Colours in Malay: word list with pictures
12 words · tap 🔊 to hear each one in Malay.
| Picture | English | Malay | Say it | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red | merah | |||
| Yellow | kuning | |||
| Blue | biru | |||
| Green | hijau | |||
| Orange | jingga | |||
| Purple | ungu | |||
| Pink | merah jambu | |||
| Brown | coklat | |||
| Black | hitam | |||
| White | putih | |||
| Grey | kelabu | |||
| Sky Blue | biru langit |
Colors in Malay are short, useful words that a child can use all day long. This page has 12 colours with pictures and clear audio: merah (red), kuning (yellow), biru (blue), hijau (green), jingga (orange), ungu (purple), merah jambu (pink), coklat (brown), hitam (black), putih (white), kelabu (grey) and biru langit (sky blue). The Malay word for colour is warna.
The 12 Malay colours and memory hooks
| Malay | English | Remember it with |
|---|---|---|
| merah | red | the stripes of the Jalur Gemilang |
| kuning | yellow | the moon and star on the flag, and royal yellow |
| biru | blue | laut (sea) |
| hijau | green | daun (leaf) and green duit raya packets |
| merah jambu | pink | "rose-apple red", the colour of jambu air |
| biru langit | sky blue | langit means sky |
| jingga | orange | a sunset; everyday speech also says oren |
To make a colour lighter or darker, Malay adds muda (young, light) or tua (old, dark): hijau muda is light green and biru tua is dark blue. Colour words come after the thing: bola merah (red ball), kereta biru (blue car), baju kuning (yellow shirt).
Colours in Malaysian life and festivals
Colours are everywhere in Malaysian celebrations, which gives you ready-made conversations. At Hari Raya Aidilfitri, families often wear matching baju raya in one colour, so ask "Tahun ini baju raya warna apa?" (What colour are this year's Raya clothes?). The Jalur Gemilang flag, flown for Hari Merdeka on 31 August, has merah, putih, biru and kuning. Batik and songket cloth are full of colours to count, and Deepavali kolam and Chinese New Year red lanterns add even more in Malaysia's many-cultured towns.
Colours by age
Most 2-year-olds can match colours before they can name them, so start with "find another one like this". Around 3, children name the main colours: merah, kuning, biru, hijau. At 4, they describe things ("Kereta itu merah", the car is red) and sort by colour. At 5-6, they mix paint and learn shades with muda and tua: merah + kuning = jingga, biru + kuning = hijau.
Colour games at home
- Colour hunt. "Cari benda warna hijau!" (Find something green!) and race around the house.
- Fruit sort. Sort fruit by colour, then name them in our fruits in Malay game.
- Rainbow. Draw a pelangi and name each stripe.
- Getting dressed. "Nak baju warna apa?" (Which colour shirt do you want?)
- Mix paint. Mix two colours in a bag or on a plate and name the new one.
How to use the colours game
Start in Listen with just three colours, and point to something the same colour after each one. Then play Find it: Golu names a colour in Malay and your child taps it. A wrong tap never hears "wrong"; the game names what was tapped and shows the right answer. For 4-6 year olds, Memory adds a pairs challenge. Every round ends with a marble in the Goli Jar. The settings offer high contrast, calm sound and fewer choices.
Mixing up blue and green is common in young children, so keep naming both calmly. If you notice ongoing trouble telling colours apart, mention it to your paediatrician. For English colour names, see colours name for kids, and for Indonesian, colours in Indonesian, where pink is merah muda and orange oranye.
Colours for Malay families abroad
Colours are easy to weave into any day, wherever you live. Name the colour of your child's cup at breakfast, the bus on the way to school and the crayons at drawing time. Praise pictures in Malay, "Cantiknya warna-warni!" (What lovely colours!), and let your child "teach" colours to a toy. If English words come first, answer "Ya, biru!" and carry on. A weekly colour day, such as "Hari Merah" when everyone wears or finds something red, makes a simple family game.
Belajar warna untuk kanak-kanak
Halaman ini mengajar 12 warna: merah, kuning, biru, hijau, jingga, ungu, merah jambu, coklat, hitam, putih, kelabu dan biru langit. Sentuh warna untuk mendengar namanya dalam bahasa Melayu dan bahasa Inggeris.
Selepas bermain, ajak anak mencari benda berwarna di rumah, contohnya bola merah atau daun hijau. Tanya warna baju raya, warna bendera Jalur Gemilang dan warna pelangi. Apabila anak sudah hafal warna asas, perkenalkan warna muda dan warna tua.
Bagi keluarga Melayu di luar negara, sebut warna dalam bahasa Melayu setiap hari: warna cawan, warna bas dan warna krayon. Jika anak menjawab dalam bahasa Inggeris, ulang perkataan Melayu dengan senyuman tanpa memarahinya.
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: malay 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.
