Colours in Italian: word list with pictures
12 words · tap 🔊 to hear each one in Italian.
| Picture | English | Italian | Say it | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red | rosso | |||
| Yellow | giallo | |||
| Blue | blu | |||
| Green | verde | |||
| Orange | arancione | |||
| Purple | viola | |||
| Pink | rosa | |||
| Brown | marrone | |||
| Black | nero | |||
| White | bianco | |||
| Grey | grigio | |||
| Sky Blue | azzurro |
Colors in Italian are bright, musical words that small children pick up quickly. This page has 12 colours with pictures and clear audio: rosso (red), giallo (yellow), blu (blue), verde (green), arancione (orange), viola (purple), rosa (pink), marrone (brown), nero (black), bianco (white), grigio (grey) and azzurro (light blue). Tap a colour to hear it in Italian and English, then play Find it.
Blu and azzurro: two blues
For Italians, azzurro is not just "light blue". It is its own colour, the blue of a clear sky, and children learn it as a separate word from the start, just like blu for dark blue. Italy's national sports teams wear azzurro and are called gli Azzurri. If you only teach "blue", your child will hear both words at the scuola dell'infanzia, so it is worth learning the pair together: il cielo è azzurro (the sky is light blue), il mare è blu (the sea is deep blue).
Italian colours and things to point at
| Colour | Italian | Point at |
|---|---|---|
| Red | rosso | il pomodoro |
| Yellow | giallo | il limone |
| Green | verde | il basilico (basil) |
| Orange | arancione | l'arancia |
| Purple | viola | la melanzana |
| Brown | marrone | la castagna (chestnut) |
Several colour words come from things: arancione from arancia (orange fruit), viola from the violet flower, rosa from the rose and marrone from a kind of chestnut. Point this out to older children; they love discovering it.
The Italian flag: il Tricolore
The Italian flag, il Tricolore, has three vertical stripes: verde, bianco e rosso. Children see it on flags, on sports shirts and even on a pizza Margherita, which, the story goes, was made with basil, mozzarella and tomato to show the flag's colours. Ask your child to name the colours on a pizza; it is a tasty colour lesson.
Colours that change and colours that don't
In Italian, many colours change to match the noun: il pallone rosso (the red ball), la mela rossa (the red apple), i fiori rossi, le mele rosse. Words ending in -e, like verde and arancione, have one form for singular and one for plural. A few never change at all: blu, rosa and viola, so it is le scarpe rosa (the pink shoes). Children learn these patterns slowly by ear. Just repeat the right phrase gently.
How to teach colours in Italian at home
- Colour of the day. Pick giallo and find five yellow things.
- Getting dressed. "Oggi hai la maglietta verde!" (Today you have a green T-shirt.)
- Fruit sort. Sort fruits by colour with fruits in Italian.
- Paint and mix. Giallo and blu make verde; rosso and bianco make rosa.
- Colour and name. Use our coloring pages for kids and say each colour in Italian.
Play the Italian game "Strega comanda colore!" (The witch commands a colour!). One player calls a colour, and everyone runs to touch something of that colour before the "witch" catches them. It is a real Italian playground game.
What to expect by age
Colour names are abstract, so be patient. At two to three, children match colours before they name them. At three to four, they name the main colours: rosso, giallo, blu, verde. At four to five, they know most of the twelve, including azzurro. At five to six, they describe objects with colours and start to change the endings. If your child mixes up red and green for a long time, mention it to your paediatrician; colour vision differences are common. Keep screen time short and shared. For English and Hindi names, see colours name in Hindi and English, or compare the colours in Spanish. Count coloured things with numbers in Italian.
For bilingual families, Italian colours are a gentle start because several look like English or Spanish: rosa, viola, verde, blu. Begin with these "friendly" words, then add the new ones like giallo, nero and marrone. If your child attends a scuola dell'infanzia, ask which colours they painted today and name them together in Italian.
I colori per bambini
Qui vostro figlio impara dodici colori con immagine e audio: rosso, giallo, blu, verde, arancione, viola, rosa, marrone, nero, bianco, grigio e azzurro. Toccate un colore e ascoltate il nome in italiano e in inglese.
Giocate a „Strega comanda colore”, cercate i colori della bandiera sulla pizza, mescolate le tempere e inventate nuovi colori. Ricordate che azzurro e blu sono due colori diversi: il cielo è azzurro, il mare è blu.
How to use this page at home
Say it, then find it
Play for a few minutes, then look for the same thing away from the screen: italian words on the shelf, in the kitchen, on the way to school. A child learns a word properly when they meet it twice, once on the screen and once in their hand.
Ten minutes is enough
Short and happy beats long and tired. Stop while your child still wants more, and come back tomorrow: the same page on five short days teaches far more than one long sitting. Nothing here is scored, so there is no reason to push.
Use both languages
Tap the language button at the top to hear the words in your home language first and the second language after. Hearing the same picture named in two languages is one of the few things research agrees builds attention as well as vocabulary.
