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Colors in French: Complete Guide with List, Examples & Grammar

Colors in French

Colors in French, as in all languages, are used to express the color of people, animals and objects, they act as adjectives, for example, β€œThe horse is brown”, β€œThe white shirt”. And also, by themselves, they are nouns, for example, β€œTheΒ color red”, β€œI likeΒ yellow”. Colors also have grammar rules, such as the order of words in a sentence. This is explained in more detail here.

List of colors in French

Colors are a visual perception generated in the human brain and other animals by interpreting the nerve signals; they are a perception of a tone of light. (1) Below there is a list with all the colors in French.

Colors in French and English with colored images, stripes showing colors
FrenchEnglish
Blanc/BlancheWhite
Noir/NoireBlack
RougeRed
JauneYellow
BleuBlue
Vert/VerteGreen
OrangeOrange
BrunBrown
Violet/ViolettePurple
LilasLilac
RosePink
FuchsiaFuchsia
Gris/ GriseGray
MoutardeMustard
Terre cuiteTerracotta
TurquoiseTurquoise
DorΓ©/DorΓ©eGolden
ArgentSilver
SaumonSkin color / Salmon color (Normally referring to a light tone)
BeigeBeige
AmbreAmber
Citron vertLime
Vert mentheMint green
Vert pommeApple green

Β Other related terms

CombinaisonCombination
PeinturePainting
PeindrePaint
Crayons de couleurColored pencils
ClaireLight
FoncΓ©Dark
Couleurs primairesPrimary Colors
Couleurs secondairesSecondary Colors
Couleurs tertiairesTertiary Colors
BleuΓ’treBluish
GrisΓ’treGrayish

Grammar rules

Colors agree with gender and number with the noun they describe and follow an specific order in sentences.

Gender

The word β€œcolor” (couleur) is indeed feminine in French. When you talk about colors themselves, they are accompanied by theΒ feminine articlesΒ β€œla” (the) and β€œune” (a, an) inΒ French.

  • LaΒ couleur rouge. – The red color.
  • UneΒ couleur jaune. – A yellow color.

Agreement in gender

In French, the general rule for agreement in gender is to add an -e to the end of the color when it is used to describe a feminine noun.

  • Le camion noir. – The black truck.
  • La voiture noire. – The black car. (Car is a feminine noun in French).

Β  Β b. The olors that end in -e and the color brown (marron) do not change regardless of whether they are used to describe a masculine or feminine noun.

  • Une fleur orange. – An orange flower.
  • Un gateau orange. – An orange cake.
  • Le soleil jaune. – The sun is yellow.
  • La porte est jaune. – The door is yellow.
  • La table marron. – The bown table.

Agreement in number

Β The main rule for agreement in number with colors is to add an -s to the end of the color to make it plural. However, this rule only applies to certain cases and there are some exceptions.

For more information on this topic, it is recommended to read the lesson on plurals in French.

  • Un camion rouge. – A red truck.
  • Des camions rouges. – Some red trucks.

Word order

The word order for colors in a sentence is generally after the nouns they describe and after the verb β€œΓͺtre” (to be). The common word order for using colors inΒ French is

  • Verb β€œΓͺtre” + color
  • Nouns + color
  • Mon chapeauΒ estΒ rose.- My hatΒ isΒ pink.
  • Sa robeΒ estΒ grise. – Her dressΒ isΒ gray.
  • Tes jouesΒ sontΒ rouges.- YourcheeksΒ areΒ red.
  • Le cielΒ estΒ blue grisΓ’tre. – The skyΒ isΒ graysh blue.
  • Noirest beigeΒ estΒ une bonne combinaison. – Black and beigeΒ isΒ a good combination.
  • La robeΒ bleue. – The blue dress.
  • Le papierΒ blanc. – The white paper.
  • Les chaussures noires.” (The black shoes.)

More examples or sentences

  • Les boites noires. – The black boxes.
  • Un peinture claire. – A light paint.
  • Ma chemise est grise. –My gray shirt.
  • La table est pourpre. – The table is purple.
  • Sa cuisine est bleu grisΓ’tre. – His kitchen is grayish blue.
  • Vous prΓ©fΓ©rez le bleu foncΓ© ou clair? – Do you prefer light or dark blue?
  • Le bleu, le rouge et le blanc sont une bonne combinaison. – Blue, red and white are a good combination.

Exercises

Transtle the following simple sentencesfrom English to French.

  1. The sky is blue.
  2. The book is green.
  3. The flower is yellow.
  4. The car is pink.
  5. A purple fruit.
  6. The shirt is black.
  7. The sun is brown.
  8. The wall is white.
  9. The door is green.
  10. The silver pen

Answers.

  1. Le ciel est bleu.
  2. Le livre est vert.
  3. La fleur est jaune.
  4. La voiture est rose.
  5. Un fruit violet.
  6. La chemise est noire.
  7. Le soleil est brun.
  8. Le mur est blanc.
  9. La porte est verte.
  10. Le stylo argentΓ©.
Previous lesson

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