Colors In French
The world around us is a bust of beautiful colours : white, green, red, blue etc.
Learning to speak French means learning colour names and how to use them.
You wish to say you have brown eyes in French? Then say ''ai les yeux marrons.' But what if you wish to say you have brown hair?
Find out in this detailed lesson about French colours.
Useful vocabulary for describing colours in French
| French | English | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|
| La couleur | colour/color | la couleur bleue | blue colour |
| Clair | light | bleu Clair | Light blue |
| Foncé | dark | vert foncé | dark green |
| Une nuance de | a shade of | une nuance de rouge | a shade of red |
| Vif bright | rouge vif | bright red | |
| Terne | dull | vert terne | dull green |
In a sentence
J'ai acheté une chemise verte foncé
I bought a dark green shirt
Common colours in French
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Blanc/Blanche | White |
| Noir/Noire | Black |
| Gris/Grise | Gray |
| Rouge | Red |
| Bleu/Bleue | Blue |
| Orange | Orange |
| Doré/ Dorée | Gold |
| Argenté /Argentée | silver |
| Marron | Brown |
| Rose | Pink |
| Vert/Verte | Green |
| Jaune | yellow |
| Violet/Violette | purple |
Hair colours in French
Now that we have looked at names of colours in French, let's talk about hair colour.
In French as in English, there are two ways to talk about hair colour. you can either say a person has a particular hair colour eg Marie a les cheveux blonde ( Marie has blond hair) or you can call them by the colour of their hair eg Marie est blonde (Marie is a blond) .
Note that the word for hair in French is les cheveux, which is a masculine, plural noun.
Common hair Colours in French
| French | English |
|---|---|
| Blonds | blond |
| Noirs | black |
| Blancs | white |
| Roux | red |
| Gris | grey |
| Bruns | brown |
Example
Elle a les cheveux blonds
She has blond hair
Nous avons les cheveux noirs
We have black hair
Note that the hair colours are all agreeing with the word les cheveux which is a masculine plural noun.
Use these colours to refer to a person by their hair colour. Note that when describing someone by the colour of their hair, the colour agrees in gender and number with the person or people being described.
| Masculine | Feminine | meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Blond | blonde | blonde |
| Brun | brune | brunette |
| Roux | Rousse | redhead |
Example
Elle est rousse She is a red head
Il est roux He is a redhead
How to use colours in French.
Colours like other French adjectives change to agree in gender and number with the noun they are describing.
They are also a part of adjectives that come after the noun. E.g une robe bleue - a blue dress.
Let's look at the most common colours in French and how to use them.
Blanc
Feminine form blanche
Plural forms blancs/ blanches
Example
Un chat blanc
A white cat
Une maison blanche
A White House
Noir
Feminine form noire
Plural forms noirs/noires
Examples
Une jupe noire
a black skirt
Des chaussures noirs
Black shoes
Rouge
Feminine form Rouge
Plural forms Rouges/Rouges
Example
La Croix-Rouge
The Red Cross
Bleu
Feminine form bleue
Plural form bleus/bleues
Examples
Des yeux bleus
Blue eyes
La couleur bleue
Blue colour
Orange
Feminine form Orange
Plural forms Oranges/Oranges
Rose
Feminine form Rose
Plural forms Roses/Roses
Example
Fleurs roses
Pink flowers
Ce verre est rose
That glass is pink
Jaune
Feminine form Jaune
Plural forms Jaunes/Jaunes
Vert
Feminine form verte
Plural forms Verts/ Vertes
Marron
Feminine form Marron
Plural forms Marrons /Marrons
