Lesson 16. Colors
Basic colors
crven (црвен)
— red
plav (плав)
— blue
zelen (зелен)
— green
žut (жут)
— yellow
crn (црн)
— black
beo (бео)
— white
narandžast (наранџаст)
— orange
ružičast (ружичаст)
— pink
siv (сив)
— gray
braon (браон)
— brown
Colors agree with the noun
Just like moj / moja / moje, a Serbian color changes its ending to match the gender of the thing it describes.
- masculine (ends in a consonant):
crven,plav,zelen. - feminine (usually ends in
-a):crvena,plava,zelena. - neuter (ends in
-o/-e):crveno,plavo,zeleno.
crven auto (црвен ауто)
— red car (auto is masculine)
crvena jabuka (црвена јабука)
— red apple (jabuka is feminine)
crveno more (црвено море)
— red sea (more is neuter)
Talking about colors
Moja kuća je bela. (Моја кућа је бела.)
— My house is white.
Nebo je plavo. (Небо је плаво.)
— The sky is blue.
Volim crvenu boju. (Волим црвену боју.)
— I love the color red.
The word boja (“boya”) means color (or “paint”).
Exercises
Exercise 1
How do you say 'blue sky' in Serbian? (nebo is neuter)
Show explanation
Neuter gender → plavo nebo.
Exercise 2
What does 'crvena' mean?
Show explanation
crvena is the feminine form of crven (red).
Exercise 3
Translate into Serbian: “yellow sun” (sunce is neuter).
Show answer
žuto sunce (жуто сунце).
Exercise 4
What color is: — a lemon? — grass? — the night sky? Answer in Serbian.
Show answer
— A lemon is žut (yellow).
— Grass is zelena (feminine, trava is feminine).
— The night sky is crno (neuter, nebo is neuter).
Exercise 5
Write in Cyrillic: crvena jabuka, plavo more, zelena trava.
Show answer
црвена јабука, плаво море, зелена трава.
Lesson vocabulary
- crven црвен
- red
- plav плав
- blue
- zelen зелен
- green
- žut жут
- yellow
- beo бео
- white
- narandžast наранџаст
- orange
- ružičast ружичаст
- pink
- siv сив
- gray
- braon браон
- brown
- boja боја
- color
- nebo небо
- sky
- sunce сунце
- sun
- trava трава
- grass