Breakdown of Какой цвет? Оранжевый.
какой
which/what kind of (m, sister forms: какая, какое)
цвет
color
оранжевый
orange (colour)
Questions & Answers about Какой цвет? Оранжевый.
Why do we use какой here instead of какая or какое?
The question word какой (which / what kind of) changes its ending to match the gender of the noun it asks about. Because цвет (color) ends in a consonant, it is a masculine noun. Therefore, we must use the masculine form какой.
Does какой translate to 'what' or 'which'?
It can be both! Какой asks for a description or a specific choice out of a group. In English, we might ask 'What color?' or 'Which color?' depending on the situation, but in Russian, both ideas are simply covered by Какой цвет?.
Why does the answer оранжевый end in -ый?
Because it is an adjective describing цвет (color). Even though the noun is dropped in the short answer, the adjective still has to match its masculine gender. The -ый suffix is a standard ending for masculine adjectives.
Where is the verb 'is' in this sentence?
In Russian, the present tense forms of the verb 'to be' (am, is, are) are almost always skipped. Instead of saying 'What color is it?', you just say the equivalent of 'Which color?'. The meaning is perfectly clear from the context.
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