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Russian colours

Twelve adjectives — and a genuine difference in how Russian sees the colour blue.

Quick answer

Colours are adjectives, so they take the gender of the noun: кра́сный дом, кра́сная маши́на, кра́сное окно́.

The basics

кра́сныйkrásnyred
си́нийsínydark blue
голубо́йgoluboylight blue — a separate colour in Russian
зелёныйzelyónygreen
жёлтыйzhyóltyyellow
чёрныйchyórnyblack
бе́лыйbélywhite

The rest

се́рыйsérygrey
кори́чневыйkoríchnevybrown
ро́зовыйrózovypink
ора́нжевыйoránzhevyorange
фиоле́товыйfiolétovypurple

Two words for blue

Russian treats си́ний (dark blue) and голубо́й (light blue) as two different colours, the way English treats red and pink. Studies show Russian speakers actually distinguish those shades faster than English speakers — the language trains the eye.

си́нее мо́реthe dark blue sea
голубо́е не́боthe light blue sky

In a sentence

Како́го цве́та маши́на?What colour is the car?
Маши́на кра́сная.The car is red.
Я хочу́ чёрный ко́фе.I want black coffee.

Typical mistakes

си́ний не́бо

голубо́е не́бо

The sky is light blue — and не́бо is neuter, so the ending changes too.

кра́сный маши́на

кра́сная маши́на

The adjective follows the gender of the noun.

Check yourself

How do you say “the blue sky”?

The sky is light blue: голубо́е, with the neuter ending.

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