Colours in Russian, Including Two Blues
The main Russian colour words, how they agree with nouns and why Russian distinguishes light blue from dark blue.
Colour words are adjectives, so they change to match the noun.
The main colours
| Russian | Romanised | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| красный | krasny | red |
| синий | siniy | dark blue |
| голубой | goluboy | light blue |
| зелёный | zelyony | green |
| жёлтый | zholty | yellow |
| чёрный | chyorny | black |
| белый | byely | white |
| оранжевый | oranzhevy | orange |
| розовый | rozovy | pink |
| коричневый | korichnevy | brown |
| серый | syery | grey |
| фиолетовый | fioletovy | purple |
Two blues
Russian treats синий (dark blue) and голубой (light blue) as two separate basic colours, not shades of one. The sky is usually голубое, while the sea at night is синее.
Agreement
Colours agree with the noun in gender and number:
- красный дом, a red house
- красная книга, a red book
- красное платье, a red dress
- красные цветы, red flowers
Words like синий become синяя, синее and синие.
Useful phrases
- Какой ваш любимый цвет? What is your favourite colour?
- Мой любимый цвет — зелёный. My favourite colour is green.
- У меня чёрная сумка. I have a black bag.
Colours in language
- Красная площадь is the name of Red Square in Moscow. The word красный also used to mean "beautiful" in older Russian.
- белый also appears in Белый дом, the name for various "white houses".
Tips
- Learn the two blues.
- Practise agreement.
- Use the dictionary to check shades.
English Russian Dictionary
Offline English–Russian dictionary with meanings in proper Cyrillic script
More about English Russian Dictionary
Family Words in Russian
Russian vocabulary for relatives, with the main terms for parents, siblings, grandparents and in-laws.
Read article →Food and Drink Vocabulary in Russian
Everyday Russian words for food, drink and meals, with phrases for ordering and expressing hunger.
Read article →Shopping and Money in Russian
Russian words and phrases for shops, prices, paying and asking for help while shopping.
Read article →To Be and To Have in Russian: есть and У меня
How Russian handles 'to be' and 'to have', with the У меня есть construction and the past and future forms.
Read article →