Learning French colors is not difficult, since many of the French words for colors are identical to or similar to the English words, having evolved from the same root word form.
Grammar Rules with French Colors
Colors in French are adjectives that go after the noun they are modifying.
Une robe dorée (“A golden robe”)
Les yeux bleu aciers (“Steel blue eyes”)
Remember that when colors are used as adjectives, they need to agree with the gender and number of the noun they are modifying. Notice that the first example above has an extra e on the end, because une robe is feminine, and the second example above has an s on the end since les yeux is plural.
Modifying the Color
- Dark: foncé (for example: vert foncé means “dark green”)
- Light: clair (for example: bleu clair means “light blue”)
- Colors that are halfway between two major colors, such as “red-orange” or “yellow-green” are described in the same way in French (rouge-orange or jaune-vert) and are not listed out separately in the colors list below.
| English | French |
| white | blanc |
| silver | argent |
| beige | beige |
| pink | rose |
| red | rouge |
| orange | orange |
| yellow | jaune |
| green | vert |
| turquoise (blue green) | turquoise |
| cyan | cyan |
| blue | bleu |
| purple | violet |
| mauve | mauve |
| gray | gris |
| black | noir |
| gold | doré |
| brown | marron |
| navy blue | bleu marine |
| fuchsia | fuchsia |
| maroon | bordeaux |
| olive green | vert olive |
| chartreuse | vert chartreuse |
| hot pink | rose fluo |
| tan | fauve |
| lime green | vert citron |
| sky blue | bleu ciel |
| lavender | bleu lavande |
| slate gray | gris ardoise |
| ivory | ivoire |
| off-white | blanc cassé |
| chocolate brown | marron chocolat |
| salmon pink | rose saumon |
| indigo blue | bleu indigo |
| khaki | kaki |
| mint green | menthe à l’eau |
| steel blue | bleu acier |
Next Steps
Colors come up constantly in everyday French, whether you’re shopping, describing someone’s appearance, or talking about art and design. The key grammar point to remember is that color adjectives follow the noun and must agree in gender and number. If you want to keep building your vocabulary, check out our French adjectives lesson for a full explanation of the agreement rules and positioning, or browse our other French vocabulary lists to keep expanding what you know. A daily practice app like Mondly is a good complement to vocabulary lists like this one — its short, image-based sessions reinforce color-noun associations through repeated exposure rather than passive memorization.
