L'aggressore indossava una giacca rossa.

The attacker was wearing a red jacket.

Pronunciation

in-dos-SAH-vah — imperfect tense; the 'ss' creates a clear double consonant.

When to use it

Use when giving a physical description of a suspect. Clothing description is the fastest way to identify someone still in the area — much faster than facial features.

What it means

'Indossare' (to wear) is the standard verb for clothing. The imperfect 'indossava' describes what the person was wearing at the time of the incident.

Variations

Aveva i capelli corti e biondi.

He/she had short blond hair.

Hair description — combine with face shape for a fuller picture.

Era alto circa un metro e ottanta.

He/she was about one metre eighty tall.

Height — use metric system as Italian police record in centimetres.

Aveva un tatuaggio sul collo.

He/she had a tattoo on the neck.

Distinctive features are highly memorable and useful for identification.

Mini Dialogue

— Come era vestito l'aggressore? — L'aggressore indossava una giacca rossa e jeans neri. — Scarpe? — Non le ho viste bene. Forse scarpe da ginnastica bianche. — Capelli? — Corti, scuri. Probabilmente sui trent'anni.

— How was the attacker dressed? — The attacker was wearing a red jacket and black jeans. — Shoes? — I didn't see them well. Maybe white trainers. — Hair? — Short, dark. Probably around thirty years old.

Cultural Note

Italian police descriptions follow a standard format: height, build (corporatura), apparent age, hair (capelli), clothing (abbigliamento). Practising this sequence helps you give a faster, cleaner description under pressure.

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