{"id":71,"date":"2026-09-30T15:18:56","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T14:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leweb2ks.dev\/vitrine-vocadial\/en\/resources\/colours-in-french\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T15:18:56","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T14:18:56","slug":"colours-in-french","status":"publish","type":"vd_ressource","link":"https:\/\/vocadial.com\/en\/resources\/colours-in-french\/","title":{"rendered":"Colours in French: list, agreement, pronunciation and idioms"},"content":{"rendered":"

The colours in French<\/h2>\n\n

In the pronunciation column, (n) marks a nasal vowel, “zh” is the s in “measure”, and “uh” with rounded lips is the vowel of British “fur”, lips pushed forward. French stresses the last syllable only lightly.<\/p>\n\n

French<\/th>English<\/th>Say it like<\/th>Feminine<\/th>Plural<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
rouge<\/td>red<\/td>roozh<\/td>rouge<\/td>rouges<\/td><\/tr>
bleu<\/td>blue<\/td>bluh, lips rounded<\/td>bleue<\/td>bleus, bleues<\/td><\/tr>
jaune<\/td>yellow<\/td>zhohn<\/td>jaune<\/td>jaunes<\/td><\/tr>
vert<\/td>green<\/td>vair<\/td>verte (vairt)<\/td>verts, vertes<\/td><\/tr>
orange<\/td>orange<\/td>oh-RAH(N)ZH<\/td>orange<\/td>orange<\/td><\/tr>
violet<\/td>purple<\/td>vyoh-LAY<\/td>violette (vyoh-LET)<\/td>violets, violettes<\/td><\/tr>
rose<\/td>pink<\/td>rohz<\/td>rose<\/td>roses<\/td><\/tr>
blanc<\/td>white<\/td>blah(n)<\/td>blanche (blah(n)sh)<\/td>blancs, blanches<\/td><\/tr>
noir<\/td>black<\/td>nwahr<\/td>noire<\/td>noirs, noires<\/td><\/tr>
gris<\/td>grey<\/td>gree<\/td>grise (greez)<\/td>gris, grises<\/td><\/tr>
marron<\/td>brown<\/td>ma-RO(N)<\/td>marron<\/td>marron<\/td><\/tr>
beige<\/td>beige<\/td>bezh<\/td>beige<\/td>beiges<\/td><\/tr>
turquoise<\/td>turquoise<\/td>toor-KWAHZ<\/td>turquoise<\/td>turquoise<\/td><\/tr>
dor\u00e9<\/td>gold, golden<\/td>doh-RAY<\/td>dor\u00e9e<\/td>dor\u00e9s, dor\u00e9es<\/td><\/tr>
argent\u00e9<\/td>silver<\/td>ar-zhah(n)-TAY<\/td>argent\u00e9e<\/td>argent\u00e9s, argent\u00e9es<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n

Hear the feminine<\/h3>\n\n

For some colours, the feminine is spelt differently but sounds the same: bleu<\/span> and bleue<\/span>, noir<\/span> and noire<\/span>. For others, you can hear it, because the final consonant is silent in the masculine and pronounced in the feminine:<\/p>\n\n

  • vert<\/span> (vair), verte<\/span> (vairt)<\/li>
  • gris<\/span> (gree), grise<\/span> (greez)<\/li>
  • blanc<\/span> (blah(n)), blanche<\/span> (blah(n)sh)<\/li>
  • violet<\/span> (vyoh-LAY), violette<\/span> (vyoh-LET)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n

    This is worth a listening drill: pupils who can hear vert<\/span> and verte<\/span> can tell whether the noun is masculine or feminine without seeing it.<\/p>\n\n

    Agreement: the rules<\/h2>\n\n
    1. Most colours agree like any adjective.<\/strong> Add -e for the feminine and -s for the plural: un stylo vert<\/span>, une trousse verte<\/span>, des stylos verts<\/span>, des trousses vertes<\/span>. Rouge<\/span>, jaune<\/span> and rose<\/span> already end in e.<\/li>
    2. Watch the irregular ones.<\/strong> blanc<\/span> becomes blanche<\/span>, violet<\/span> becomes violette<\/span>. Gris<\/span> has no extra s in the masculine plural: des chats gris<\/span>. Bleu<\/span> takes an s, not an x: des yeux bleus<\/span>.<\/li>
    3. Colours taken from nouns never change.<\/strong> orange<\/span> (the fruit), marron<\/span> (the chestnut), kaki<\/span>, cr\u00e8me<\/span>, turquoise<\/span>, cerise<\/span>, noisette<\/span>, citron<\/span>, olive<\/span>, chocolat<\/span>, bordeaux<\/span>: des chaussures orange<\/span>, des yeux marron<\/span>, une veste kaki<\/span>.<\/li>
    4. Six exceptions agree anyway.<\/strong> rose<\/span>, mauve<\/span>, pourpre<\/span>, fauve<\/span>, \u00e9carlate<\/span> and incarnat<\/span> come from nouns but take an s: des joues roses<\/span>. For KS3, rose<\/span> is the one that matters.<\/li>
    5. Compound colours never change.<\/strong> A colour followed by clair<\/span>, fonc\u00e9<\/span>, p\u00e2le<\/span> or another word stays as it is: des yeux bleu clair<\/span>, une veste vert fonc\u00e9<\/span>, des chaussettes bleu marine<\/span>. Two colours together take a hyphen: des yeux bleu-vert<\/span>, une robe gris-bleu<\/span>.<\/li>
    6. Colours as nouns are masculine.<\/strong> le rouge<\/span>, le vert<\/span>, even though la couleur<\/span> is feminine: Ma couleur pr\u00e9f\u00e9r\u00e9e, c’est le bleu.<\/span><\/li><\/ol>\n\n

