French Colors | FrenchLearner

🎧 Audio by Marie Assel Cambier, a native speaker & professional voice artist from France

In a nutshell: the most common French color words are rouge (red), jaune (yellow), bleu (blue), vert/verte (green), orange (orange), rose (pink), noir/noire (black), blanc/blanche (white) and gris/grise (gray). Keep reading to learn the gender & number agreement rules and how to describe objects naturally with colors in French.

🎨 French Color Vocabulary

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• beige — beige
• noir — black
• bleu — blue
• marron — brown
• vert, verte — green
• gris, grise — gray
• orange — orange
• rose — pink
• rouge — red
• bronzé — tan
• blanc, blanche — white
• jaune — yellow

Grammatical Rules for Colors

Gender & number agreement (quick rules)

• Colors are adjectives and agree with the noun they describe: un pantalon gris (a gray pair of pants), des pantalons gris; une chemise grise (a gray shirt), des chemises grises.
• Add -e to make the feminine form for colors ending in a consonant: vert → verte, noir → noire, gris → grise, blanc → blanche.
• Colors that already end in -e do not change in the feminine: jaune, rouge, rose, turquoise, etc.
• Invariable colors (same in all forms): marron, orange (and most colors derived from nouns like crème, olive, chocolat). Example: une chemise orange, des chemises orange.
• Two-word colors with clair (light) or foncé (dark) are usually treated as invariable color units: des chemises bleu clair, des vestes vert foncé.
• Pronunciation tip (blanc): the final -c in blanc is silent (un cheval blanc). The feminine blanche pronounces the -ch- sound (une chemise blanche).

English	Masculine singular	Feminine singular	Masculine plural	Feminine plural
black	noir	noire	noirs	noires
blue	bleu	bleue	bleus	bleues
brown	marron	marron	marron	marron
dark blue	bleu foncé	bleu foncé	bleu foncé	bleu foncé
green	vert	verte	verts	vertes
grey	gris	grise	gris	grises
light blue	bleu clair	bleu clair	bleu clair	bleu clair
orange	orange	orange	orange	orange
purple	violet	violette	violets	violettes
red	rouge	rouge	rouges	rouges
white	blanc	blanche	blancs	blanches
yellow	jaune	jaune	jaunes	jaunes

Natural examples

• un vélo vert, une voiture verte — a green bike, a green car
• un t-shirt blanc, une chemise blanche — a white T-shirt, a white shirt
• un chapeau vert foncé — a dark-green hat
• des lunettes gris souris — mouse-gray glasses
• une veste bleu turquoise — a turquoise-blue jacket

Note: Color nuances with a second noun (e.g., souris, turquoise, chocolat, olive) are invariable.

🌈 Extra & Fun French Colors

The following is an extensive list of lesser known and more specific colors. This list will come in very handy for artists and professionals working in the fashion industry.

• turquoise — turquoise
• ivoire — ivory
• émeraude — emerald green
• lavande — lavender
• bordeaux — burgundy
• saumon — salmon pink
• moutarde — mustard yellow
• nacre — mother-of-pearl
• saphir — sapphire blue
• aubergine — plum
• pervenche — periwinkle
• ardoise — slate gray-blue
• rouille — rust
• doré / dorée — golden
• argenté / argentée — silver

🚀 Continue Learning French Vocabulary

This page gave you a clear overview of French colors and how they work in sentences. Keep going with these essential lessons or check out my French vocabulary hub.

👉 Numbers 1-100👉 Days of the week & months👉 Telling time in French👉 Weather expressions👉 Family vocabulary👉 Adjectives – how they work👉 Blanc (white) – Word of the Day Lesson

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David Issokson Founder & French Teacher at FrenchLearner.com David Issokson is the founder of FrenchLearner.com, where he’s been helping students master French through vocabulary, grammar, and cultural lessons since 2012. See Full Bio French language French grammar French vocabulary French verbs French expressions Learning French online French culture French songs and music