Learn Hardcore Italian: L’uniforme del cassiere è blu e ha una piccola ruota disegnata sul petto. - The cashier’s uniform is blue and has a small wheel drawn on the chest.

Italian drops the vowel of the feminine singular article la before a word starting with a vowel and replaces it with an apostrophe. So la uniforme becomes l’uniforme. You would never use il here because uniforme is a feminine noun.

What does del cassiere mean, and why can’t we just say di cassiere?

Del is the contraction of di + il (the preposition of plus the masculine singular article il). In Italian, possession typically uses di plus the definite article: del cassiere = of the cashier. Saying di cassiere without the article would sound unnatural or imply “by a cashier.”

Why is blu the same form for both masculine and feminine? Shouldn’t it change to blua or blui?

Some color adjectives in Italian are invariable, especially those ending in a vowel other than –o, like blu (a loan from French). They never change for gender or number, so you always say blu, whether the noun is masculine, feminine, singular or plural.

The sentence uses ha. Isn’t that odd since a uniform isn’t alive?

In Italian inanimate objects can still “have” something in the sense of possessing or featuring it. So l’uniforme ha una piccola ruota disegnata literally means “the uniform has/ features a small wheel drawn.” It’s perfectly normal in Italian to use avere this way.

What is disegnata, and why does it end in –a?

Disegnata is the past participle of disegnare (to draw) used as an adjective meaning “drawn.” Italian participles used adjectivally agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. Ruota is feminine singular, so you get disegnata.

Why is the adjective piccola placed before ruota? I thought adjectives come after nouns in Italian.

Many Italian adjectives do follow the noun, but adjectives of size (like piccolo, grande), beauty (bello), and a few others often appear before the noun. Una piccola ruota is idiomatic. You could say una ruota piccola, but putting piccola first often feels smoother or more emphatic.

What does sul petto mean, and why do we say sul here?

Sul is the contraction of su + il (on + the). Petto means “chest.” So sul petto = “on the chest.” If the noun began with a vowel you’d use sull’, or sullo for certain consonant clusters, following the standard rules for preposition + article.

Could you say dell’uniforme del cassiere instead of l’uniforme del cassiere?

Yes, if you’re speaking of “one of the cashier’s uniforms” in general, you could say dell’uniforme del cassiere (“of a uniform of the cashier”). But if you mean “the uniform of the cashier,” you use l’uniforme del cassiere with the definite article.