Vocabulary: Colours
Vocabulary: Colours
Introduction to Russian Colours
- Colour words in Russian relate to objects or concepts through the concept of matching or contrasting colours.
- Most basic colour words in Russian are adjectives and need to agree in gender and number with the noun they describe.
Common Colour Adjectives
- Красный (krasnyi) - red
- Синий (siniy) - blue
- Жёлтый (zheltyi) - yellow
- Зелёный (zelyonyi) - green
- Чёрный (chyorny) - black
- Белый (belyi) - white
- Розовый (rozovyi) - pink
- Голубой (goluboi) - light blue
- Коричневый (korichnevyi) - brown
- Оранжевый (oranzhevyi) - orange
- Серый (seryi) - grey
- Фиолетовый (fioletovyi) - purple
Using Colours in Sentences
- Colours should agree with the noun they are describing in gender, number, and case.
- For example, ‘красная книга’ (krasnaya kniga - red book) but ‘красное яблоко’ (krasnoye yabloko - red apple).
Shades of Colours in Russian
- To express different shades of colours, you can use words like темный (dark) or светлый (light) in front of the colour.
- For example, ‘темно-синий’ (temno-siniy - dark blue) or ‘светло-зелёный’ (svetlo-zelyonyi - light green).
Colour-related Idiomatic Expressions
- Colour words often appear in idiomatic expressions, proverbs and metaphors.
- For instance, ‘зелёные годы’ (zelyonyye gody) does not mean ‘green years’ but ‘youth’ or ‘young age’. Familiarise yourself with common idiomatic usage of colour words.