      In everyday writing, many French speakers write “des chaussures oranges” or “des yeux marrons”. Standard grammar keeps them invariable, and that is what dictionaries and grammars expect.<\/p>\n\n

      Where the colour goes<\/h2>\n\n

      Colours always follow the noun: un pull rouge<\/span>, le vin blanc<\/span>, le Petit Chaperon rouge<\/span>. Unlike petit<\/span> or grand<\/span>, they never come before it.<\/p>\n\n

      To ask about a colour: De quelle couleur est ta trousse ?<\/span> or, more informally, Elle est de quelle couleur, ta trousse ?<\/span> The answer agrees with the object: Elle est bleue.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

      J’ai une trousse bleue et un cahier rouge.<\/span>I’ve got a blue pencil case and a red exercise book.<\/small><\/p>\n\n

      Le drapeau fran\u00e7ais est bleu, blanc, rouge.<\/span>The French flag is blue, white and red.<\/small><\/p>\n\n

      Ma s\u0153ur a les yeux marron et les cheveux blonds.<\/span>My sister has brown eyes and blond hair.<\/small><\/p>\n\n

      Je porte des baskets bleu fonc\u00e9.<\/span>I’m wearing dark blue trainers.<\/small><\/p>\n\n

      Shades and nuances<\/h3>\n\n
      • clair<\/span> (light), fonc\u00e9<\/span> (dark), p\u00e2le<\/span> (pale), vif<\/span> (bright): rouge vif<\/span><\/li>
      • bleu ciel<\/span> (sky blue), bleu marine<\/span> (navy), vert pomme<\/span> (apple green), jaune moutarde<\/span> (mustard yellow)<\/li>
      • the suffix -\u00e2tre means “-ish”, often unflattering: verd\u00e2tre<\/span>, jaun\u00e2tre<\/span><\/li>
      • the suffix -\u00e9 means “tinged with”: bleut\u00e9<\/span>, ros\u00e9<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\n\n

        Hair and eyes<\/h3>\n\n

        Hair has its own words: blond<\/span>, brun<\/span> (dark brown), ch\u00e2tain<\/span> (light or mid brown), roux<\/span> (red), noir<\/span>, gris<\/span>, blanc<\/span>. Il est roux<\/span>, elle est rousse<\/span>: he or she has red hair. Il est brun<\/span> means he has dark hair. Eyes are bleus<\/span>, verts<\/span>, gris<\/span>, noirs<\/span>, marron<\/span> or noisette<\/span> (hazel), the last two invariable.<\/p>\n\n

        Regional words<\/h3>\n\n

        In France, brown objects are marron<\/span>. In Quebec, brun<\/span> is the everyday word for brown (des souliers bruns<\/span>), and mauve<\/span> is often used where France says violet<\/span>. Accept both from pupils who have learnt them.<\/p>\n\n

        Idioms with colours<\/h2>\n\n
        • voir la vie en rose<\/span>: to see life through rose-tinted glasses<\/li>
        • avoir une peur bleue<\/span>: to be scared stiff<\/li>
        • rire jaune<\/span>: to give a forced laugh<\/li>
        • \u00eatre rouge comme une tomate<\/span>: to be as red as a beetroot<\/li>
        • donner le feu vert<\/span>: to give the green light<\/li>
        • passer une nuit blanche<\/span>: to have a sleepless night<\/li>
        • avoir carte blanche<\/span>: to have a free hand<\/li>
        • broyer du noir<\/span>: to feel gloomy<\/li>
        • avoir la main verte<\/span>: to have green fingers (Quebec: avoir le pouce vert<\/span>)<\/li>
        • \u00eatre dans le rouge<\/span>: to be in the red<\/li><\/ul>\n\n

          Two surprises with bleu<\/span>: un bleu<\/span> is a bruise, and un steak bleu<\/span> is a very rare steak. Les Bleus<\/span> are the French national sports teams.<\/p>\n\n

          Typical mistakes of English-speaking learners<\/h2>\n\n
          • Colour before the noun:<\/strong> “un rouge pull”.<\/li>
          • No agreement:<\/strong> “une robe vert”, “des chaussures noir”.<\/li>
          • Agreement where there is none:<\/strong> “des yeux marrons”, “des baskets oranges”, “des yeux bleus clairs”.<\/li>
          • Irregular forms:<\/strong> “blance” for blanche<\/span>, “violete” for violette<\/span>, “bleux” for bleus<\/span>.<\/li>
          • Gender of the colour itself:<\/strong> “la rouge” for le rouge<\/span>, “le couleur” for la couleur<\/span>.<\/li>
          • Pronunciation:<\/strong> sounding the t of vert<\/span> or the s of gris<\/span> in the masculine; orange<\/span> said as in English.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n

