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Colours in French

Colours are adjectives as they act as describing words to give you more information about a noun.

Colours are really helpful words to know in any language, so that you can describe things such as clothes and other objects.

Have a look at these colours and see how many you can remember.

Using colours to describe singular nouns

In French, nouns belong to either a masculine or feminine group. So an adjective needs to be either masculine or feminine, like the noun it is describing.

This means that the spelling of the adjective changes to match the gender of the noun. This is called an agreement.

Regular adjectives, such as vert (green), noir (black) and bleu (blue), follow the same pattern when their spellings change.

For example, when you describe a masculine noun, regular colour adjectives look the same as those in the list above.

• Je porte un pull bleu - I am wearing a blue jumper

When you describe a feminine noun, you add an e at the end of the regular adjective:

• Je porte une jupe bleue - I am wearing a blue skirt

Using colours to describe plural nouns

The spelling of adjectives can also change in French if the noun is plural. This means when there is more than one item.

When you are describing a masculine plural noun using a regular colour adjective, you add s to the end of the adjective:

• un pull bleu - a blue jumper
• deux pulls bleus - two blue jumpers

If you are describing a feminine plural noun, you add es to the adjective.

• une jupe bleue - a blue skirt
• deux jupes bleues - two blue skirts

Don't forget that you also usually add s to the noun to make it plural.

So the endings for regular adjectives are as follows:‎

Here are the forms of some regular adjectives. Can you use them to describe the colour of your own clothes? For example:

• une casquette noire - a black cap

Try reading this article on Clothes and accessories to help you to remember the items of clothing in French.

Exceptions

Some colour adjectives are irregular, which means that they don’t follow the same pattern as the regular colour adjectives.

Gris (grey) doesn't change when it comes after a masculine plural noun, like des gants (some gloves).

• Je porte un pull gris - I am wearing a grey jumper

• Je porte des gants gris - I am wearing some grey gloves

Remember that if an adjective already has an e on the end, it doesn't change in the feminine form.

• Je porte un tee-shirt rouge - I am wearing a red t-shirt

• Je porte une jupe rouge - I am wearing a red skirt

Two of the colour adjectives for 'white' and 'purple' change their spelling a little by adding an extra letter in the feminine form. Can you spot the spelling change?

• Elle a un pull blanc - She has a white jumper

• Elle a une jupe blanche - She has a white skirt

• Il a des gants blancs - He has some white gloves

• Il a des chaussures blanches - He has some white shoes

• Elle a un pull violet - She has a purple jumper

• Elle a une jupe violette - She has a purple skirt

• Il a des gants violets - He has some purple gloves

• Il a des chaussures violettes - He has some purple shoes

The adjectives orange (orange) and marron (brown) don't change their spelling at all, even when they are describing a feminine or a plural noun:

• Il a un pull orange - He has an orange jumper

• Il a une chemise orange - He has an orange shirt

• Il a deux pulls orange - He has two orange jumpers

• Elle a un pull marron - She has a brown jumper

• Elle a une chemise marron - She has a brown shirt

• Elle a deux pulls marron - She has two brown jumpers

Did you know?

Did you notice that in French, colour adjectives come after the noun that you're describing?

So un pantalon marron is like saying 'some trousers brown' in English.

Key French sounds

Below are some important French sounds that you have heard in this topic. Try practising them yourself out loud.

1. r
   This letter makes a sound which is not in the English language. It sounds as if you are gargling water. It comes from the back of the throat and sounds longer than the r sound in English.

• vert - green
• rose - pink

2. ou

This sound is also in the English language. It can be written as ou, où or ��û.

To make this sound, purse your lips tightly like a chimpanzee might do.

• rouge - red

3. o at the end of a word, ô, au and eau

These letters make a sound not found in English.

Make your lips into a round shape and sound as if you have had a shock.

• jaune - yellow