Colours & First Descriptions
Colours are the friendliest way to meet the most Russian habit of all: words agreeing with each other. Learn six colours and you'll also learn — almost by accident — how every adjective in the language works.
The Palette
| Russian | English | Note |
|---|---|---|
| красный | red | same root as красивый — beautiful |
| синий | blue | a 'soft' adjective — its endings look different |
| зелёный | green | ё is always stressed |
| жёлтый | yellow | |
| белый | white | |
| чёрный | black |
Colours Agree
The ending copies the noun's gender — the same trick as мой / моя / моё:
| Gender | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| masculine | красный дом | a red house |
| feminine | красная машина | a red car |
| neuter | красное яблоко | a red apple |
Это красная машина.
This is a red car.
Note: машина is feminine (-а), so the colour puts on its feminine ending: красная.
The pattern -ый / -ая / -ое carries almost every adjective you'll ever learn. Master it on colours now, and next chapter's adjectives will feel like review.
Big and Small
Большой (big) and маленький (small) follow the same rule:
| Russian | English |
|---|---|
| большой дом | a big house |
| маленькая сумка | a small bag |
| большое окно | a big window |
Asking about colour: Какой это цвет? — what colour is it? Answer with one word: Красный!
Какая это машина?
What kind of car is it?
Маленькая и красная.
Small and red.
Common Mistakes
- Freezing the adjective. Красный машина is the classic beginner tell — the ending must match: красная машина.
- Forgetting где ё, там stress. Зелёный, жёлтый, чёрный all carry stress on the ё.
- Treating синий like красный. Синий is a "soft" adjective (синяя, синее) — recognize it, don't worry about producing it yet.
What You Can Do Now
You can describe anything by colour and size — and you've quietly learned the agreement pattern that powers every Russian adjective.