Breakdown of Il giorno che ho finito la manovra senza usare lo specchietto, mi hanno bocciato.
avere
to have
il giorno
the day
finire
to finish
senza
without
usare
to use
mi
me (direct object)
che
who, that (relative pronoun)
bocciare
to fail (someone / a test)
lo specchietto
the rearview mirror
la manovra
the maneuver
Questions & Answers about Il giorno che ho finito la manovra senza usare lo specchietto, mi hanno bocciato.
Why is che used here instead of in cui or quando?
In colloquial Italian, che is often used as a catch-all relative pronoun for time expressions, replacing in cui (in which) or quando (when). So, il giorno che simply means 'the day that' or 'the day when'. It is very common in spoken Italian, though in formal writing you would prefer il giorno in cui.
What does mi hanno bocciato mean exactly in this context?
Why is the infinitive usare used directly after senza?
In Italian, prepositions like senza (without) are always followed directly by the infinitive form of the verb, never by a gerund like we do in English. So 'without using' must translate to senza usare.
Why does ho finito use avere here instead of essere?
The verb finire takes either avere or essere in the past tense depending on its use. Because it has a direct object here (la manovra), it acts as a transitive verb and must use avere. If the subject itself was ending without a direct object, such as 'the test ended' (l'esame è finito), you would use essere.
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