Colors in Dutch
Dutch colours are simple words with one grammar rule attached: most of them grow an -e in front of a noun, and the exception depends on whether the noun takes de or het.
The basic colors
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rood
roht
-
red
-
oranje
oh-RAHN-yuh
-
orange
Also the national colour
-
geel
khayl
-
yellow
-
groen
khroon
-
green
-
blauw
blow
-
blue
-
paars
pahrs
-
purple
-
roze
ROH-zuh
-
pink
-
bruin
broyn
-
brown
-
zwart
zvart
-
black
-
wit
vit
-
white
-
grijs
khrays
-
grey
-
beige
BEH-zhuh
-
beige
Lighter and darker
-
lichtblauw
LIKHT-blow
-
light blue
-
donkerblauw
DON-kur-blow
-
dark blue
-
lichtgroen
LIKHT-khroon
-
light green
-
donkerrood
DON-kur-roht
-
dark red
When a colour takes an -e
After the verb, the colour never changes: De auto is rood. The car is red.
In front of a noun it usually adds -e: de rode auto, het rode huis, een rode auto.
The one exception is a het-word with een in front of it. There the -e disappears: een rood huis, not een rode huis.
So the rule is really about the article, not the colour. Learning nouns with their de or het is what makes this automatic.
Colours already ending in -e, like oranje, roze and beige, never change.
- de rode autothe red car
- een rood huisa red house
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