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 Color Vocabulary List | |
| 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 a l’eau |
| steel blue | bleu acier |
