COLORS - FRENCH VOCABULARY TESTING GUIDE
45 cards | 10 sub-topics | all 4 skills tested
INTRODUCTION
This section deals with the French words and vocabulary referring to colors.
In French, most color names work like adjectives. By that I mean that they usually agree in gender and number with the noun they modify (more on that at the end of this lesson).
This is a particularly important thing to remember, especially for those of you whose primary language disregard this aspect (bonjour, my English speaking friends).
Of course, as always, there are some exceptions. But you will find a nice list of formulas further down below to help you understand when to agree French colors and when not to.
Quick trivia question: What is the French flag color pattern? (post your answers below in the comment field)
- Blue - Red- White
2. Red - White - Blue
3. Blue - White - Red
4. White - Red - Blue
Read on to discover the most common French colors nouns and vocabulary.
1. COMMON COLOR NAMES
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une couleur
Color
Un monde sans couleurs serait ennuyeux./ A world with no color would be dull.
1. rouge
Red
Un crayon de couleur rouge./ A red colored pencil!
2. bleu/bleue
Blue
Ce stylo est bleu./ This pen is blue.
3. violet/violette
Purple; Violet
Les violettes sont-elles violettes?/ Are violets (flowers) purple?
4. vert/verte
Green
Le gazon est vert./ The lawn is green.
5. jaune
Yellow
Des fleurs jaunes./ (Some) yellow flowers.
6. marron
Brown
Je porte des chaussures marron./ I'm wearing brown shoes.
7. bordeaux
Maroon
Mes rideaux sont bordeaux./ My curtains are maroon.
8. rose
Pink
J'aime la couleur rose./ I like the color pink.
9. orange
Orange
A qui sont ces chemises orange?/ Whose orange shirts are these?
10. beige
Beige
Cette jupe beige me plaît./ I like this beige dress.
11. noir/ noire
Black
Ce costume noir est élégant./ This black suit is elegant.
12. blanc/ blanche
White
Ces robes blanches me plaisent./ I like these white dresses.
13. gris/ grise
Grey; Gray
Je vois des oiseaux dans le ciel gris./ I (can) see birds in the grey sky.
2. INVARIABLE FRENCH COLOR ADJECTIVES
2.1 Compound adjectives for "Light" colors
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14.
bleu clair/ciel
Light blue; Sky blue
Je mettrai ma robe bleu ciel pour la soirée./ I'll put on the sky blue dress for the party.
15.
vert clair
Light green
Ces tissus vert clair sont doux./ These light green fabrics are soft.
16.
rose clair
Light pink
Les murs rose clair de cette chambre sont bien décorés./ The light pink walls of this room are well decorated.
17.
gris clair
Light gray
Ces pantalons gris clair sont trop longs./ These light gray pants are too long.
2.2 Compound adjectives for "Dark" colors
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18.
bleu foncé
Dark blue
Des crayons de couleur bleu foncé./ Dark blue colored pencils.
19.
vert foncé
Dark green
La couleur vert foncé m'apaise./ The color dark blue soothes me.
20.
rose foncé
Dark pink
Cette voiture rose foncé est hideuse./ This dark pink car is ugly.
21.
gris foncé
Dark gray
Le gris foncé est ma couleur préférée./ Dark gray is my favorite color.
2.3 Miscelleaneous compound color adjectives
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22. rouge sang
Blood red
Les teintes rouge sang de ce tableau sont vives./ The blood red hues in this painting are vibrant.
23. bleu marine
Navy blue; Dark blue
J'ai acheté deux chemises bleu marine./ I bought two navy bleu shirts.
2.4 Metal- & gem-based color adjectives
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24. argent
Silver
Les radiateurs dans ma chambre sont peints argent./ There are two silver car in the garage.
25. or
Gold
Ces musiciens portent des ceintures or./ These musicians are wearing gold-colored belts.
26. bronze
Bronze
Les murs bronze de la prison sont froids./ The prison's bronze-colored walls are cold.
27.
émeraude
Emerald green
Vos yeux émeraude me fascinent./ Your emerald green eyes fascinate me.
28. turquoise
Turquoise
Ces robes turquoise vous vont bien./ These turquoise dresses fit you nicely.
29.
rubis
Ruby red
Vos chaussures rubis sont belles./ Your ruby red shoes are pretty.
30.
cuivre
Copper
Une belle teinte cuivre./ A nice copper hue.
31.
rouille
Rust-colored
La teinte rouille dans cette peinture est captivante./ The rust-colored hue in this painting is captivating.
32.
saphir
Sapphire-blue
La princesse avait des yeux saphir./ The princess had sapphire-blue eyes.
2.5 Flower- and fruit-based color adjectives
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33.
aubergine
Plum
Tes cheuveux fantaisistes ont une belle teinte aubergine./ Your fancy hair has a nice plum hue.
34. lilas
Lilac
J'ai acheté deux jupes lilas./ I bought two lilac dresses.
35.
cerise
Cherry red
Vos jupes cerise ont un éclat vif./ Your cherry red skirts have a bright shine.
