Colors in Italian: 25 Essential Words
🇮🇹 Italian · 25 cards · A1 · by Giulia Ferrante
I teach Italian to people who have just arrived, and colors come up on day one: buying a jumper, describing the suitcase that never made it off the plane, pointing at a pastry in a bar in Bologna. This deck starts with the basic colors, then adds the shades Italians really distinguish (azzurro, celeste, turchese, bordeaux), and ends with chiaro and scuro so you can say "light" and "dark". The tricky part is agreement: rosso changes (rossa, rossi, rosse), while blu, rosa, viola, beige, lilla and fucsia never change at all. Read the note on each card — that is where the grammar hides.
Flip through the cards, then switch to Quiz. Tap the play button on any row to hear it. The full table below is there to read, print or copy into your own flashcard app.
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All 25 cards
| # | Italian | English | Example | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | il colore Masculine noun; plural i colori. | the color | Qual è il tuo colore preferito? What's your favorite color? | |
| 2 | bianco Agrees: bianca, bianchi, bianche (note the h in the plurals). | white | Vorrei un bicchiere di vino bianco. I'd like a glass of white wine. | |
| 3 | nero Agrees: nera, neri, nere. | black | Indosso sempre scarpe nere. I always wear black shoes. | |
| 4 | rosso Agrees: rossa, rossi, rosse. | red | Il semaforo è rosso, fermati! The light is red, stop! | |
| 5 | blu Invariable: un cappello blu, due gonne blu. Refers to the darker blue. | blue (dark blue) | Ho comprato una maglietta blu. I bought a blue T-shirt. | |
| 6 | azzurro Agrees: azzurra, azzurri, azzurre. Also the color of the Italian national teams, gli Azzurri. | light blue, sky blue | Oggi il cielo è azzurro. The sky is blue today. | |
| 7 | verde One form for masculine and feminine; plural verdi. | green | Mi piacciono i tuoi occhi verdi. I like your green eyes. | |
| 8 | giallo Agrees: gialla, gialli, gialle. As a noun, un giallo is also a crime novel. | yellow | Quella casa gialla è la mia. That yellow house is mine. | |
| 9 | arancione Same form for masculine and feminine; plural arancioni. From arancia (the fruit). | orange | Mi passi la sciarpa arancione? Can you pass me the orange scarf? | |
| 10 | rosa Invariable: due maglioni rosa, never rosi. Also the noun una rosa (a rose). | pink | Mia figlia vuole tutto rosa. My daughter wants everything pink. | |
| 11 | viola Invariable, like rosa. | purple, violet | Questi fiori viola sono bellissimi. These purple flowers are beautiful. | |
| 12 | marrone Same form for masculine and feminine; plural marroni, though many speakers leave it invariable (scarpe marrone). | brown | Ho gli occhi marroni come mio padre. I have brown eyes like my father. | |
| 13 | grigio Agrees: grigia, grigi, grigie. | gray | Mio nonno ha i capelli grigi. My grandfather has gray hair. | |
| 14 | celeste Lighter than azzurro, almost pastel; one form for m/f, plural celesti. | pale sky blue | Le pareti della camera sono celesti. The bedroom walls are pale blue. | |
| 15 | turchese One form for m/f, plural turchesi. Common for water and jewelry. | turquoise | Il mare qui è turchese. The sea here is turquoise. | |
| 16 | beige Invariable; French loanword, pronounced roughly 'besh'. | beige | D'inverno porto un cappotto beige. In winter I wear a beige coat. | |
| 17 | fucsia Invariable. Very common in fashion talk. | fuchsia, hot pink | Il suo rossetto è fucsia. Her lipstick is hot pink. | |
| 18 | lilla Invariable. | lilac, light purple | Ha una borsa lilla molto elegante. She has a very elegant lilac bag. | |
| 19 | bordeaux Invariable; French loanword, pronounced 'bordò'. | burgundy, wine red | Mi sta bene questo maglione bordeaux? Does this burgundy sweater look good on me? | |
| 20 | dorato Agrees: dorata, dorati, dorate. The metal itself is l'oro; d'oro = made of gold. | golden, gold-colored | Le decorazioni dorate brillano sull'albero. The golden decorations sparkle on the tree. | |
| 21 | argento Noun used as an invariable color. Careful: d'argento means 'made of silver' (orecchini d'argento); argentato also works as an adjective. | silver (color) | Ha una borsa argento e le scarpe nere. She has a silver bag and black shoes. | |
| 22 | chiaro Agrees: chiara, chiari, chiare. But after a color the pair stays invariable: due gonne verde chiaro. | light, pale (of a color) | D'estate preferisco i colori chiari. In summer I prefer light colors. | |
| 23 | scuro Agrees: scura, scuri, scure. After a color both words stay invariable: pantaloni verde scuro, occhi blu scuro. | dark (of a color) | Mi metto una giacca blu scuro. I'll put on a dark blue jacket. | |
| 24 | colorato Agrees: colorata, colorati, colorate. | colorful, brightly colored | Il mercato è pieno di frutta colorata. The market is full of colorful fruit. | |
| 25 | Di che colore è? Plural: Di che colore sono? Answer with è + color, no article: È rossa. | What color is it? | Di che colore è la tua macchina? What color is your car? |
From Bologna, where the food vocabulary alone could fill a deck. I teach Italian to travellers and expats and build decks around the situations they land in first.
Questions about this deck
- Why doesn't blu change to match the noun?
- Blu is an invariable adjective: un cappello blu, una gonna blu, due gonne blu. The same goes for rosa, viola, beige, lilla, fucsia and bordeaux — they come from nouns (una rosa, una viola) or from French. Colors like rosso, nero, bianco, giallo and grigio do agree: rossa, rossi, rosse.
- What's the difference between blu, azzurro and celeste?
- Blu is dark blue, like navy or the ink of a pen. Azzurro is the medium sky blue of a clear day and of the national teams (gli Azzurri). Celeste is paler still, almost pastel — typical for baby clothes and painted walls. English says 'blue' for all three, but to an Italian ear these are three different colors.
- How do I say 'light green' or 'dark blue' in Italian?
- Put chiaro (light) or scuro (dark) after the color: verde chiaro, verde scuro, blu scuro, grigio chiaro. Once you combine two words like this, the whole phrase stops changing: due magliette verde chiaro, not verdi chiare.
- Where does the color go in an Italian sentence?
- After the noun, unlike English: una macchina rossa (a red car), scarpe nere (black shoes). With essere it comes after the verb: la porta è gialla. To ask, say Di che colore è? and answer with no article: È verde.
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