🎧 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
Tap the 🔊 to hear Marie’s audio.
- 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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