Colours in Ukrainian: word list with pictures
12 words · tap 🔊 to hear each one in Ukrainian.
| Picture | English | Ukrainian | Say it | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red | червоний | chervonyi | ||
| Yellow | жовтий | zhovtyi | ||
| Blue | синій | synii | ||
| Green | зелений | zelenyi | ||
| Orange | оранжевий | oranzhevyi | ||
| Purple | фіолетовий | fioletovyi | ||
| Pink | рожевий | rozhevyi | ||
| Brown | коричневий | korychnevyi | ||
| Black | чорний | chornyi | ||
| White | білий | bilyi | ||
| Grey | сірий | siryi | ||
| Sky Blue | блакитний | blakytnyi |
Colors in Ukrainian are bright, musical words, and they are everywhere in Ukrainian folk art, from embroidered shirts to painted Easter eggs. This page has 12 colours with pictures and clear audio: червоний (red), жовтий (yellow), синій (blue), зелений (green), оранжевий (orange), фіолетовий (purple), рожевий (pink), коричневий (brown), чорний (black), білий (white), сірий (grey) and блакитний (sky blue). Tap a colour to hear it, then play Find it.
Two blues: синій and блакитний
Like several Slavic languages, Ukrainian gives dark blue and light blue their own everyday names. Синій is deep blue, the colour of the evening sky or a deep lake. Блакитний is light sky blue, the colour of a clear morning sky or a cornflower. Ukrainian speakers treat them almost like two separate colours, the way English treats red and pink. Show your child two blue crayons and name each one; children pick up the difference quickly and often enjoy teaching it to English-speaking friends.
Colours in Ukrainian folk art
Ukrainian crafts are a lovely way to talk about colour. The embroidered shirt, вишиванка, is often stitched in червоний and чорний on білий linen, though every region has its own colours and patterns. At Easter, families decorate eggs called писанки with wax and dyes in жовтий, червоний, оранжевий and чорний. Petrykivka painting, recognised by UNESCO, covers plates and walls with bright flowers and birds. Look at pictures together and ask "Який це колір?" ("What colour is this?"). Our colouring pages let your child create their own bright patterns.
The rainbow in Ukrainian
A rainbow is веселка, a word related to веселий, "cheerful". Its colours in order are червоний, оранжевий, жовтий, зелений, блакитний, синій, фіолетовий, with both blues included. After rain, look for a веселка together and say the colours from top to bottom.
Why colour words change their endings
Colours are adjectives, so they match the noun: червоний м'яч (red ball), червона машина (red car), червоне яблуко (red apple). The cards use the basic dictionary form. You do not need to teach the rule; just describe things in full phrases, "Дивись, жовта качка!" ("Look, a yellow duck!"), and your child will absorb the pattern.
| Colour | Ukrainian | Find it at home or outside |
|---|---|---|
| Red | червоний | помідор, a strawberry, a fire engine |
| Yellow | жовтий | банан, a sunflower, the sun |
| Green | зелений | огірок, grass, leaves |
| Dark blue | синій | jeans, the night sky |
| Sky blue | блакитний | the daytime sky, a cornflower |
| White | білий | snow, milk, a білий ведмідь |
Colour games for home
- Colour hunt. "Знайди щось червоне!" ("Find something red!") and race to find it.
- Traffic lights. червоний means stop, зелений means go.
- Egg colours. Around Easter, colour boiled eggs and name each dye.
- Fruit colours. Sort fruit by colour with fruits in Ukrainian.
- Get-dressed choice. "Синя чи зелена футболка?" Your child answers with a colour word.
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 naming them. At 3-4, most name red, yellow, green and blue. At 4-5, they know eight to ten colours and the two blues. At 5-6, they can say the rainbow in order. Abroad, colours are easy to keep in Ukrainian because they come up all day: choose clothes, crayons and toys in Ukrainian, and let grandparents play "show me something yellow" on a video call. Compare the words with colours in Russian, where light blue is голубой, or learn English and Hindi names on colours name. More games are on learn Ukrainian for kids.
Colours through the Ukrainian seasons
The seasons give you a ready-made colour lesson. In winter everything turns білий, and children build snowmen and go sledging. Spring brings зелений leaves and жовтий dandelions. Summer fields are full of tall жовтий sunflowers and блакитний cornflowers, and autumn turns the leaves оранжевий, червоний and коричневий. Go for a walk in any season and collect three things of different colours, then name them together at home. Wherever you live, the same game works in your local park.
Кольори для дітей українською
На цій сторінці 12 кольорів із малюнками та звуком. Натисніть на колір, і дитина почує його назву українською та англійською. Зверніть увагу: в українській мові є синій і блакитний.
Грайте в кольори щодня: шукайте червоні машини на вулиці, жовті соняшники в полі й білий сніг узимку. Розглядайте вишиванки та писанки й називайте кожен колір.
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: ukrainian 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.