36. citron
Lemon yellow
Cette robe citron vous ira bien en été./ This lemon yellow dress will fit you nicely in summer.
37. lavande
Lavender
Une fille aux yeux lavande./ A girl with lavender eyes.
38. orange
Orange
Les oranges sont orange./ Oranges are orange.
39. marron
Brown
Mes chaussures marron sont sales./ My brown shoes are dirty.
40. noisette
Hazel
J'aime vos yeux noisette./ I like your hazel eyes.
41. vert pomme
Apple green
Les meubles vert pomme du salon sont horribles. / The apple green furniture in the living room is horrible.
2.6 Food-related nouns used as color adjectives
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42. chocolat
Chocolate-brown
Ces costumes chocolat sont magnifiques./ These chocolate-brown suits look great.
43. café
Coffee-colored
J'aime tes cheveux café./ I like your coffee-colored hair.
44. café au lait
Café-au-lait
Ma cicatrice a maintenant une couleur café au lait./ My scar now has a cafe-au-lait color.
45. caramel
Caramel
Vos beaux yeux caramel m'ont séduit./ Your caramel eyes charmed me.
3.EXPLANATIONS ON COLOR AGREEMENT RULES
3.1 Basic agreement rule for "simple" color adjectives
In French, color adjectives are normally variable in form, i.e., these color adjectives will automatically agree in number and gender with the noun they modify. Below, I'm giving you 3 examples to demonstrate this rule.
Ex.1: Diane a acheté deux robes vertes. / Diane bought two green dresses.
The French noun "robes" used here is feminine-plural. Therefore, the color adjective "vertes" also inherits the gender mark (-e) of the feminine and its plural number (-s).
Ex.2: Diane veut acheter deux jupes blanches. / Diane wants to buy two white dresses.
The French noun "jupes" here is feminine-plural. Therefore, the color adjective "blanches" also inherits the gender mark (-e) of the feminine and its plural number (-s).
Ex.3: Les deux jeans bleus de Diane sont propres. / Diane's two blue jeans are clean.
The French noun "jeans" employed above is masculine-plural. Therefore, the color adjective "bleus" also inherits the masculine gender (by default) and its plural number (-s).
3.2 Agreement rule for compound color adjectives
Color adjectives are invariable if they are compound adjectives. If you're wondering what a compound color adjective is, here is a simple definition: A compound color adjective is two or more adjectives put together to denote a single color: For example, "bleu foncé" / "vert pomme"/ "bleu ciel" are compound color adjectives denoting respectively, "dark blue", / "green apple"/ "sky blue".
Ex.1: J'aime tes trois jupes vert foncé. / I like your three dark pink skirts.
Although the noun "jupes" employed here is feminine-plural, the compound color adjective "vert foncé" remains masculine-singular (the default gender and number in French).
Ex.2: J'ai acheté deux jeans
bleu clair hier./ I bought two light blue jeans yesterday.
The French noun "jeans" used here is masculine-plural. However the compound color adjective "bleu clair" remains invariable (masculine-singular, the default gender and number in French).
Ex.3: Tes deux Ferrari rouge sang sont superbes./ Your two blood red Ferraris are superbe.
The noun "Ferrari" used here is feminine-plural. However the compound color adjective "rouge sang" remains invariable (masculine-singular, the default gender and number in French).
Note: In French, most proper nouns (e.g. "Ferrari") remain singular (no -s) even when used in plural.
Notes:
1. When a compound color adjective is made of two colors, they should be separated by a hyphen. For example, des chemises bleu-vert / Blue and green shirts. (Please note that in this case each shirt has both blue and green in it. If some shirts were green and some others were blue, or red, etc, then an agreement in gender and number will be necessary: "des chemises bleues, vertes")
2. When a compound color adjective is made of a color and a noun, no hyphen is need. For example, "des chemises bleu clair" / Sky blue shirts..
3.3 Agreement rule for nouns used as color adjectives
Color adjectives are invariable if they are nouns used as adjectives. You may not know it yet, but some of the colors you use in French are actually nouns (things) employed as color adjectives. For example, the colors "orange" and "marron" are actually derived from the orange fruit (orange in French) and chestnut fruit (marron in French). Many more nouns are used as color adjectives, in which case they are invariable. (See the list above to a more comprehensive list.)
Ex.1: J'admire tes beaux yeux café. / I admire your pretty coffee-colored eyes.
Although the noun "yeux" (from oeil [eye]) is employed here as masculine-plural, the color adjective "café" doesn't change in number (masculine-singular) because it is a noun used a color adjective.
Ex.2: Tes rideaux caramel sont beaux./ Your caramel curtains are pretty.
The French noun "rideaux" used here is masculine-plural. However the color adjective "caramel" remains invariable (masculine-singular) because it is a noun used a color adjective.
Notes [Exceptions]: Some nouns used as color adjectives will vary in gender and number, in which case they are an exception to the rule stated above. The nouns écarlate (scarlet), mauve (mallow), rose (rose), fauve (wild animal) are invariable when used as color adjectives.
By now, you should have a pretty clear idea on how to correctly use of colors in the French language. I hope you will find the above list of French colors very comprehensive.
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