In this article we will look at the primary colors, there are 11 of them, without shades and additional colors. Colors are classified as adjectives and have all the grammatical features of adjectives. In particular, colors in French vary according to gender and number and agree in gender and number with the nouns to which they refer.
Names of flowers in French
Feminine colors and shapes chart:
| Color | Masculine | Feminine |
| Black | noir | noire |
| White | blanc | blanche |
| Red | rouge | rouge |
| Yellow | jaune | jaune |
| Green | vert | verte |
| Orange | orange | orange |
| Blue, light blue | bleu | blue |
| Violet | violet | violette |
| Pink | rose | rose |
| Grey | gris | grise |
| Brown | marron | marron |
Grammatical features
Genus
- By general rule The feminine gender of adjectives, in particular flowers, in French is formed by adding “e” to the masculine form. For example, noir -noire. In this case, the unpronounceable final sound is influenced by e at the end, becomes pronounced: ver t-vert e– read as “ve” R" - "ve rt».
- If the masculine form already has the ending “e”, then the feminine form remains unchanged. For example, jaune –jaune.
- Some colors have special shape in the feminine gender. For example, blancblanche.
- Marron– brown in French has the same form in the masculine and feminine.
Number
- As a general rule, the plural of adjectives is formed by adding an ending to the masculine or feminine form (we agree with the noun in both gender and number) « s". For example, rouge – rouge s, vert – vert s(plural masculine), verte – verte s(plural feminine). I will cover the full rules for forming the plural of adjectives in a separate article. Please note that the plural ending s does not affect pronunciation in any way. For example, vert – vert s– – – wer – wer , verte – verte s– – – vert – vert.
- If in singular form we have s at the end, then there is no need to add another s. For example – gri s– gri s, but gris e– grise s.
- Colors orange And marron have an invariable form in both singular and plural, since these flower names come from nouns. Orange - orange, marron - chestnut. For the same reason, these adjectives do not change by gender.
Practice exercise
Translate into French:
Black shirt, white jackets, red flower, yellow sun, green glasses, orange carrots, blue whale, purple scarf, pink shoes, gray cloud, brown tables, white snow, yellow houses, green books, purple socks, brown closet.
For example, French fear is blue, hope and envy are green, and the Russian “white crow” has generally turned into a “black sheep”….
Black/Noir
Coco Chanel rehabilitated the color black, previously associated with mourning, by giving the world her little black dress. Both Russians and French associate black caviar and black Mercedes with luxurious life, however, the French language has retained a negative attitude towards black: marché noir(black market); travail au noir– lit. “to work in the dark, in the dark” to work illegally.
Il me regarde d'un œil noir(lit. “looks with a black eye”) - if someone is angry and casts withering glances. Il voit tout en noir, il a des ideas noires- about someone who is depressed. Le mouton noir(“black ram”) - a person who stands out greatly among others, a white crow in Russian.
The idiom deserves special attention les pieds noirs. The writer A. Camus, the philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy, and the singer P. Bruel belong to this “caste”. This offensive expression arose after the decolonization of Algeria in the second half of the 50s. 20th century, when the French who lived in the colonies poured back to their historical homeland. Later, people from Morocco and Tunisia also began to be called “Blackfoot”.
White/Blanc
White is not only the color of innocence and purity, but also a symbol of coldness and emptiness.
Il est blanc comme neige (white like snow)– we can say about a crystal-honest politician with an unblemished reputation, who cannot be accused, for example, of money laundering: blanchir de l'argent(On l'accuse d'avoir blanchi de l'argent).
Donner carte blanche– Provide carte blanche / complete freedom of action. Nowadays, carte blanche is a name given to a signed bank check without specifying the amount, but in general this word comes from military jargon - the surrendering enemy handed the winner a blank sheet, as a symbol of unconditional surrender, into which the latter entered his conditions. A few more popular expressions associated with the color white:
- J'ai passé une nuit blanche– I spent a sleepless night, didn’t sleep a wink;
- Elle a vote blanc aux dernières élections – leave the ballot paper blank;
- Il m'a dit d'une voix blanche qu’il avait tué sa femme – silent, dull voice;
- L'arme blanche- steel arms. Why our cold the weapon suddenly became white? According to one version, in Old French Blanc also had the meaning “brilliant, sparkling” - like the blade of a new sharp blade or saber;
- C "est bonnet blanc et blanc bonnet (lit. “Here is a white cap, but here is a white cap”)– we are talking about two actually identical things: the same eggs, only in profile;
- C'est ecrit noir sur blanc!– it’s written in black and white!
Blue/light blue/Bleu
- Bleu- this is what they call a recruit, a “new guy,” in the French army (has nothing to do with sexual orientation!);
- Un bas-bleu– blue stocking;
- Le sang bleu- blue blood; the expression came from medieval Spain, where aristocrats, unlike ordinary people, had the opportunity to hide from the sun in their luxurious palaces; their skin was so pale that their veins showed through, giving a bluish tint;
- fleur bleue- naive sentimental fool/fool, sissy (Elle est vraiment fleur bleue!) Initially, blue was considered the color of romantics, a symbol of a beautiful but unattainable dream ( blue dream, blue bird). But soon romanticism went out of fashion.
