Your guide to learn colours in French and how to talk about them in a sentence

You may wonder why I am creating a whole article about colours in French since it is just vocabulary… Well, oui et non (yes and no)! It is a good thing to know vocabulary but it is even better and more important to know how to use them in sentences. That is why I am here to help you and I have created this guide about colours in French.

The most common colours in French

I have made a list below of the main colours used:

• blue = le bleu
• orange = l’orange
• green = le vert
• black = le noir
• white = le blanc
• purple = le violet
• red = le rouge
• yellow = le jaune
• grey = le gris
• pink = le rose
• brown = le marron

Have you noticed anything in the above colours?

Well, they are all masculine and singular 🙂 Isn’t it easy to remember that way for genders? Remember this as it will be useful for later 🙂

The important rule for colours in French in a sentence

Now you know how to say the colours in French, let’s plunge into the rules!

Most of the time, colours are used as adjectives, that means they will agree in number and gender with the noun it refers to.

I highly recommend you to take a look at my article “Gender of French nouns: how to overcome this difficulty?” to know more about masculine and feminine nouns.

Below, I give you the examples with clothing but it works the same for anything, the colour of a chair for instance.

• blue = le bleu

Un pantalon bleu: which is masculine and singular (“a blue trouser” in English)
Une jupe bleue: which is feminine and singular (“a blue skirt” in English)
Des pantalons bleus: which is masculine and plural (“blue trousers” in English)
Des chaussures bleues: which is feminine and plural (“blue shoes” in English)

• orange = l’orange

Un pantalon orange: which is masculine and singular
Une jupe orange: which is feminine and singular
Des pantalons orange: which is masculine and plural
Des chaussures orange: which is feminine and plural

• green = le vert

Un pantalon vert: which is masculine and singular
Une jupe verte: which is feminine and singular
Des pantalons verts: which is masculine and plural
Des chaussures vertes: which is feminine and plural

• black = le noir

Un pantalon noir: which is masculine and singular
Une jupe noire: which is feminine and singular
Des pantalons noirs: which is masculine and plural
Des chaussures noires: which is feminine and plural

• white = le blanc

Un pantalon blanc: which is masculine and singular
Une jupe blanche: which is feminine and singular
Des pantalons blancs: which is masculine and plural
Des chaussures blanches: which is feminine and plural

• purple = le violet

Un pantalon violet: which is masculine and singular
Une jupe violette: which is feminine and singular
Des pantalons violets: which is masculine and plural
Des chaussures violettes: which is feminine and plural

• red = le rouge

Un pantalon rouge: which is masculine and singular
Une jupe rouge: which is feminine and singular
Des pantalons rouges: which is masculine and plural
Des chaussures rouges: which is feminine and plural

• yellow = le jaune

Un pantalon jaune: which is masculine and singular
Une jupe jaune: which is feminine and singular
Des pantalons jaunes: which is masculine and plural
Des chaussures jaunes: which is feminine and plural

• grey = le gris

Un pantalon gris: which is masculine and singular
Une jupe grise: which is feminine and singular
Des pantalons gris: which is masculine and plural
Des chaussures grises: which is feminine and plural

• pink = le rose

Un pantalon rose: which is masculine and singular
Une jupe rose: which is feminine and singular
Des pantalons roses: which is masculine and plural
Des chaussures roses: which is feminine and plural

• brown = le marron

Un pantalon marron: which is masculine and singular
Une jupe marron: which is feminine and singular
Des pantalons marron: which is masculine and plural
Des chaussures marron: which is feminine and plural

How to talk about colours

Colours with adverbs

In French, when you use an adverb with a colour, the colour will not agree anymore with the noun it refers it.

Let’s see some examples below:
La table est bleu clair (“the table is light blue” in English)
Les pieds du fauteuil sont vert foncé (“the legs of the armchair are dark green” in English)

Colours and hair

When you talk about the hair of someone, we say:

Les cheveux bruns/blonds/roux/noirs/gris (“brunette/blonde/red/ black/grey hair” in English)

They are all masculine and plural because they agree in number and gender with the noun “les cheveux”.

Colours and eyes

When talking about the eyes of someone, we will just use the name of the colour and we will say:

Les yeux bleus/verts/marron (“blue/green/brown eyes” in English).

Colours and French expressions

Let’s now see some expressions in French where we use colours:

Haut en couleur = colourful

Dans le rouge = in trouble

Le tapis rouge = red carpet

Etre rouge comme une tomate = blushing

Etre rouge de honte = to be ashamed

Rougir = to turn red

Etre sur la liste rouge = when you are not listed in the telephone directory

Rire jaune = to force yourself to laugh

Voir la vie en rose = to be optimistic

Etre blanc comme neige = to have nothing reproach to yourself

Une nuit blanche = a sleepless night

Un examen blanc = a practice test

Etre blanc comme un linge = to be very pale

Une arme blanche = a blade

Etre vert de rage = to be very angry

Etre vert de jalousie = to be very jealous

Avoir la main verte = to be a good gardener

Un espace vert = a green space

Donner le feu vert à quelqu’un = to authorise someone to do something

Avoir une peur bleue = to be very scared

L’or noir = petrol

Travailler au noir = when you do not report your salary and do not pay taxes

Broyer du noir = to feel depressed

Etre noir de monde = to be packed

Un bleu = a bruise

Tell me in the comments (in French) what is your favourite colour? Feel free to share this article!

A bientôt!