Colors in German
These twelve colors cover most everyday description. German colors take an ending in some positions and not in others, which the note at the end explains.
The basic colors
-
rot
roht
-
red
-
orange
o-RAHNGSH
-
orange
-
gelb
gelp
-
yellow
-
grün
gruun
-
green
-
blau
blow
-
blue
-
lila
LEE-lah
-
purple
Violett is the more formal word
-
rosa
ROH-zah
-
pink
-
braun
brown
-
brown
-
schwarz
shvarts
-
black
-
weiß
vice
-
white
The ß is a sharp s, never a b
-
grau
grow
-
grey
-
türkis
tuur-KEES
-
turquoise
Making a color lighter or darker
-
hellblau
HEL-blow
-
light blue
hell, light, joins onto the front
-
dunkelblau
DOON-kel-blow
-
dark blue
dunkel, dark, works the same way
-
hellgrün
HEL-gruun
-
light green
-
dunkelrot
DOON-kel-roht
-
dark red
When a German color takes an ending
After the verb, the color never changes: Das Auto ist rot. The car is red.
In front of a noun, it takes an ending that agrees with the noun: ein rotes Auto, die rote Tür, der rote Stuhl.
Three colors refuse to play along. Lila, rosa and orange stay as they are in careful German, so it is ein lila Kleid, not ein lilanes Kleid.
- Der Himmel ist blau.The sky is blue.
- Ich habe ein blaues Fahrrad.I have a blue bike.
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