French adjectives of simple colours agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.
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.
Case of brun
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.
See also Adjectives usually go AFTER nouns (adjective position)
Examples and resources
Il y a un rat gris et une souris grise.
There is a grey rat and a grey mouse.
Elle a un sac orange et deux écharpes orange.
She has an orange bag and two orange scarves.
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.
J'ai deux chiens marron et une souris marron.
I've got two brown dogs and one brown mouse.
Elle porte un chapeau rouge et deux boucles d'oreille rouges.
She's wearing a red hat and two red earrings.
J'ai un stylo bleu et une chemise bleue.
I've got a blue pen and a blue shirt.
Avec un drap blanc je fais deux jupes blanches.
With a white sheet I make two white skirts.
Il y a un chat noir sur une chaise noire.
There is a black cat on a black chair.
Daniel a les yeux marron et les cheveux bruns.
Daniel has brown eyes and brown hair.
Loading your KwizQ&A
Chris
Kwiziq community member
2/02/18
Correct observation, "marron" is immutable. Those colors which effectively are the name of other objects don't change. "Orange" is another example. There is a dedicated lesson for this.
-- Chris (not a native speaker).
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
25/01/18
Oops! Merci beaucoup !
J'ai maintenant corrigé cet exemple :)
Bonne journée !
Ron
Kwiziq community member
25/12/17
Bonjour Stuart,
Here is an example from the lesson:
Elle a un sac orange et deux écharpes orange. --> She has an orange bag and two orange scarves.
As can be noticed in the example from the lesson Aurélie has given us, in plural phrases «orange» does NOT change form to agree in quantity, i.e. un sac orange and deux écharpes orange.
If one returns to the lesson and reviews the chart, the color «marron» is another case in point where the spelling does NOT change to agree in quantity.
Chris
Kwiziq community member
25/12/17
There are a number of exceptions to agreeing colors with the noun they refer to.
The most notable one is that colors with the names of real objects (as, e.g., orange, marron etc.) remain unchanged.
Therefore the exception lies not with vêtements but with orange. -- Chris.
Stuart
Kwiziq community member
25/12/17
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
29/12/17
Bonjour Stuart !
Colours orange and marron are indeed specific cases, which are explained in more detail in the following lesson:
However, I do agree that this particularity needed to be highlighted more clearly in the lesson, and thanks to your feedback, I've now updated the lesson to make it clearer :)
Bonne journée !
Ron
Kwiziq community member
13/11/17
The complete table is visible on my PC. Perhaps one of the IT team members for Kwiziq can weigh-in on this.
Bonne chance.
Loren
Kwiziq community member
13/11/17
Yes. I hope they will. Doesn't make much sense to have that table there unless it can be seen.
Amicalement,
Loren
Laura
Kwiziq language super star
13/11/17
Could you please email us a screenshot and info about your device / browser? info@kwiziq.com
Gio
Kwiziq community member
1/01/18
Laura
Kwiziq language super star
1/01/18
Gio
Kwiziq community member
2/01/18
Anetta
Kwiziq community member
22/01/18
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
22/11/16
Thanks for that question: I've now added an explanatory section on this aspect in the core lesson.
Please have a look, and let me know if that's helpful!
Merci et à bientôt !
Aurélie
Kwiziq language super star
28/06/16
Bonjour Radhika !
That's a good question!
It depends which rule you follow regarding adjectives:
- if you consider the adjectives one by one (longs/blonds), therefore you respect their established position: long is always before the noun, and blond after, hence Elle a de longs cheveux blonds.
- if you link these two adjectives with et (and), therefore the rule is to place them after the noun, hence Elle a les cheveux longs et blonds.
In French you can do either, as long as you stay coherent with the rules.
I hope that's helpful!
Jiali
Kwiziq community member
8 February 2018
1 reply
For colours such as 'bleu-vert', how would you agree them?
Chris
Kwiziq community member
9 February 2018
9/02/18
Hi Jiali,
if you use a color composed of two adjectives (such as in the example you give, or, e.g., bleu-clair, brun-foncé, etc.) neither of them changes. So you get off free!
Des chaussures bleu-vert. -- Blue-green shoes (no arguing about taste, please;).
-- Chris (not a native speaker).