Learn Hardcore Italian: Quando vedo una stella cadente nel cielo, esprimo un desiderio. - When I see a shooting star in the sky, I make a wish.

Both vedo and esprimo are in the present indicative. In Italian the present indicative often expresses habitual actions or general truths. Here it tells us that every time you see a falling star, you make a wish—so it’s not a one-off event but something you do regularly.

Why is cadente placed after stella instead of before?

In Italian, participles used as adjectives typically follow the noun they modify. Thus you say stella cadente (“star falling”) rather than cadente stella. Most descriptive adjectives and all verbal participles come after the noun in standard word order.

What part of speech is cadente, and does it change for gender and number?

cadente is the present participle of cadere, used here as an adjective. It agrees with the noun in number (but not gender, since its form is the same for masculine and feminine in singular):

Singular: una stella cadente, un sasso cadente
Plural: due stelle cadenti, sassi cadenti

Why do we say nel cielo instead of simply in cielo?

nel is the contraction of in + il (“in the”), so nel cielo means “in the sky.” You can also hear in cielo (dropping the article) in more poetic or general contexts—but with cielo it’s common to include the article, treating it like any other noun.

Why is the indefinite article una used before stella?

Stella is a feminine, countable noun in the singular. Italian requires an article before singular countable nouns, so you use una (“a”/“an” for feminine singular) to mean “a star.”

Could you use faccio instead of esprimo in esprimo un desiderio? What’s the difference?

Yes. faccio un desiderio (“I make a wish”) is very common and informal. esprimo un desiderio (“I express a wish”) sounds slightly more formal or literary. Both are correct; faccio un desiderio is what you’ll hear most often in everyday speech.

Why is there a comma before esprimo, and is it mandatory?

The comma separates the subordinate time clause (Quando vedo una stella cadente nel cielo) from the main clause (esprimo un desiderio). It’s recommended for clarity, especially with longer subordinate clauses. In very short sentences you might omit it, but in this case keeping the comma is good style.

Does stella cadente literally mean “falling star,” and is it an actual star?

Literally, yes: stella = “star,” cadente = “falling.” Idiomatically it means what English speakers call a shooting star, though scientifically it’s a meteor burning up in the atmosphere, not a true star.

How would you say “when I see falling stars” (plural) in Italian?

Use the plural forms of the article, noun and participle: Quando vedo delle stelle cadenti…

delle is the plural indefinite article for feminine nouns
stelle is “stars”
cadenti is the plural of cadente

What does esprimo un desiderio literally translate to, and what’s a more idiomatic English equivalent?

Literally it’s “I express a wish.” In idiomatic English you’d say “I make a wish.”