Breakdown of Marco è nel panico per l'altezza, quindi teme che l'aereo cada.
essere
to be
Marco
Marco
per
for / in order to / because of
cadere
to fall
nel
in the (in + il) / while / upon (doing something)
che
that (conjunction introducing a clause)
quindi
therefore / so
l'aereo
the airplane
temere
to fear
il panico
panic
l'altezza
height
Questions & Answers about Marco è nel panico per l'altezza, quindi teme che l'aereo cada.
Why does this sentence use cada instead of the regular present tense cade?
Cada is the present subjunctive form of cadere (to fall). We must use the subjunctive here because it comes after teme che (he fears that). Verbs expressing emotions, attitudes, or fears, like temere, trigger the subjunctive in the second part of the sentence when the subject changes (from Marco to the airplane).
The English translation says "will fall", so why don't we use a future tense for the airplane falling?
Italian doesn't have a future subjunctive tense. When you have a present tense trigger like teme che and want to talk about a future event, you generally just use the present subjunctive (cada).
Why is it nel panico rather than just in panico?
The standard Italian expression is essere nel panico (literally, "to be in the panic"). It requires the combined preposition nel (in + il), unlike English which uses the indefinite article "a". Notice we also use the verb essere here, whereas for general fear we usually use avere (like avere paura).
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