Green is a color, un colore. Its pronunciation is similar to vehr-deh and it comes from the Latin virĭdem, “green”. Make sure your final -e is clean, without any -y quality at the end, because Italian vowel sounds are clean.
Perché hai dipinto la tua casa di verde?
Why did you paint your house green?
Tom indossava una giacca verde.
Tom wore a green jacket.
L’esterno di questa scatola è verde, ma l’interno è rosso.
The outside of this box is green, but the inside is red.
Different shades of green in Italian
Verdino is the diminutive form of verde (the -ino suffix in Italian makes things smaller). It’s used to describe a desaturated shade of green, which can also be translated as verde chiaro, literally “light green”.
Verdino
Light green
Verde chiaro
Light green
Le persiane sono di un verdino molto chiaro. Non mi piacciono.
The shutters are of a very light greenish color. I don’t like them.
Verdognolo translates as greenish, so it’s used to mean something green, but not quiet.
Verdognolo
Greenish
Il muro della cucina è verdognolo con un motivo di fiori.
The kitchen wall is greenish with a floral motif.
Smeraldino comes from smeraldo, which means emerald. Although the most direct translation for “emerald green” is verde smeraldo, the adjective smeraldino is often used to describe seawater that is particularly clean.
Smeraldino
Emerald green
La Sardegna è rinomata per le sue acque smeraldine.
Sardinia is famous for its emerald-green waters.
Verde smeraldo
Emerald green
Ricordi il nome di quell’insetto color verde smeraldo?
Do you remember the name of that emerald green-colored insect?
(That’s the green rose chafer, the cetonia aurata, often incorrectly called the maggiolino (cockhafer) in Italy. Beetle is translated as scarabeo).
Olivastro comes from oliva, which means olive. You most often translate olive green as verde oliva, but you will use olivastro when you’re talking about, say, the particular shade of someone’s skin.
Olivastro
Olive green
L’uomo ha una pelle olivastra e grandi occhi marroni.
The man has olive skin and big brown eyes.
Verde oliva
Olive green
Hai visto in giro i miei pantaloncini verde oliva?
Have you seen my olive green shorts around [the house]?
Other shades of green are…
Verde scuro
Dark green
Verde acqua
Aqua green
Verde pistacchio
Pistachio green
Verde pastello
Pastel green
Verde menta
Mint green
Verde militare
Army green
Verde bottiglia
Bottle green
Le foglie di questo albero sono verde scuro.
The leaves of this tree are dark green.
Fra tutte le tonalità di verde, il verde menta è la sfumatura che preferisco.
Of all the shades of green, mint green is my favorite.
Verbs featuring green in Italian
When something turns green, you can use the verb inverdire, “to turn green”.
Inverdire
To turn green
You can use rinverdire to say “to turn green again”.
Rinverdire
To turn green again
Con la stagione invernale ormai alla fine, gli alberi si stanno rinverdendo.
With the winter season now at an end, the trees are turning green again.
Did you know that verdura, the Italian word for vegetables, comes from verde? No wonder, since so many vegetables are green! Unlike English, verdura is a feminine singular noun.
La verdura
Vegetables
Mio figlio mangia pochissima verdura.
My son eats very few vegetables.
Toll-free numbers are called “green numbers” in Italy, numeri verdi.
Numero verde
Toll-free number
C’è un numero verde che posso chiamare per avere informazioni?
Is there a toll-free number I can call for information?
Expressions
Farsi verde dall’invidia
To turn green because of envy
Farsi verde dalla rabbia
To turn green because of anger
Far vedere i sorci verdi
To cause big trouble
Essere al verde
To be broke
Albero sempreverde
Evergreen tree
L’erba del vicino è sempre più verde
The grass is always greener on the other side
Chi di verde si veste della sua beltà troppo si fida
He who wears green trusts their beauty too much
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