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Vediamo il passante fischiare il ritmo, e sentiamo la sirena e l'applauso.

Vediamo il passante fischiare il ritmo, e sentiamo la sirena e l'applauso.
We see the passerby whistling the rhythm, and we hear the siren and the applause.
From Lesson 261:Perception verbs with infinitives (vedere, sentire)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Vediamo il passante fischiare il ritmo, e sentiamo la sirena e l'applauso.

Why does the Italian sentence use the infinitive fischiare when the English translation says "whistling"?
In Italian, when you use a verb of perception like vedere (to see) or sentire (to hear) to describe an action happening, you use the present infinitive of the second verb. So, vediamo il passante fischiare translates naturally to "we see the passerby whistling" or "we see the passerby whistle."
Could I use the gerund fischiando instead of fischiare here?
The infinitive is the standard, grammatically correct choice after perception verbs in Italian. While you might occasionally hear a gerund to emphasize an ongoing background action, using the infinitive like fischiare is the most common and natural way to express this structure.
Does sentiamo always mean "we hear"?
Not always! The verb sentire is a general perception verb that can mean to hear, to feel, or even to smell, depending on the context. Because it is followed by sound-related words like la sirena (the siren) and l'applauso (the applause), it clearly means "we hear" in this sentence.
Where does the noun passante come from?
Passante is the present participle of the verb passare (to pass). In Italian, present participles are frequently used as nouns to describe someone performing an action. Just as "passerby" in English refers to someone passing, il passante literally means "the passing person."
Why is it l'applauso (singular) when "applause" in English is generally an uncountable noun?
In Italian, applauso is a countable noun. You can have a single round of clapping (un applauso) or multiple rounds (gli applausi). Here, the singular form is used because they are hearing one specific instance of applause.

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