Colors and Adjectives
Les couleurs
You use colors to describe many things, and you probably have a favorite. Naturally, you will want to know how to describe the color of items in French. Colors are adjectives. Adjectives are words used to describe a noun. In this interactivity, explore many common colors in French. Make sure you practice pronouncing the words out loud along with the narrator. Click the player to begin.
View a printable version of the interactivity.
Adjectifs
Enfin! Now that you have had some time to recognize the names of colors in French, you are going to learn how to describe objects using different nouns. Colors are adjectives, and adjectives describe nouns. You may remember that all nouns have either a masculine or feminine gender. Nouns are also singular or plural. The descriptive adjectives have to agree with the nouns in gender and in number.
To agree with a feminine noun, an adjective will end with “e”. For example, noir would become noire. If the noun is plural, the adjective will end with an “s”. The table below will help you remember what you need to add to the adjective. You will notice that nothing needs to be added to a masculine singular adjective. This is the way all terms are written in Les dictionnaires. Familiarize yourself with how adjectives should end.
| Adjectifs | ||
| Masculin | Féminin | |
| Singular | -e | |
| Plural | -e | -es |
Silent "s"
Remember, when dealing with plural nouns and adjectives, the “s” is silent. A feminine plural noun or adjective will end in “es”, that is also silent. You will not pronounce the sounds in these cases. The table below contains the masculine singular, masculine plural, feminine singular, and feminine plural forms of the color noir. Familiarize yourself with the different pronunciations by repeating each adjective aloud after the speaker. Click each term to hear the pronunciation.
| Adjectifs | ||
| Masculin (m) | Féminin (f) | |
| Singular (s) | noir | noire |
| Plural (p) | noirs | noires |
Pronounce the Consonant
The only time there is a change in pronunciation is when the last letter of the adjective was silent and now it is not. All the “e” or “es” does is let you pronounce the consonant. The table below contains the masculine singular, masculine plural, feminine singular, and feminine plural forms of the color vert. Familiarize yourself with the different pronunciations by repeating each adjective aloud after the speaker. Click each term to hear the pronunciation.
| Adjectifs | ||
| Masculin (m) | Féminin (f) | |
| Singular (s) | vert | verte |
| Plural (p) | verts | vertes |
Already Ends in "e"
Of course, some adjectives already end with the letter “e”. The color red in French is rouge. In the case that an adjective already ends with an “e”, do not add another. The table below contains the masculine singular, masculine plural, feminine singular, and feminine plural forms of the color rouge. Familiarize yourself with the different pronunciations by repeating each adjective aloud after the speaker. Click each term to hear the pronunciation.
| Adjectifs | ||
| Masculin (m) | Féminin (f) | |
| Singular (s) | rouge | rouge |
| Plural (p) | rouges | rouges |
Règles et exceptions avec Adjectifs
- In French, the adjective follows the noun and agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies. A blue chair is written une chaise bleue.
- Some adjectives are invariable, like the colors marron and orange. They will never agree with the noun. These adjectives will not receive an “e” if feminine or an “s” if plural.
- The colors violet and blanc change differently than other adjectives. To agree with feminine nouns, violet becomes violette and blanc becomes blanche. Violet addes a “t” and “e”. Blanc adds a “h” and “e”.
Colors and Adjectives Review
Now that you have studied colors and how they agree with nouns, practice what you have learned. In this non-graded interactivity, select the adjective that agrees with the noun that it is modifying. Click the player to get started.