Colours in Turkish: word list with pictures
12 words · tap 🔊 to hear each one in Turkish.
| Picture | English | Turkish | Say it | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red | Kırmızı | |||
| Yellow | Sarı | |||
| Blue | Mavi | |||
| Green | Yeşil | |||
| Orange | Turuncu | |||
| Purple | Mor | |||
| Pink | Pembe | |||
| Brown | Kahverengi | |||
| Black | Siyah | |||
| White | Beyaz | |||
| Grey | Gri | |||
| Sky Blue | Açık mavi |
Colors in Turkish are some of the first describing words children learn, and they are easy to use because Turkish colour words never change their ending: kırmızı araba (red car), kırmızı elma (red apple). This page has 12 colours with pictures and clear audio: kırmızı (red), sarı (yellow), mavi (blue), yeşil (green), turuncu (orange), mor (purple), pembe (pink), kahverengi (brown), siyah (black), beyaz (white), gri (grey) and açık mavi (light blue). Tap a colour to hear it, then play Find it.
Stories hidden in Turkish colour words
Several Turkish colour names carry little stories that children enjoy. Turuncu (orange) comes from turunç, the bitter orange fruit. Kahverengi (brown) literally means "coffee colour", from kahve + renk. Açık mavi means "open blue", and a darker shade is koyu mavi, "deep blue". Navy blue has its own word, lacivert, from the blue stone lapis lazuli. You can use açık and koyu with any colour: açık yeşil, koyu yeşil.
Two words for black and white
Turkish has two words each for black and white. Siyah and beyaz are the everyday colour words used on this page. The older Turkic words kara (black) and ak (white) live on in names and phrases: the Black Sea is Karadeniz, and ak appears in words like aksakal (white-bearded elder). Children do not need to learn both at first, but it is a fun fact to share with a curious five-year-old looking at a map.
The rainbow in Turkish
A rainbow is gökkuşağı, "sky belt". Its colours in order are kırmızı, turuncu, sarı, yeşil, mavi, lacivert, mor. After rain, look for a gökkuşağı together and say the colours from top to bottom, or paint one with our colouring pages.
| Colour | Turkish | Find it at home or outside |
|---|---|---|
| Red | kırmızı | domates, a cherry, a fire engine |
| Yellow | sarı | muz, a lemon, the sun |
| Green | yeşil | salatalık, leaves, grass |
| Blue | mavi | the sea, a blue bead |
| Orange | turuncu | portakal, havuç |
| White | beyaz | milk, white cheese, snow |
Colours in Turkish art and daily life
Turkish decorative art is famous for colour. Iznik tiles combine deep mavi, bright kırmızı and yeşil flowers on beyaz, and marbled paper art, ebru, swirls colours on water. The blue glass evil-eye bead, nazar boncuğu, is a familiar sight in many homes. Look at pictures of tiles or carpets together and ask "Bu ne renk?" ("What colour is this?"). Children also love trying ebru-style painting with a tray of water and a few drops of paint.
Colour phrases Turkish children hear
Colours turn up in everyday Turkish sayings. A person who blushes goes kıpkırmızı, "bright red", and snow can be bembeyaz, "snow white". This doubling trick (kıp-kırmızı, sap-sarı, yem-yeşil, mas-mavi) makes a colour stronger, and children find it great fun to say. Try it when you see something very bright: "Bak, sapsarı bir limon!" ("Look, a very yellow lemon!").
Colour games for home
- Colour hunt. "Kırmızı bir şey bul!" ("Find something red!") and race to find it.
- Traffic lights. kırmızı means stop, yeşil means go. Run and freeze.
- Get-dressed choice. "Mavi tişört mü, yeşil tişört mü?" Your child answers with a colour word.
- Fruit colours. Sort fruit using fruits in Turkish.
- Shapes and colours. Combine with shapes: "a yellow circle", "a blue square".
Mixing up colour names is normal before age 4 in every language. Keep naming colours in daily life and praise every try.
What to expect, and tips for families abroad
At 2-3, children match colours before they can name them. At 3-4, most name kırmızı, sarı, mavi and yeşil. At 4-5, they know eight to ten colours, and at 5-6 they can say the rainbow and use açık and koyu. Abroad, colours are easy to keep in Turkish because they come up all day: crayons, clothes, toys and traffic lights. Grandparents can play "show me something yellow" on a video call. For English and Hindi colours see colours name, and count your colour finds with numbers in Turkish.
Çocuklar için renkler
Bu sayfada resimli ve sesli 12 renk var. Bir renge dokunun, çocuğunuz rengin adını Türkçe ve İngilizce duysun: kırmızı, sarı, mavi, yeşil, turuncu, mor, pembe, kahverengi, siyah, beyaz, gri ve açık mavi.
Renklerle her gün oynayın: sokakta kırmızı arabaları, parkta yeşil yaprakları, mutfakta turuncu havuçları bulun. Yağmurdan sonra gökkuşağına bakın ve renkleri sırayla söyleyin.
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: turkish 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.