Strong fear for the French is colored by Blue colour: J'ai eu une peur bleue – my soul has sunk into my heels.
Finally, something to note for regulars of French restaurants: un steak bleu- this is a steak that has been lying in a frying pan for a COUPLE OF SECONDS. A rare steak is called un steak saignant. If in a restaurant you do not specify the method of frying the meat, in most cases you risk getting your meat raw (the French eat meat with blood).
Green/Vert
A very ambiguous color. On the one hand, it is a symbol of hope and youth, on the other, envy. First of all, associated with nature and ecology: Tu as la main verte- the French will say about an experienced gardener or summer resident who has reaped a rich harvest; Je vais me mettre au vert dans ma maison de campagne – go to nature, penser vert– take care of the environment.
The French also turn green with envy at the sight of someone else's success: Quand il voit ma superbe voiture, il est vert de jalousie. By the way, they also turn green with rage: vert de rage.
Thanks to the rules traffic, green began to mean permission: avoir le feu vert– get permission for something (literally “green light”); Il a composition le numéro vert– not a Greenpeace number at all, but just a free hotline.
Red/Rouge
Unlike Russian, in which red was also associated with beauty (previously red), and with wealth, the French language red was interpreted differently. Red is primarily the color of danger, prohibition: carton rouge– a red card is received by a disqualified football player. Votre compte en banque est dans le rouge if you are denied a loan.
Il etait rouge de honte– he blushed with shame.
Finally, in the aquariums of the French it is not goldfish that swim at all, but red ones: un poisson rouge.
Pink/Rose
Voir la vie en rose- see life in pink color, wearing rose-colored glasses - such persons irritate the French extremely, and they often repeat Ce n'est pas rose tous les jours, la vie est dure!
Grey/Gris
Une eminence grise(lit. “gray eminence”) - the gray eminence - as is known, this was the name of Richelieu, who had a very great influence on French politics.
Gray is traditionally considered a “nothing” color – banal, boring: Faire grise mine- make a sour face, mener une vie grise- to lead a gray life - to live the life of an ordinary person. Although the French claim that there is no arguing about tastes and colors ( des goûts et des couleurs on ne discute pas). Indeed, no matter what color you choose, the main thing is that your life remains joyful and bright!
Raspopova Olga
We consider the names of popular and beautiful flowers: flowers in English, flowers in German and flowers in French. Each culture has left its mark and it will be interesting for us to expand our horizons.
Flowers in English:
English is the language of international communication and modern conditions its knowledge is necessary for every civilized young man.
Flowers in English sound familiar and often the names of flowers in Russian are identical to English words.
Since most flowers came to us from Europe, we adopted their English or Latin names. Below are the most common flowers in English.
It will be useful for every modern person who wants to see the world to know the English names of flowers.
Flowers in German
German is one of the most popular European languages, characterized by a firm and slightly rough pronunciation. Flowers in German sound a little unusual to our ears, but you can remember them if you want.
For example, a cornflower, lily of the valley or snowdrop flower does not sound so cute, but rather stern and dry. But in general, flowers in German often display Latin names, as in other languages.
Flowers in French
The French language is strongly associated with the unique sound and special pronunciation of the letter “R”. Flowers in French largely repeat their Latin names, but there are also original words.
Flower lily of the valley, poppy, snowdrop, chamomile sounds truly French. It will be a great pleasure to learn how to pronounce them correctly and skillfully insert them into conversations with knowledgeable people.
Flowers in French somehow especially charm and attract attention.
- We hope that you have discovered something new and will be able to name several flower names in English, German and French, and the knowledge gained will definitely be useful to you!
Popular flowers in English, German or French - this is the knowledge everyone needs.
ADDITIONS TO THE ARTICLE:
We wish you to continue self-development and enjoy new knowledge!
Colors are all around us, so we need to know their names if we want to communicate fluently in French. What colors are there in French? First of all, you need to remember the basic French colors:
bleu, bleue – blue
rouge – red
blanc, blanche – white
jaune – yellow
vert, verte – green
noir, noire – black
gris, grise – gray
rose – pink
orange – orange
beige - beige
marron – chestnut, brown
As you can see, in some cases two forms are indicated: for the masculine and for the feminine. If one form is specified, then the word has the same form for both genders. It should also be noted that in the French language there is no such separate concept as the color “blue”; the French use the same word “bleu” for both blue and light blue. Why then does it turn out that the French distinguish fewer colors than we? Actually, no, there are probably even more colors in French. Many colors are formed by combining two words. For example, "vert pomme", "jaune doré", "brou de noix", "bleu ciel", etc. If we want to say “light blue” or “dark red”, that is, to clarify the shade of meaning, very often in French the words “clair” and “foncé” are added: bleu clair, bleu foncé.