            In class: a colour routine<\/h2>\n\n

            Colours are learnt in a week and forgotten in a term. A two-minute daily routine keeps them alive and turns them into an agreement workout.<\/p>\n\n

            1. Show an object or picture: a pencil case, a pair of trainers, a flag.<\/li>
            2. Ask De quelle couleur est\u2026 ?<\/span> or De quelle couleur sont\u2026 ?<\/span><\/li>
            3. The class answers in a full sentence: La trousse est verte.<\/span><\/li>
            4. Reveal the answer, then swap the noun to force agreement: le cahier<\/span>, la trousse<\/span>, les baskets<\/span>.<\/li>
            5. Hand the questions to a pupil, who chooses the next object in the room.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n

              Games that fit: Jacques a dit<\/span>, the French Simon says (Jacques a dit : touchez quelque chose de rouge<\/span>); flags of French-speaking countries (Le drapeau belge est noir, jaune, rouge.<\/span>); “odd one out” with agreement.<\/p>\n\n

              Adapting to your class<\/h3>\n\n
              • A1<\/b>Name the colour: C’est rouge.<\/span> C’est vert.<\/span><\/li>
              • A2<\/b>Agreement with clothes and school items: Je porte une chemise blanche et un pantalon noir.<\/span><\/li>
              • B1<\/b>Invariable and compound colours: des yeux marron<\/span>, une veste bleu marine<\/span>; describing people<\/li>
              • B2<\/b>Idioms and nuances: J’ai eu une peur bleue.<\/span> J’ai pass\u00e9 une nuit blanche avant l’examen.<\/span><\/li><\/ul>\n\n

                At KS2, colours with a single noun are plenty. At KS3, agreement and the marron<\/span> rule are the real targets. At GCSE, colours come back in descriptions of people, clothes and places.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                Rouge, bleu, vert: the full list, how colours agree, why orange and marron never change, bleu clair, and the idioms pupils love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"menu_order":16,"template":"","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Colours in French: List, Agreement, Idioms | VocaDial","_seopress_titles_desc":"The colours in French with pronunciation, agreement (vert, verte), why it's des yeux marron, light and dark shades, regional words and everyday idioms.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"_vd_topic":"couleurs","_vd_target":"fr","_vd_module":"","_vd_level":"A1","_vd_minutes":"8","_vd_card_word":"rouge\u2026","_vd_answer":"The main colours in French are rouge<\/span> (red), bleu<\/span> (blue), jaune<\/span> (yellow), vert<\/span> (green), orange<\/span> (orange), violet<\/span> (purple), rose<\/span> (pink), blanc<\/span> (white), noir<\/span> (black), gris<\/span> (grey) and marron<\/span> (brown). Colours come after the noun and usually agree with it (une robe verte<\/span>), but colours taken from nouns, such as orange<\/span> and marron<\/span>, never change: des yeux marron<\/span>.","_vd_faq":"[{\"q\":\"What are the colours in French?\",\"a\":\"Rouge<\\\/span> (red), bleu<\\\/span> (blue), jaune<\\\/span> (yellow), vert<\\\/span> (green), orange<\\\/span> (orange), violet<\\\/span> (purple), rose<\\\/span> (pink), blanc<\\\/span> (white), noir<\\\/span> (black), gris<\\\/span> (grey) and marron<\\\/span> (brown).\"},{\"q\":\"Do colours go before or after the noun in French?\",\"a\":\"After: un pull rouge<\\\/span>, une voiture blanche<\\\/span>. They never go before the noun.\"},{\"q\":\"Why is it des yeux marron and not marrons?\",\"a\":\"Because marron<\\\/span> is a noun (a chestnut) used as a colour, and colours taken from nouns stay invariable. The same goes for orange<\\\/span>: des chaussures orange<\\\/span>.\"},{\"q\":\"Does rose agree in French?\",\"a\":\"Yes. Rose<\\\/span> is one of six exceptions that agree although they come from nouns: des fleurs roses<\\\/span>.\"},{\"q\":\"How do you say light blue or dark green in French?\",\"a\":\"Bleu clair<\\\/span> and vert fonc\u00e9<\\\/span>. These compound colours never change: des yeux bleu clair<\\\/span>, une veste vert fonc\u00e9<\\\/span>.\"},{\"q\":\"Is brown marron or brun in French?\",\"a\":\"In France, marron<\\\/span> for objects and eyes, brun<\\\/span> for dark hair. In Quebec, brun<\\\/span> is the usual word for brown in general.\"}]","_vd_key":"couleurs-fr","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-71","vd_ressource","type-vd_ressource","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vocadial.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vd_ressource\/71","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vocadial.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vd_ressource"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vocadial.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/vd_ressource"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vocadial.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vd_ressource\/71\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vocadial.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}