Les Couleurs — French colours | Reference
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Colours in French. This list of the colors in French (British: colours) gives you the 12 essential colour words — from rouge (red) to beige (beige) — each with audio and its English translation. Use it to build the French words you need to talk about colours, then test yourself with the games below.
Les Couleurs
French colours
🎬 The 20-second version
5 quick questions on « Les Couleurs » — guess before the reveal. Practise with the free games → Open this short as a page — transcript included →
📘 Colour agreement rules
- Colours are adjectives and agree with the noun: un stylo vert → une robe verte → des robes vertes.
- marron and orange are invariable (they come from nouns): des chaussures marron.
- Compound colours are invariable: des yeux bleu clair, une jupe vert foncé.
- Colours come after the noun: une voiture rouge (not “une rouge voiture”).
- blanc → blanche, violet → violette, blond → blonde: watch the feminine forms.
🇬🇧 Learning French colors: the agreement game
Unlike English, French colors are used as adjectives that live AFTER the noun and — here is the whole game — their form must agree with it: colors come with a masculine, a feminine and plural shapes. Un stylo vert, une robe verte, des chaussures vertes: same hue, three spellings, because french adjectives match the gender and number of what they describe. The singular masculine is the dictionary form; the feminine usually adds -e (the final consonant wakes up in pronunciation — vert/verte), and the plural adds -s.
Then come the rebels, and examiners love them. Colours named after things — orange (the fruit), marron (chestnut), citron (lemon) — never change: des robes orange, no -s, no feminine, because grammatically they are still nouns wearing an adjective’s job. And any colour modified by clair or foncé freezes too: des yeux bleu clair. So while yellow in French (jaune) and the other common colors need to agree, the different colors borrowed from objects sit invariable — two rules that together cover every case, and the reason this corner of everyday french grammar deserves ten focused minutes rather than guesswork.
Culture gives the colours their flavour. The French team IS its colour — Allez les Bleus ! — and les Bleus works for every national squad. The three colors of the flag are bleu-blanc-rouge, always in that order. French love runs deep here: talking about art in a Paris museum, describing wine, naming a lavender field in Provence (la lavande — the plant gave the world a colour). English words borrowed half this palette centuries ago — beige, turquoise, bordeaux — so many hues sound similar to English and cost you nothing to learn; the important french effort goes into the agreement reflex. A tip that works for french for kids and adults alike: describe three things you can see, out loud, right now — « la porte est blanche, le ciel est gris, mes baskets sont noires » — and the way to learn the colors takes care of itself, one described room at a time, until you use the colors without thinking. That habit is how you improve your french with zero flashcards: la couleur du jour, every day.
Colours in French — FAQ
Is it le or la couleur?
« La couleur » — feminine: la couleur rouge, les couleurs vives. « Quelle est ta couleur préférée ? » is the classic first-conversation question.
How do I say “colours” in French?
« Les couleurs » — and the verb is colorier (to colour in) for kids, colorer for everything else.
What are the 20 colors in French?
The core twenty: rouge, bleu, vert, jaune, orange, violet, rose, noir, blanc, gris, marron, beige, turquoise, doré, argenté, bordeaux, corail, lavande, kaki, fuchsia — all with audio in the chart above.
What are the 24 colour names?
Add écru, ocre, pourpre and indigo to the twenty above and you have a painter’s two dozen — more than any conversation needs, but talking about art in French earns style points.
🔊 Useful phrases
🔊 Example sentences
✍️ Practice
red en français ? (colour)
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rouge
green en français ? (colour)
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vert
La couleur du soleil ? (colour)
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jaune
une robe (vert) → une robe ___ (agreement)
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verte
des chaussures (marron) → des chaussures ___ (invariable!)
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marron
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🎯 More practice — vocabulary recall — both directions
How do you say « red »? (recall)
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rouge
What does « bleu » mean? (recall)
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blue
How do you say « green »? (recall)
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vert
What does « jaune » mean? (recall)
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yellow
How do you say « orange »? (recall)
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orange
What does « violet » mean? (recall)
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purple
How do you say « pink »? (recall)
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rose
What does « noir » mean? (recall)
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black
Go further: this chart is one small piece — get the full picture in our guide French for absolute beginners — your first 40 words.
Masculine and feminine forms of the colors in French
French color adjectives (les adjectifs de couleur) come after the noun and agree in gender and number. Here are the masculine, feminine and plural forms of the main colours:
| English | Masculine | Feminine | Plural |
|---|---|---|---|
| red | rouge | rouge | rouges |
| blue | bleu | bleue | bleus / bleues |
| green | vert | verte | verts / vertes |
| black | noir | noire | noirs / noires |
| white | blanc | blanche | blancs / blanches |
| yellow | jaune | jaune | jaunes |
| grey | gris | grise | gris / grises |
| purple | violet | violette | violets / violettes |
| pink | rose | rose | roses |
| brown | marron | marron (invariable) | marron |
| orange | orange | orange (invariable) | orange |
Examples: « un stylo noir » but « une robe noire »; « des chaussures blanches ». Colours named after nouns (orange, marron) are invariable, as are compounds (« une jupe bleu clair »).
French color expressions
- voir la vie en rose — to see life through rose-tinted glasses
- avoir une peur bleue — to be scared stiff (a « blue fear »)
- rire jaune — to give a forced laugh
- être vert de jalousie — to be green with envy
- passer une nuit blanche — to have a sleepless night
- voir rouge — to see red
And yes — the French flag is bleu, blanc, rouge, always in that order. « Colour » itself is feminine: la couleur (« De quelle couleur est… ? » = what colour is…?).
Colours in French — FAQ
What are the colours in French?
For example: red is « rouge », blue is « bleu », green is « vert ». The full list above has 12 French colours words, each with audio so you can hear the pronunciation.
What are the most useful French colours words to learn first?
Start with the basics: rouge (red), bleu (blue), vert (green), jaune (yellow), orange (orange), violet (purple). Master these core French words before moving on to the rest of the list.
Do French colours agree with the noun?
Yes — most colour adjectives agree in gender and number: « une voiture verte », « des chaussures noires ». Exceptions: colours from nouns like orange and marron stay invariable (« des sacs orange »), and compound colours (« bleu clair ») don’t agree either.
How can I memorise the colours in French?
Learn the words in small themed groups, say each one out loud with the audio, and use it in a short sentence about your own life. Spaced repetition is what makes new vocabulary stick — see our guide to learning French vocabulary that sticks.
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