Colors are very interesting topic in French. There are many set expressions specifically with the names of the colors. Let's look at some of them:
bleu
l’ heure bleue – the pre-dawn hour
la colère bleue – rage, anger
la peur bleue - terrible fear
le voyage dans le bleu – head in the clouds, dreams
n’y voir que du bleu - don’t understand anything here
rouge
le poisson rouge – goldfish
rouge comme un coq (un coquelicot, une pivoine) – red like a poppy, like a lobster
passer au rouge - pass through a red light
être au rouge – to be in a difficult or dangerous situation
le rouge à lèvres – lipstick
blanc
les cheveux blancs – gray hair
être blanc – to be pale, to look bad
s’en tirer blanc comme neige – get away with it unscathed
le mariage blanc – a fictitious marriage
jaune
rire jaune - to laugh artificially, to laugh through tears
vert
le vin vert – young wine
le temps vert – damp, rainy weather
avoir les doigts verts – to be a skilled gardener
employer le vert et le sec – use all means
se mettre au vert – go out of town for a vacation, into nature
il fait noir comme dans un four - so dark that you could poke out your eyes
l'humeur noire - gloomy mood; black melancholy
faire un tableau noir de qch – to present something in a gloomy light
rose
tout n’est pas rose – unpleasant
gris
il fait gris - cloudy
faire grise mine à qn – to meet someone with a sour face
être gris - tipsy
I think you learned a lot useful information, which you can then apply in learning French or communicating with French-speaking people. See you again!
Colors in French are a topic without which it is impossible to imagine full-fledged communication. Colors surround us everywhere, so you just need to know the names of colors in French in order to be able to describe and characterize the surrounding objects.
Colors in French: easy and simple!
Let's name all the primary colors in French:
- Rouge – red
- Bleu – blue
- Jaune – yellow
- Vert – green
- Marron – brown
- Brun - brown
- Rose – pink
- Orange - orange
- Turquoise – turquoise
- Violet – purple
- Bordeau – burgundy
- Gris – gray
- Blanc – white
- Noir – black
Basic colors in French Now the shades:
- Bleu ciel – sky blue
- Bleu marine – sea wave color
- Fushia – fuchsia
- Crème - creamy
- Lilas – lilac
- Jaune doré – golden
- Indigo - indigo
- Noisette – nutty
- Choco – chocolate
- Kaki – khaki color
- Azur – azure
- Pourpre - purple
- Saumon – salmon color
- Corail – coral
If we want to emphasize a dark or light shade of color, then we use the words foncé and clair:
- Bleu foncé, bleu clair – Dark blue, light blue
- Rouge foncé, rouge clair – dark red, light red
- Vert foncé, vert clair – dark green, light green
If we want to say “bluish, reddish”, etc., then we use the name of the color + the suffix -âtre:
- Bleuâtre
- Rougeâtre
- Verdâtre
- Jaunâtre
Grammatical features of colors
If you use colors in speech, then remember to coordinate them with other parts of speech in gender and number. After all, adjectives denoting color agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to.
To express the feminine gender, the ending -e is added to the color, for the plural -s, for the feminine plural the ending -es is added:
- Un crayon vert – des crayons verts – green pencil, green pencils
- une feuille verte - des feuilles vertes – green leaf, green leaves (feuille - feminine)
If adjectives in the masculine gender end in -e, they do not change in the feminine gender:
- jaune - jaune – yellow
Some adjectives have special feminine forms:
- violet - violette – violet, violet
- blanc - blanche – white, white
- roux - rousse – red, red-haired
But there are also exceptions. For example, if a noun is used to denote color (names of flowers, fruits, vegetables, drinks, precious stones, etc.), then it does not change in gender or number:
- des chaussures marron - brown boots
- des vêtements orange - orange clothes
And a few more flowers... The nouns écarlate, fauve, incarnat, mauve, pourpre, rose, vermeil agree like adjectives:
- des robes roses - pink dresses
If the color name consists of several words, then none of them changes:
- des robes bleu foncé - dark blue dresses
- des yeux bleu mer - sea green eyes
Hyphen between words
A hyphen is placed between words that denote colors if each of these words expresses its own, separate color (and not just one color):
- le crayon bleu -rouge - blue-red pencil
There are two ways to indicate color in a speech or sentence:
- An adjective that expresses color is preceded by a masculine definite article: le bleu - blue color.
In this case, the adjective becomes a noun and can change in number, i.e. put in the plural:
- Lesoranges clairs et les ocres chaleureux rendent cette pièce accueillante. -Light orange and warm ocher tones make this room welcoming.
- the phrase la couleur + an adjective denoting a color in the feminine gender: la couleur verte - green.
And now, dear readers, pay attention to a small poem that will help you quickly remember the most basic colors of the French language:
Les crayons de couleurs
Le vert pour les pommes et les prairies.
Le jaune pour le soleil et les canaris.
Le Rouge pour les fraises et le feu.
Le noir pour la nuit et les corbeaux.
Le gris pour les ânes et les nuages.
Le bleu pour la mer et le ciel.
Et toutes les couleurs pour colorer le monde.
