Talking About Colours
2.5.1. The Main Idea
In French, colours are adjectives. This means they can describe people, places, and things.
Le sac est rouge. | The bag is red. |
La table est blanche. | The table is white. |
Le livre est bleu. | The book is blue. |
La voiture est noire. | The car is black. |
Because colours are adjectives, many of them change form depending on whether the noun is masculine or feminine.
2.5.2. Asking About Colour
De quelle couleur est-ce ? | What colour is it? |
Câest de quelle couleur ? | What colour is it? more casual |
Le sac est de quelle couleur ? | What colour is the bag? |
La table est de quelle couleur ? | What colour is the table? |
2.5.3. Main Answer Pattern
Câest ___ . | It is ___ . |
Câest rouge. | It is red. |
Câest bleu. | It is blue. |
Câest noir. | It is black. |
Câest blanc. | It is white. |
2.5.4. Colour Agreement
Some colours change in the feminine form.
Masculine | Feminine |
bleu | bleue |
noir | noire |
blanc | blanche |
vert | verte |
gris | grise |
2.5.5. Examples with Masculine Nouns
Le sac est noir. | The bag is black. |
Le livre est bleu. | The book is blue. |
Le stylo est vert. | The pen is green. |
Le cahier est blanc. | The notebook is white. |
Le crayon est gris. | The pencil is grey. |
2.5.6. Examples with Feminine Nouns
La table est noire. | The table is black. |
La chaise est bleue. | The chair is blue. |
La règle est verte. | The ruler is green. |
La gomme est blanche. | The eraser is white. |
La maison est grise. | The house is grey. |
2.5.7. Colours That Do Not Change Much
Some colours stay the same in masculine and feminine forms.
rouge | red |
jaune | yellow |
rose | pink |
orange | orange |
marron | brown |
2.5.8. Common Colours
rouge | red |
bleu | blue, masculine |
bleue | blue, feminine |
noir | black, masculine |
noire | black, feminine |
blanc | white, masculine |
blanche | white, feminine |
vert | green, masculine |
verte | green, feminine |
gris | grey, masculine |
grise | grey, feminine |
jaune | yellow |
rose | pink |
orange | orange |
marron | brown |
violet | purple, masculine |
violette | purple, feminine |
2.5.9. Word Order
In French, colour adjectives usually come after the noun.
un sac noir | a black bag |
une table noire | a black table |
un livre bleu | a blue book |
une chaise bleue | a blue chair |
un stylo vert | a green pen |
une règle verte | a green ruler |
2.5.10. Core Patterns
Câest ___ . | It is ___ . |
Le sac est ___ . | The bag is ___ . |
La table est ___ . | The table is ___ . |
De quelle couleur est-ce ? | What colour is it? |
Câest de quelle couleur ? | What colour is it? |
2.5.11. Practice
It is red. |
The book is blue. |
The chair is blue. |
The bag is black. |
The table is black. |
A green pen |
A green ruler |
A white notebook |
A white eraser |
2.5.12. Answers
It is red. | Câest rouge. |
The book is blue. | Le livre est bleu. |
The chair is blue. | La chaise est bleue. |
The bag is black. | Le sac est noir. |
The table is black. | La table est noire. |
A green pen | Un stylo vert |
A green ruler | Une règle verte |
A white notebook | Un cahier blanc |
A white eraser | Une gomme blanche |
2.5.13. Short Dialogue
A : Le sac est de quelle couleur ? | A: What colour is the bag? |
B : Le sac est noir. Et la table ? | B: The bag is black. And the table? |
A : La table est blanche. | A: The table is white. |
B : Très bien ! | B: Very good! |
2.5.14. Checkpoint
By the end of this lesson, you should be able to name common colours, ask what colour something is, describe objects with colour adjectives, and recognize basic masculine and feminine colour forms.
2.5.15. Try It Out
Try saying this in French:
What colour is it?
It is blue.
Possible answer:
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