2
Colours
Russian A1 · Unit 9
GoalName the main colours and use them with masculine nouns.
New words
кра́сный (krásnyy) · redси́ний (síniy) · dark blueголубо́й (golubóy) · light blueзелёный (zelyónyy) · greenжёлтый (zhyóltyy) · yellowчёрный (chyórnyy) · blackбе́лый (bélyy) · whiteсе́рый (séryy) · grey
Explanation
Colours are adjectives, so they come before the noun and match it: кра́сный каранда́ш is a red pencil. Russian has two words for blue: си́ний is dark blue and голубо́й is light blue, like the sky. For Russians these are two different colours, so learn both. The letter ё in зелёный, жёлтый and чёрный is always stressed and has no mark. Other colours you may meet: ро́зовый (pink) and ора́нжевый (orange).
| Colour | Russian | Say |
|---|---|---|
| red | кра́сный | krásnyy |
| green | зелёный | zelyónyy |
| yellow | жёлтый | zhyóltyy |
| black | чёрный | chyórnyy |
| white | бе́лый | bélyy |
| grey | се́рый | séryy |
Worked examples
Four colour squares: red, orange, yellow, green.
Two blues and two dark colours. Listen.
Colour and noun. Listen: a red pencil, a white computer, a pink flower, an orange telephone.
Class activity
Colour hunt. Find five things around you with a masculine name and say the colour and the noun: кра́сный каранда́ш, чёрный телефо́н. Then say a colour and ask a friend to find a thing of this colour. Learn the two blues: point to the sky and say голубо́й, point to the night sky and say си́ний.
Practice
1
Press Listen. Is this colour one of the eight colours of this lesson?
…
No. It is кори́чневый (koríchnevyy), “brown”.
2
Say “a red pencil” in Russian.
кра́сный каранда́ш.
3
The picture shows a colour. Say it in Russian.
жёлтый (zhyóltyy), yellow.
4
Which two words mean “blue” and what is the difference?
си́ний is dark blue; голубо́й is light blue.
5
Read the phrase aloud. What does it mean?
“A black phone.”