Salut à tous, hi, everyone. Welcome back to the French Made Easy podcast. This is episode number 13, numéro 13. Thanks for joining me here. Today, we'll talk about the colors in French, "les couleurs en français." 

Remember to download your episode cheat sheet, so you can hear and see how the words are written. 

Are you ready? C'est parti. 

So, there are many good reasons to learn the colors in French.

First, it's practical. Colors are everywhere and allow us to describe a lot of things. So it's basic vocabulary that, as a French beginner, is helpful to study early on.  

But on top of that, knowing that you should pronounce “blanc” and not “blanc” when you are talking about wine will make you at least 5% classier, I can guarantee you that.  😎 

Alright, let's get into it. 

Obviously, there are many different colors, but today we'll concentrate on the basic ones. Repeat after me, répétez après moi. 

• Red is rouge. Rouge.
• Orange is orange. Orange.
• Yellow is jaune. Jaune.
• Green is vert. Vert.
• Blue is bleu. Bleu.
• Purple is violet. Violet.
• Pink is rose. Rose.
• Brown is marron. Marron.
• Black is noir. Noir.
• White is blanc. Blanc.
• Gray is gris. Gris.

Great. Well done. 

Now, just when you thought you were taking a break from grammar, there are actually a few things that I want to add. 😬

Colors are often used as adjectives. They describe a noun. Right? Well, in French, there is a rule saying that the adjective "agrees" with the noun it modifies.  

In simpler words, here, the name of the color might change depending on whether the noun is feminine or masculine, or plural.  If it's masculine, there will be no change. But if it's feminine, some color names will change. And if it's plural? Simple, just add a silent "s" at the end.  ⚠️ 

Let's illustrate this with an example. If I say to you, "a white bag." 

"Bag" is the noun. "White" is the adjective. "A bag" in French is "un sac," and it is a masculine noun. "White," as we've seen before, is "blanc." 

Because the noun "sac" is masculine, the adjective "blanc" stays the same.  "Un sac blanc."

Now, if I say to you "a white dress."

"A dress" in French is "une robe," and it is a feminine noun. "White" is "blanc." But because the noun it describes is feminine, the adjective "blanc" changes and becomes "blanche." "Une robe blanche."

Look, don't worry, I know this isn't easy. And we'll do a full lesson on the adjectives. I don't want to confuse you because this lesson is about colors, but I think that was an important point to make.

So, as I said before, only some of the color names change when describing a feminine noun. Let's see what they are.

• "Green," "vert," becomes "verte." when describing a feminine noun. For example, "Un sac vert." "Une robe verte."
• "Purple," "violet" changes to "violette." For example, "Un sac violet." "Une robe violette."
• "White," "blanc" becomes "blanche." "Un sac blanc." "Une robe blanche." 
• "Grey," "gris" changes to "grise." "Un sac gris." "Une robe grise."
• "Black," "noir" and "blue," "bleu," both have an extra "-e" at the end, but it's silent. And the rest of the colors stay the same. 

Ok, I hope this made sense to you.

Let's do a recap.

• Rouge (red)
• Orange (orange)
• Jaune (yellow)
• Vert and verte (green)
• Bleu(e) (Blue)
• Violet and violette (purple)
• Rose (pink)
• Marron (brown)
• Noir(e) (black)
• Blanc and blanche (white)
• Gris and grise (gray)

Yeah. Well done. You've done it. 👏

Now, I would love it if you could let me know in the comments, over at mathildekien.com, what is your favorite color in French? "quelle est votre couleur préférée?" Mine is blue. Moi c’est le bleu.

And that brings us to the end of our lesson, thank you so much for listening. Don't forget to go to your lesson's exercises by clicking the link in the episode's note. Make sure you hit subscribe, so you don't miss out on any new episodes. And if you are enjoying this podcast, I'd really appreciate a quick rating and review! 

Merci et à bientôt! 👋

⚠️ Except: “marron” & “orange.” (Ex: “des sacs marron”, “des sacs orange.”)