Languages › Russian Russian Colors: Pronunciation and Examples Print R.Tsubin / Getty Images Languages English as a Second Language Spanish French German Italian Japanese Mandarin Russian By Maia Nikitina Maia Nikitina Russian Language Expert M.F.A., Creative Writing, Manchester Metropolitan University Diploma in Translation (IoLet Level 7, Russian), Chartered Institute of Linguists Maia Nikitina is a writer and Russian language translator. She holds a Diploma in Translation (IoLet Level 7) from the Chartered Institute of Linguists. Learn about our Editorial Process Updated on November 26, 2019 Russian colors are generally used in the same way as colors in English. However, when it comes to blue, there are two separate blue colors in Russian: голубой (galooBOY)—meaning light blue—, and синий (SEEniy), which encompasses all shades of medium and darker blue. This distinction is very important in Russian and the two colors (голубой and синий) are each considered to be a separate color that is equal to all other colors. Colors in Russian To remember some of the basic Russian colors, use this mnemonic for the colors of the rainbow: Каждый охотник желает знать, где сидит фазан (KAZHdiy aHOTnik zheLAyet ZNAT' GDYE siDEET faZAN). Translation: Every hunter wants to know where the pheasant sits. The first letter of each word in the mnemonic corresponds to one of the colors of the rainbow: каждый - красный (KRASniy) - redохотник - оранжевый (aRANzheviy) - orangeжелает - жёлтый (ZHYOLtiy) - yellowзнать - зелёный (zeLYOniy) - greenгде - голубой (galooBOY) - light blueсидит - синий (SEEniy) - blueфазан - фиолетовый (fee-a-LYEtaviy) - purple/violet Below are some more Russian colors you should know: Color in Russian Pronunciation Translation Красный KRASniy Red Синий SEEniy Blue (medium to dark) Голубой galooBOY Light blue Зелёный zeLYOniy Green Жёлтый ZHYOLtiy Yellow Оранжевый aRANzheviy Orange Фиолетовый fee-a-LYEtaviy Violet/purple Салатовый/салатный saLAtaviy/saLATniy Chartreuse green Серый SYEriy Gray Чёрный CHYORniy Black Белый BYEliy White Коричневый kaREECHneviy Brown Бирюзовый beeryuZOviy Turquoise Лимонный leeMONniy Lemon yellow Розовый ROzaviy Pink Бежевый BYEzheviy Beige Бордовый barDOviy Burgundy Золотой zalaTOY Gold Серебряный seRYEBreniy Silver Лиловый leeLOviy Lilac Сливовый sleeVOviy Plum Васильковый vaseelKOviy Cornflower blue Лазурный laZOORniy Cerulean blue Малиновый maLEEnaviy Alizarin crimson/raspberry Персиковый PERsikaviy Peach How to Use the Color Words in Russian Russian colors change their endings based on their gender, number, and case. Although this may seem confusing at first, once you start to use the colors in your speech, you will get used to the endings. In dictionaries, Russian colors are always given in the masculine form. Use the following endings for each gender and number: Singular Masculine:-ый, -ийExample: красный (KRASniy) - red Feminine:-ая, -яяExample: красная (KRASnaya) - red Neuter:-ое, -ееExample: красное (KRASnaye) -red Plural For all genders:-ые, -иеExample: красные (KRASnyye) - red The table below provides the endings for the main Russian colors. Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural красный красная красное красные синий синяя синее синие жёлтый жёлтая жёлтое жёлтые зелёный зелёная зелёное зелёные оранжевый оранжевая оранжевое оранжевые фиолетовый фиолетовая фиолетовое фиолетовые коричневый коричневая коричневое коричневые чёрный чёрная чёрное чёрные белый белая белое белые серый серая серое серые голубой голубая голубое голубые Additionally, Russian colors also change their endings when the nouns that they relate to change case. It is important to learn these correctly if you want to speak Russian like a native speaker. When the colors change by case, their endings are one of the following, based on whether the last letter before the ending is soft, hard, or mixed: Case Masculine Feminine Neuter Nominative -ий, -ый -ая, -яя -ое, -ее Genitive -его, -ого -ей, -ой -его, -ого Dative -ему, -ому -ей, -ой -ему, -ому Accusative -его (-ий), -ого (-ый) -ую, -юю -его (-ее), -ого (-ое) Instrumental -им, -ым -ей, -ой -им, -ым Prepositional -ем, -ом -ей, -ой -ем, -ом Here is how the color синий (medium/dark blue) changes by case and gender: Case Masculine Feminine Neuter nominative синий (SEEniy) синяя (SEEnaya) синее (SEEneye) genitive синего (SEEneva) синей (SEEney) синего (SEEneva) dative синему (SEEnemoo) синей (SEEney) синему (SEEnemoo) accusative синего/синий (SEEneva/SEEniy) синюю (SEEnyuyu) синее (SEEneye) instrumental синим (SEEnim) синей (SEEney) синим (SEEnim) prepositional синем (SEEnem) синей (SEEney) синем (SEEnem) Examples: - Красная Шапочка шла по лесу (KRASnaya SHApachka SHLA PO lyesoo)- The Red Little Riding Hood was walking through the forest. - У тебя нет красного карандаша? (oo tyBYA net KRASnava karandaSHA)- Do you have a red pencil? - Он ехал с Красного моря (on YEhal s KRASnava MOrya)- He was traveling from the Red Sea. - Голубое небо (galooBOye NEba)- A blue sky. - Юбку мы раскрасим голубым (YUPkoo my rasKRAsim galooBYM)- We will color the skirt blue. - Видишь ту голубую машину? (VEEdish too galooBOOyu maSHEEnoo)- Can you see that light blue car? - Жёлтый песок (ZHYOLtiy peSOK)- Yellow sand. - У нас нет жёлтой лопатки (oo NAS net ZHYOLtai laPATki)- We don't have a yellow toy spade. - Повсюду были жёлтые цветы (paFSYUdoo BYli ZHYOLtye TSVYEty)- Yellow flowers were everywhere. - Чёрный экран (CHYORniy ekRAN)- The/a black screen. - Где вы видели эту чёрную кошку? (GDYE vy VEEdeli EHtoo CHYORnooyu KOSHku)- Where did you see this black cat? - Мы едем на Чёрное море. (my YEdem na CHYORnaye MOre)- We are going to the Black Sea. Cite this Article Format mla apa chicago Your Citation Nikitina, Maia. "Russian Colors: Pronunciation and Examples." ThoughtCo, Jun. 25, 2024, thoughtco.com/russian-colors-4776553. Nikitina, Maia. (2024, June 25). Russian Colors: Pronunciation and Examples. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/russian-colors-4776553 Nikitina, Maia. "Russian Colors: Pronunciation and Examples." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/russian-colors-4776553 (accessed September 5, 2024). copy citation We Care About Your PrivacyWe and our 100 partners store and/or access information on a device, such as unique IDs in cookies to process personal data. You may accept or manage your choices by clicking below, including your right to object where legitimate interest is used, or at any time in the privacy policy page. These choices will be signaled to our partners and will not affect browsing data.We and our partners process data to provide:Store and/or access information on a device. Use limited data to select advertising. Create profiles for personalised advertising. 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