Today I’m going to show you something beautiful: i colori italiani [ee koh-LOH-ree ee-tah-LYAH-nee], Italian colors. Being able to say the different Italian colors can be useful to go shopping: to buy accessories, clothing, flowers or even ice cream. In this post I will write about the most common colours. This post can therefore give you the colors basic knowlege. But if you want to know how to say the other colors, feel free to contact me through the Contact Area of the blog. I’ll be glad to tell you. Maybe I can even prepare another post for the other colors!
Most of the words to define colours in Italian are very different from the English ones. Just violet (viola) and blue (blu) are quite similar. I think that the most difficult part for a foreigner it’s the pronunciation, so, in order to help you, I attached a video (you can find it below the colors list) so you can hear the Italian pronunciation of each color.
Italian colors
bianco [BYAHN-koh] white – I can’t possibly write it in white ’cause nobody would see it 🙂
nero [NEH-roh] black
rosso [ROHS-soh] red
rosa [ROH-zah] pink
arancione [ah-rahn-CHOH-neh] orange
giallo [JAHL-loh] yellow
marrone [mahr-ROH-neh] brown
verde [VEHR-deh] green
grigio [GREE-joh] grey
viola [vee-OH-lah] violet
blu [blooh]blue
azzurro [ahd-DZOOHR-roh] light blue
Another importan thing to say about colors is the shade: light and dark in Italian are chiaro [KYAH -roh] e scuro [SKOO -roh]. So if you want to buy a dark green pullover you may ask to the clerk for “il pullover verde scuro”. If you set your eyes on a light brown skirt, you have to ask to see “la gonna marrone chiaro”.
Now, if you’re ready you can click play and turn on your speakers to see and hear the video!
You will find this and other videos in my YouTube channel
So… What is your favourite colour?
Il mio colore preferito è il rosso.
(My favourite colour is red).
Enjoy and practise!
