Page last updated at:
13:57 BST, Saturday, 16 May 2009
Men struggle with colour. It's no secret. Magneta and saffron are alien terms we loosely associate with display cushions and curtains. When asked if we'd prefer the living room midnight or carolina blue, our default 16 colour 600x800 brain boxes usually freeze, or - on rare occasions - revert to safe mode, output an adequate response and live to see another IKEA catalogue... À tout les gars, 16 couleurs est suffit!
Colours | Les Couleurs
| English | French | |
| blue | bleu (m) / bleue (f) | |
| red | rouge | |
| yellow | jaune | |
| orange | orange | |
| green | vert (m) / verte (f) | |
| purple | violet (m) / violette (f) | |
| pink | rose | |
| brown | marron | |
| black | noir (m) / noire (f) | |
| grey | gris (m) / grise (f) | |
| white |
| blanc (m) / blanche (f) |
| silver | couleur argent | |
| gold | couleur or |
Nuances of Colours | Nuances de couleurs
| light blue | blue clair | |
| dark blue | blue foncé |
Notes | Des Notes
-
Colours in French must agree with the gender of the noun they describe. But, when using modifiers - like light (clair) or dark
(foncé) - they don't i.e. une valise blue foncé, une chemise violet clair etc.
-
If you're struggling to describe the colour of something to a French friend's mother, par example, just say it's a mix between two colours:
"ah, oui madame, c'est un mélange entre le rouge et l'orange."
- The plurals of French colours are pronounced exactly like the singular ones - just add an (s) when diligently jotting down.
