3.4.3 Colors and Sizes

Colors in Everyday Persian

In this chapter you learn the most common Persian words for colors and for describing size. You will see how to use them in simple sentences so that you can talk about clothes, objects, and places.

Persian color words are adjectives. In this level we simply put the color after the noun: “red car” is “car red.”

Basic Color Words

Here are the most frequent colors you will need from the beginning.

White in Persian is
سفید
“sefid.”

Black is
سیاه
“siyâh”
or
مشکی
“meshki.”
Both are common.

Red is
قرمز
“ghermez.”

Blue is
آبی
“âbi.”

Green is
سبز
“sabz.”

Yellow is
زرد
“zard.”

Orange is
نارنجی
“nârengi.”

Brown is
قهوه‌ای
“ghahvei.”

Pink is
صورتی
“sorati.”

Purple is
بنفش
“banafsh.”

Gray is
خاکستری
“khakestari.”

Use these after a noun.

For example:
کتابِ سفید
“ketâb-e sefid” means “the white book.”
ماشینِ قرمز
“mâshin-e ghermez” means “the red car.”
پیراهنِ آبی
“pirâhan-e âbi” means “the blue shirt.”

You already know that Persian often links two nouns with the “-e” sound. You can also use this link between a noun and an adjective, especially in careful or slightly more formal speech. So you will hear both “mâshin ghermez” and “mâshin-e ghermez.” At A2 you can copy either pattern.

صندلیِ سبز
(sandali-e sabz)

Light and Dark Colors

To make “light blue” or “dark green” you add a word before the color.

“kâmelân” and so on belong to other parts of the course. Here we only use simple “light” and “dark.”

“light” as a color word is
کاملاً روشن
“kâmel rohshan”
in more careful speech, but at this level you will very often hear
روشن
“rohshan”
alone.
“dark” as a color word is
تیره
“tir.”

You put “light” or “dark” before the color word.

Examples:
سبزِ روشن
“sabz-e rohshan” means “light green.”
آبیِ تیره
“âbi-e tir” means “dark blue.”
قرمزِ تیره
“ghermez-e tir” means “dark red.”

You can also put all this after the noun.

For example:
پیراهنِ سبزِ روشن
“pirâhan-e sabz-e rohshan” means “the light green shirt.”
کیفِ آبیِ تیره
“kif-e âbi-e tir” means “the dark blue bag.”

In fast everyday talk, some speakers say
سبزِ کم‌رنگ
“sabz-e kam rang”
for “light green” and
سبزِ پررنگ
“sabz-e por rang”
for “strong / dark green,” but for A2 it is enough to recognize that “rohshan” and “tir” describe lightness and darkness of the color.

Mixed and Derived Colors

Persian often uses a noun made from another thing to describe color.

بژ
“bezh” is “beige.”
طلایی
“talâyi” means “golden,” from “talâ,” gold.
نقره‌ای
“noghrei” means “silver,” from “noghreh,” silver metal.

You can also describe something as “cream-colored” with
کرم
“kerem,”
and “skin-colored” with
رنگِ پوست
“rang-e pust,”
literally “color of skin.”

These pattern as normal adjectives after nouns.

For example:
صندلیِ طلایی
“sândali-ye talâyi” means “golden chair.”
خودکارِ نقره‌ای
“khodkâr-e noghrei” means “silver pen.”
دیوارِ بژ
“divâr-e bezh” means “beige wall.”

Using “rang” (color)

The word
رنگ
“rang”
means “color.”

چه رنگ؟
“che rang?” means “what color?”
این چه رنگه؟
“in che rang-e?” means “what color is this?”
رنگِ
“rang-e” means “the color of.”

Some examples:

این پیراهن چه رنگه؟
“in pirâhan che rang-e?” means “what color is this shirt?”
این پیراهن آبیه
“in pirâhan âbi-e” means “this shirt is blue.”
رنگِ چشم‌ات آبیه
“rang-e cheshm-at âbi-e” means “your eye color is blue” or naturally “your eyes are blue.”

You can also say
رنگِ محبوبم سبزه
“rang-e mahbub-am sabz-e”
for “my favorite color is green,” using grammar you already know.

رنگِ دیوار سفیده
(rang-e divâr sefid-e.)

Sizes in Everyday Persian

Now we add basic size adjectives so you can describe things more precisely.

