Sul tavolo c’è dell’uva fresca, e accanto al piatto ho lasciato un kiwi e una ciotola di cereali.

Sul is the contracted form of su + il.

Italian often combines prepositions with definite articles:

• su + il = sul
• a + il = al
• di + il = del

So sul tavolo means on the table.

C’è means there is.

It is made from:

• ci = there
• è = is

So:

• c’è = there is
• ci sono = there are

In this sentence, c’è introduces dell’uva fresca, which is treated as a singular mass noun.

Because dell’uva is not being treated as countable individual items. It means some grapes / some fresh grapes, but grammatically uva is a mass noun in Italian, so it takes singular agreement.

So:

• C’è dell’uva fresca = There is some fresh grapes / some fresh grape(s)

  Even though English usually says grapes in the plural, Italian uses singular uva for the fruit in general.

Also, the second part of the sentence is a separate clause:
...e accanto al piatto ho lasciato un kiwi e una ciotola di cereali.

Dell’ here is a partitive article, often used to mean some.

So:

• uva = grapes / grape fruit in general
• dell’uva = some grapes

It is formed from:

• di + l’ = dell’

Because uva starts with a vowel, the article is elided: dell’uva.

You could sometimes hear just uva, but dell’uva is very natural when talking about an unspecified quantity.

In Italian, uva is usually an uncountable collective noun. It refers to grapes as a food item, not to separate individual grapes.

So Italian thinks more like:

• some grape fruit / some grapes as a substance

If you wanted to talk about one individual grape, you would usually say:

• un acino d’uva = a grape

This is a very common difference between English and Italian.

Because fresca agrees with uva, which is feminine singular.

• uva = feminine singular
• adjective must match it
• so: uva fresca

If the noun were masculine singular, you would use fresco.
If it were feminine plural, fresche.
If masculine plural, freschi.

It literally means next to the plate.

• accanto a = next to / beside
• al = a + il
• piatto = plate

So:

• accanto al piatto = next to the plate

This is a very common expression in Italian.

Because a + il contracts to al.

This is the same pattern as:

• su + il = sul
• di + il = del
• a + il = al

So accanto al piatto is the correct standard form.

Italian uses definite articles more often than English does.

So il piatto can sound natural even where English might say simply the plate, or sometimes where English might prefer my plate, your plate, etc., depending on context.

• accanto al piatto = next to the plate

The sentence assumes the plate is identifiable from the situation. It does not need a possessive unless the speaker wants to emphasize ownership.

Ho lasciato is the passato prossimo, one of the main Italian past tenses.

It is formed with:

• present of avere: ho
• past participle: lasciato

So:

• ho lasciato = I left / I have left

In many everyday contexts, Italian uses passato prossimo where English might simply use the simple past.

Yes, lasciare literally means to leave.

In this sentence, ho lasciato un kiwi e una ciotola di cereali means something like:

• I left a kiwi and a bowl of cereal there
• I put down / left behind a kiwi and a bowl of cereal

The exact English wording depends on context, but lasciare often implies that the speaker placed something somewhere and it remains there.

Because kiwi is masculine singular, while ciotola is feminine singular.

So:

• un kiwi
• una ciotola

Italian indefinite articles change with gender:

• un = masculine
• uno = masculine before certain consonant groups
• una = feminine

Because kiwi begins with a normal consonant sound, so it takes un.

You use uno before certain masculine nouns beginning with:

• z
• s + consonant
• ps
• gn
• x
• sometimes y

For example:

• un kiwi
• uno zaino
• uno studente

So un kiwi is correct.

After di, Italian often omits the article when talking about the contents or material of something.

So:

• una ciotola di cereali = a bowl of cereal / a bowl of cereals

This is similar to:

• un bicchiere d’acqua = a glass of water
• una tazza di tè = a cup of tea

If you added an article, it would usually make the phrase more specific, such as dei cereali meaning some cereals in a more independent sense.

Because in Italian, breakfast cereal is very commonly referred to in the plural: cereali.

So:

• una ciotola di cereali = a bowl of cereal

Even though English often uses singular cereal as a mass noun, Italian often uses the plural form for this food.

Starting with Sul tavolo puts the location first and sets the scene.

This is very natural in Italian. It is similar to saying in English:

• On the table, there is some fresh grapes...

Italian often uses this kind of word order to introduce what is in a place.

So the structure is:

• Sul tavolo = location first
• c’è dell’uva fresca = then what is there

It sounds descriptive and natural.