirect speech introduced by a past tense verb like precisava, a present tense statement from the original quote shifts to the imperfect. Marco's original words were likely odio (I hate). When reported in the past, odio shifts back in time to become odiava.

Why isn't there a pronoun like lui before odiava to show that Marco is the one who hated it?

In Italian, the subject pronoun is usually dropped because the context and verb ending make it clear. In direct speech, Marco would have said io odio (I hate). In indirect speech, this first-person perspective shifts to the third-person odiava (he hated). Since Marco is the main subject, it is automatically understood that he is the one hating the assembly.

How does the possessive nostra (our) demonstrate a shift in indirect speech here?

Possessives shift to match the perspective of the person reporting the sentence. If Marco originally told the speaker odio la vostra assemblea (I hate your assembly), the speaker must change it to la nostra (our) to reflect their own group. If Marco was also part of the group, he would have originally said la nostra, which simply stays the same when reported.

The verb precisava looks like the English word precise. What exactly does it mean here?