Colours, shapes and sizes

Colours, shapes and sizes are some of the first words to learn in English, because we use them to describe almost everything: ⟦a big red ball⟧, ⟦a small blue square⟧.

Key facts

  • Colours: ⟦red⟧, ⟦blue⟧, ⟦yellow⟧, ⟦green⟧, ⟦orange⟧, ⟦purple⟧, ⟦pink⟧, ⟦brown⟧, ⟦black⟧, ⟦white⟧, ⟦grey⟧ (American English: ⟦gray⟧).
  • Shapes: ⟦circle⟧, ⟦square⟧, ⟦triangle⟧, ⟦rectangle⟧, ⟦oval⟧, ⟦star⟧, ⟦heart⟧.
  • Sizes come in opposite pairs: ⟦big⟧ and ⟦small⟧, ⟦long⟧ and ⟦short⟧, ⟦tall⟧ and ⟦short⟧, ⟦wide⟧ and ⟦narrow⟧, ⟦thick⟧ and ⟦thin⟧.
  • In English the describing words come before the thing: ⟦a red car⟧, not ⟦a car red⟧. Size usually comes before colour: ⟦a big red car⟧.
  • Ask about colour with ⟦What colour is it?⟧ and answer ⟦It's green.⟧

Worked examples

Example 1

Fill the gap: ⟦A banana is ___.⟧

  1. Think of a ripe banana.
  2. ⟦A banana is yellow.⟧

Answer: ⟦yellow⟧

Example 2

Fill the gap: ⟦A triangle has ___ sides.⟧

  1. A triangle has three straight sides and three corners.
  2. ⟦A triangle has three sides.⟧

Answer: ⟦three⟧

Example 3

Fill the gap: ⟦A giraffe is tall, but a cat is ___.⟧

  1. ⟦but⟧ tells you the second part is the opposite.
  2. The opposite of ⟦tall⟧ is ⟦short⟧.

Answer: ⟦short⟧