Colour descriptions change according to gender and number (French Colour Adjectives)

Written by Qualified French Expert Aurélie Drouard HKH, Licence d'anglais LLCE

Last updated: 2023-12-04

French adjectives of simple colours agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.

Adjectives of colours in French

Here is the full agreement table:

Masculine Singular	Feminine Singular	Masculine Plural	Feminine Plural	English
rouge	rouge	rouges	rouges	red
jaune	jaune	jaunes	jaunes	yellow
rose	rose	roses	roses	pink
bleu	bleue	bleus	bleues	blue
vert	verte	verts	vertes	green
gris	grise	gris	grises	grey
noir	noire	noirs	noires	black
violet	violette	violets	violettes	purple
blanc	blanche	blancs	blanches	white
brun	brune	bruns	brunes	dark brown
orange	orange	orange	orange	orange
marron	marron	marron	marron	brown

Note that colours ending in mute -e, such as jaune (yellow), rose (pink), rouge (red) and orange remain the same in the feminine.

ATTENTION:

J'ai deux chiens marron et une souris marron.I've got two brown dogs and one brown mouse.

Elle a un sac orange et deux écharpes orange.She has an orange bag and two orange scarves.

Colours marron (brown/chestnut) and orange (orange) never change in any form, plural and/or feminine.

See the more advanced lesson Compound colour names and colour names derived from things are invariable (French Colour Adjectives)

Case of brun

Daniel a les yeux marron et les cheveux bruns.Daniel has brown eyes and brown hair.

The colour brun is defined as a dark red going on black (Dictionnaire de l'Académie française).
In colloquial French, brun will mostly be used to describe hair, skin (as in tanned skin), or fur.
In other cases, we will use marron.

Here are examples to listen to:

J'ai un stylo bleu et une chemise bleue.I've got a blue pen and a blue shirt.

Avec deux crayons violets elle dessine une robe violette.With two purple pencils she draws a purple dress.

Sur un arbre vert grimpe une souris verte.On a green tree climbs a green mouse.

Je dessine un nuage rose et une panthère rose.I'm drawing a pink cloud and a pink panther.

Je vois un soleil jaune et une fleur jaune.I see a yellow sun and a yellow flower.

Avec un drap blanc je fais deux jupes blanches.With a white sheet I make two white skirts.

Elle porte un chapeau rouge et deux boucles d'oreille rouges.She's wearing a red hat and two red earrings.

Il y a un chat noir sur une chaise noire.There is a black cat on a black chair.

Il y a un rat gris et une souris grise.There is a grey rat and a grey mouse.

Want to make sure your French sounds confident? We’ll map your knowledge and give you free lessons to focus on your gaps and mistakes. Start your Braimap today »

Learn more about these related French grammar topics

Examples and resources