Colors · 0a70f5caf920a47af69d111fc039cba1
Permanent Colors
Words referring to colors, like most adjectives in Italian, have different endings depending on whether they are masculine, feminine, etc.
Ho un cappello rosso.I have a red hat.
La sua camicia è rossa.
His shirt is red.
Rosa (pink) and viola (purple) are different though. They never change.
La sua maglia è viola.Her shirt is purple.
Il tuo ombrello è viola.
Your umbrella is purple.
La maglia rosa è sua.The pink shirt is his.
I pantaloni rosa non sono miei.
The pink pants are not mine.
The Sounds of G
The letter g in Italian usually sounds like g in get. However, when it comes before e or i, g sounds like English j.
grigio
as in “gray”
gelato
as in “jelly”
mangi
as in “jingle”
If after gi there’s another vowel, g would still sound like j, but the i will be silent.
giallo
similar to ja in “jar”, i is silent
orologio
similar to jo in “job”, i is silent
Shades of Blue
Did you know that in Italian the word blu usually refers to darker shades of blue? Use azzurro for talking about lighter tones of this color. It might sound weird, but for Italians these are almost two completely distinct colors!
I suoi pantaloni sono blu.His pants are blue.
Le sue scarpe sono azzurre.
His shoes are light blue.