Context:

Colors surround us everywhere. Red cars, white shirts, blue pants, green pencils, black ink, and the list can go on forever. Personally, I cannot imagine what life would be like without colors, and I’m sure you, neither. Therefore this lesson will introduce color names in French so we can learn how to speak a more colorful French .

Goals:

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to do the following:

  know the names of the principal colors in French

  use them in sentences to modify nouns, for example, un chemisier vert/a green blouse

  know how to ask in French the question “what color is…?”

Chapter 1 –> Lesson 5:

Level of difficulty: Easy

What you should absolutely know about using color names in sentences.

→ In French, color names will generally go AFTER the noun they modify: la Maison Blanche (the White House>, where the color blanche (white) goes after the noun maison (house).

→ Color names in French will agree in number and gender with the noun they modify. Unlike in English where color names will remain invariable, colors in French will take a feminine or masculine form depending on the name they modify: un crayon noir (a black pencil). une ceinture noire (a black belt).

In the plural form, that is, when the noun they accompany is plural, you must usually add an “s“: un crayon noir –> des crayons noirs (black pencils).

In this lesson, I present you both forms of each color name whenever available. However, some color names remain in the same form whether they are masculine or feminine, for example, jaune (yellow) or rouge (red). In this case, you will see only one version written and one pronunciation. Note, though, that they DO take “s” when in the plural.

→ Colors followed by (inv.) do not change at all regardless of the gender and number of the noun they accompany. They don’t even take “s” in the plural form.

Scenario: Your best friend can’t stop talking about the new shirt he just bought… (and of course, you’re happy for him). You want to ask him”what color is the shirt?” How do you do that in French? Well, it’s easy. Just repeat this sentence: De quelle couleur est la chemise?

The most important part of this sentence is De quelle couleur est… because you can complete your question with whatever name of object you can think of after it. A few examples to illustrate my point…

	De quelle couleur est la robe?   what color is the dress? La robe est jaune.   The dress is yellow.
	De quelle couleur est le chien?   what color is the dog? Le chien est noir.   The dog is black.
	De quelle couleur est la voiture?   what color is the car? La voiture est rouge.   The car is red.

It’s now time to look at the colors themselves!

Les couleurs

	rouge   red Du vin rouge.   (Some) red wine.
	bleu/bleue   blue Le ciel est bleu.   The sky is blue.
	orange (inv.)   orange Il y a un oiseau orange dans le ciel.   There is an orange bird in the sky.
	marron (inv.)   maroon J’aime la couleur marron   I like the color maroon.
	jaune   yellow C’est un chapeau jaune.   It’s a yellow hat.
	violet/violette   purple Marie aime les fleurs violettes.   Mary likes purple flowers.
	vert/verte   green L’herbe est verte.   The grass is green.
	rose   pink C’est une belle jupe rose.   It’s a pretty pink dress.
	noir/noire   black Je porte des chaussures noires.   I am wearing black shoes.
	blanc/blanche   white Un short blanc.   A white pair of shorts
	gris/grise   grey(gray) Un ciel gris.   A grey sky

Now, I have a nice little dictation that awaits you here.