Big and Small

The most common word for “big” is
بزرگ
“bozorg.”
The most common word for “small / little” is
کوچک
“kuchik” or “koochik.”
Both forms are common.

As with colors, size adjectives come after the noun.

Examples:
ماشینِ بزرگ
“mâshin-e bozorg” means “big car.”
ماشینِ کوچک
“mâshin-e kuchik” means “small car.”
خانهٔ بزرگ
“khâne-ye bozorg” means “big house.”
کتابِ کوچک
“ketâb-e kuchik” means “small book.”

You can combine size and color.

For example:
ماشینِ بزرگِ سفید
“mâshin-e bozorg-e sefid” means “the big white car.”
صندلیِ کوچکِ سبز
“sandali-ye kuchik-e sabz” means “the small green chair.”

In conversation, speakers often put several adjectives after each other, with the “-e” link between them.

Long and Short

To describe length or height you use “tavân” and others in later grammar. Here you only need the adjectives.

طولانی
“tulâni” means “long” in time or physical length.
کوتاه
“kuta” or “kootâh” means “short.”

Use them after the noun.

Examples:
دستِ طولانی
“dast-e tulâni” means “long arm.”
پیراهنِ طولانی
“pirâhan-e tulâni” means “long shirt / long dress.”
پیراهنِ کوتاه
“pirâhan-e kootâh” means “short shirt.”
موهای کوتاه
“mâshe-ye kootâh” means “short hair,” but in practice you more often hear
موی کوتاه
“mo-ye kootâh,”
“short hair.”

For height of a person, you will hear
قدِ بلند
“ghad-e boland”
and
قدِ کوتاه
“ghad-e kootâh,”
but the details of describing people belong to another chapter. For this level, just recognize that “tulâni” and “kootâh” describe things that are long or short.

Tall and Short (for Objects)

For vertical objects, such as buildings, bottles, or tables, many Persian speakers also use
بلند
“boland”
for “tall” and again
کوتاه
“kootâh”
for “short.”

“boland” means “tall, high, loud” depending on context.

Examples:
عمارتِ بلند
“emârât-e boland” means “tall building.”
میزِ بلند
“meyz-e boland” means “tall table.”
میزِ کوتاه
“meyz-e kootâh” means “low / short table.”

At this level it is enough to remember that “boland” suggests height, “kootâh” suggests shortness.

Wide and Narrow

To describe width of streets, rooms, or objects, you can use two very common adjectives.

“arzu” or “aruz” in some dialects is not the word you need. At A2 the useful words are:

“arzu” as “wide” is not correct here. The usual word for “wide” is “arzu” in some descriptive contexts, but for simple A2 learners, it is more natural to use “vasi.”
So
وسیع
“vasi”
means “wide, spacious.”
باریک
“barik”
means “narrow, thin.”

Some examples:

کوچهٔ باریک
“koche-ye barik” means “narrow alley.”
خیابانِ وسیع
“khiâbân-e vasi” means “wide street.”
اتاقِ وسیع
“otâgh-e vasi” means “spacious room.”
راهِ باریک
“rah-e barik” means “narrow path.”

Combining Colors and Sizes

You can now create quite rich descriptions with the words from this chapter plus what you already know about simple sentences.

The general order is:

noun + -e + size + -e + color

For example:
ماشینِ بزرگِ سفید
“mâshin-e bozorg-e sefid” means “big white car.”
پیراهنِ کوتاهِ قرمز
“pirâhan-e kootâh-e ghermez” means “short red dress.”
صندلیِ کوچکِ سبزِ تیره
“sandali-ye kuchik-e sabz-e tir” means “small dark green chair.”

You can also say simple sentences about objects:

این کتاب کوچیکه
“in ketâb kuchik-e” means “this book is small.”
این کتابِ کوچک قرمزه
“in ketâb-e kuchik ghermez-e” means “this small book is red.”
آن ماشین بزرگِ سفیده
“ân mâshin bozorg-e sefid-e” means “that big car is white.”

You already know from earlier chapters how to say “this” (in) and “that” (ân), and how to use the verb “to be.” Here you simply add the new adjectives.

این پیراهن آبیه
(in pirâhan-e âbi-e.)

این پیراهنِ کوتاهِ آبیه
(in pirâhan-e kootâh-e âbi-e.)

Vocabulary Table for This Section