How to Say Basic Colors in Russian

Learn colors in Russian.

While traveling, you may need to refer to the colors of street signs or train schedules as a way of asking for help. Being able to correctly pronounce these colors could mean the difference in making your train on time or watching it pull away from the station without you.

Instructions

1. In the Russian language, all colors are considered adjectives. This means they will all have a similar ending, which is a vowel followed by the letter й. The sound of this letter is similar to the y sound in the English word yes.

2. Begin by trying to pronounce the easiest color, which is белый (byeah-lee-y). This means white. The "yeah" is pronounced just like the English yeah (the informal word for yes).

3. Move on to the second color now. Красный (kras-nee-y) means red. Roll the r a bit .

4. Challenge yourself now with the color blue. It's a little more difficult. Синий (see-nee-y).

5. Try --елтый (zhol-tee-y). This one means yellow.

6. Say ---еленый (zyea-lo-nee-y). This means green

7. Pronounce Черный (chyear-nee-y) to say black. Don't forget to roll the r.

8. Use the word Коричневый (ka-reach-nyea-vwee-y) to say brown.

Tips & Warnings

• If you write these words and pronounce them several times a day for a week, you will greatly increase your chances of knowing and remembering these colors for a long time.

References

• Russko-anglijskij razgovornik: T. Avrova, 3rd edition, 2004
• Your Dictionary