Cade is the third-person singular present tense of cadere (to fall).
So:
Since la pedina is singular, the verb must also be singular:
By contrast:
Because Italian is a pro-drop language, which means the subject pronoun is often omitted when the verb ending already makes the subject clear.
In English, you need:
In Italian, the verb ending often gives enough information:
And here the noun is already stated:
So there is no need to add a separate word for it.
Not necessarily. Pedina can mean several kinds of small playing piece, depending on context.
It can refer to:
So the exact English translation depends on the game or situation. In many learning contexts, game piece is the safest general meaning.
In this sentence, plancia refers to some kind of board, playing surface, or platform-like surface.
The noun plancia can have different meanings in different contexts, such as:
Here, since the sentence involves a pedina, it most naturally suggests a board or game board. So the context is what tells you how to understand plancia.
Yes, but this is the most neutral and natural order:
So:
Italian word order is fairly flexible, but changing it can shift emphasis. For example:
The original version is the simplest standard structure.
A helpful approximation is:
A few pronunciation notes:
So the whole sentence sounds roughly like:
lah peh-DEE-nah KAH-deh DAHL-lah PLAN-chah
Because da is the normal preposition for movement from a place or source.
So:
That is why dalla plancia is the natural choice.
Other options would not work the same way:
If you wanted to say off the board, Italian often still uses dal/dalla very naturally:
Yes. There is a difference in aspect.
So:
In many cases, Italian uses the simple present where English might prefer is falling.
Yes, but that changes the tense.
So è caduta is the past tense and describes a completed event, while cade is present.
Also notice that cadere takes essere in compound tenses: