français · A1 · vocabulary · 4 minutes
Everyday colors
Describe familiar objects while making color words agree.
Understand the choice
Learn colors as adjective families rather than single labels. Bleu, vert, noir, blanc, and gris change visibly with feminine or plural nouns, while jaune already ends in silent -e and marron behaves as an invariable color.
Core rule: Most French color adjectives follow the noun and agree in gender and number; marron normally remains unchanged.
Notice it in context
La tasse rouge est à côté de l’assiette bleue.
The red cup is next to the blue plate.
Rouge has the same written singular form with tasse and masculine nouns; bleue adds -e for feminine assiette.
J’ai un sac noir et des chaussures blanches.
I have a black bag and white shoes.
Noir is masculine singular; blanches is feminine plural and changes blanc to blanch-.
Les portes vertes sont ouvertes.
The green doors are open.
Vertes and ouvertes both agree with feminine plural portes.
What to remember
- Colors ending in -e often share one masculine/feminine singular spelling: rouge, jaune.
- Compound colors such as bleu clair and vert foncé normally remain invariable.
Common trap: Do not add agreement to marron in standard spelling: des chaussures marron, not marronnes.