Breakdown of Pur sbagliando, hanno agito con coerenza ed etica.
e
and
avere
to have
con
with
sbagliare
to make a mistake
agire
to act
pur
even while / despite
l'etica
the ethics (f)
la coerenza
the consistency (coherence)
Questions & Answers about Pur sbagliando, hanno agito con coerenza ed etica.
How does pur change the meaning of the gerund sbagliando here?
By itself, sbagliando means "making a mistake" or "by making a mistake". Adding pur in front of a gerund gives it a concessive meaning, translating to "even though", "even while", or "despite". It is an elegant, B2-level alternative to saying anche se hanno sbagliato (even though they made a mistake).
Could I use pur sbagliando if I was the one who made the mistake, but they were the ones who acted?
No. You can only use the pur + gerund structure when the subject of both actions is exactly the same. Here, the people making the mistake and the people acting are the same "they". If the subjects were different, you would have to use a full clause, such as anche se io ho sbagliato (even though I made a mistake).
Why does the sentence use ed instead of e before etica?
Since agire (to act) doesn't have a direct object here, why does it use avere (hanno agito) instead of essere?
While it is a helpful rule of thumb that intransitive verbs (verbs without a direct object) take essere, there are exceptions. Agire always takes avere. It focuses on the active execution of a behavior or deed, rather than a change of state or physical movement from one location to another.
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