Russian phrasebook
Phrases in Russian with audio and video

Colours and Shapes

The world around us is full of objects with their shape and colour. Since we were children, we make use of colours in our everyday conversations. Just think of how many times we mention them during any given day. On the other hand, shapes and sizes will help you specify what you mean: Do you need the small and yellow one or this big and blue? Pay attention to the audio and repeat the name of each colour:

Part 1: Video

Summary of this topic with images and sound:

Watch the most important words and phrases of this topic below.

Part 2: Audio and explanations

Listen to the audio, read the explanations and get ready to learn real Russian.

The colours in Russian

Life is colourful, we have a favourite colour, everything has a colour,... knowing the colours will help us describe objects or say phrases like "I want that red thing", when we don't know how to call something in Russian:

Colour red кра́сный
krás-nyj
red

Colour yellow жёлтый
zhól-tyj
yellow

Colour blue си́ний
sí-nij
blue

Colour light blue голубо́й
ga-lu-bój
light blue

Colour orange ора́нжевый
a-rán-zhe-vyj
orange

Colour green зелёный
zye-lyó-nyj
green

Colour violet фиоле́товый
fia-lyé-ta-vyj
violet

Colour pink ро́зовый
ró-za-vyj
pink

Colour brown кори́чневый
ka-rích-nye-vyj
brown

Colour white бе́лый
byé-lyj
white

Colour black чёрный
chór-nyj
black

Colour grey се́рый
syé-ryj
grey

Size and shape

To complement the colours, we're going to see sizes and shapes. They aren't many words, but they can help you improve your descriptions. We'll be seeing two sizes (big and small) and some basic shapes:

большо́й
bal-shój
big

ма́ленький
má-lyen-kij
small

дли́нный
dlín-nyj
long

коро́ткий
ka-rót-kij
short

кру́глый
krú-glyj
round

квадра́тный
kva-drát-nyj
square