Hindi color words belong to different morphological classes. काला, नीला, पीला, हरा, भूरा decline; लाल, सफ़ेद, गुलाबी, नारंगी, बैंगनी are normally invariant. The colors perform the same semantic job, but only the first class displays gender, number, and case agreement.
Two lexical classes
| Declinable | Forms | Invariant |
|---|---|---|
| काला black | काला/काले/काली | लाल red |
| नीला blue | नीला/नीले/नीली | सफ़ेद white |
| पीला yellow | पीला/पीले/पीली | गुलाबी pink |
| हरा green | हरा/हरे/हरी | नारंगी orange |
| भूरा brown | भूरा/भूरे/भूरी | बैंगनी purple |
नीली कमीज़ के साथ सफ़ेद जूते अच्छे लगेंगे।
nīlī kamīz ke sāth safed jūte acche lageṅge.
White shoes will look good with the blue shirt.
लाल साड़ी और लाल दुपट्टा दोनों अलमारी में हैं।
lāl sāṛī aur lāl dupaṭṭā donoṃ almārī meṃ haiṃ.
The red sari and red scarf are both in the wardrobe.
The distinction is lexical, not phonological. Ending in a written or spoken -ī does not automatically mean “feminine”: गुलाबी, नारंगी, and बैंगनी have the same form with masculine and feminine heads. Conversely, a citation form in -ā such as नीला or सुनहरा normally participates in the -ā/-e/-ī paradigm.
Four-way agreement and case
| Features | Phrase |
|---|---|
| masculine singular direct | नीला डिब्बा |
| masculine plural direct | नीले डिब्बे |
| masculine singular oblique | नीले डिब्बे में |
| masculine plural oblique | नीले डिब्बों में |
| feminine | नीली पेटी / नीली पेटियों में |
भूरे बैग में हरी फ़ाइल रखी है।
bhūre baig meṃ harī fāil rakhī hai.
A green file is kept in the brown bag.
गुलाबी डिब्बों पर सफ़ेद लेबल लगे हैं।
gulābī ḍibboṃ par safed lebal lage haiṃ.
White labels are attached to the pink boxes.
भूरे shows masculine oblique; हरी feminine agreement. Invariant गुलाबी/सफ़ेद remain fixed.
सुनहरी रोशनी में भूरे पर्दे हल्के लग रहे थे।
sunahrī rośnī meṃ bhūre parde halke lag rahe the.
In the golden light, the brown curtains looked pale.
Here declinable सुनहरा appears as feminine सुनहरी, while भूरा appears as masculine plural भूरे. Predicative हल्के also agrees with पर्दे but describes perceived lightness, not a new color category.
Attributive and predicative color
आसमान आज गहरा नीला है।
āsmān āj gahrā nīlā hai.
The sky is deep blue today.
शाम को दीवारें नारंगी दिखती हैं।
śām ko dīvāreṃ nāraṅgī dikhtī haiṃ.
In the evening, the walls look orange.
Both गहरा and नीला agree with masculine आसमान. Invariant नारंगी does not change with feminine plural दीवारें.
Shade modifiers agree independently: हल्की गुलाबी साड़ी, गहरे लाल पर्दे. The invariant color does not borrow the modifier's ending.
उसने हल्की गुलाबी साड़ी चुनी।
usne halkī gulābī sāṛī cunī.
She chose a light pink sari.
Borrowed and specialist color labels
Many borrowed fashion, paint, and design labels are invariant: मैरून, क्रीम, नेवी ब्लू, ऑलिव ग्रीन. They can modify nouns directly, especially in retail and informal conversation. A speaker may instead add रंग का/की/के, which makes the agreement relation explicit and can sound clearer with an unfamiliar label.
क्या यह नेवी ब्लू जैकेट बड़े साइज़ में मिलेगी?
kyā yah nevī blū jaikeṭ baṛe sāiz meṃ milegī?
Is this navy-blue jacket available in a larger size?
उन्होंने क्रीम रंग के पर्दे चुने।
unhoṃne krīm raṅg ke parde cune.
They chose cream-colored curtains. (respectful)
In the first example, नेवी ब्लू stays fixed with feminine जैकेट. In the second, borrowed क्रीम is embedded under रंग, while के agrees with masculine plural पर्दे. Product catalogs may vary in transliteration, but that spelling variation does not create an agreement paradigm.
Color noun phrases and रंग का
When a color label is unusual or complex, X रंग का/की/के makes the relationship explicit.
मुझे मिट्टी के रंग की चादर चाहिए।
mujhe miṭṭī ke raṅg kī cādar cāhie.
I need an earth-colored sheet.
The color expression remains inside रंग, while की agrees with feminine चादर.
Conventional meanings
Color combinations can become idiomatic: काला धन “unaccounted/black money,” हरी झंडी “approval,” लाल बत्ती “red light.” Agreement remains ordinary.
समिति ने योजना को हरी झंडी दे दी।
samiti ne yojnā ko harī jhaṇḍī de dī.
The committee gave the plan the green light.
Degree is appropriate for shade intensity (बहुत गहरा नीला) but not for converting every color into a scalar evaluation.
Color words can also identify an omitted noun, commonly in a वाला/वाली/वाले phrase. A declinable color agrees with that overt substitute, while an invariant color still stays unchanged.
नीली वाली मेरी है; लाल वाली आपकी है।
nīlī vālī merī hai; lāl vālī āpkī hai.
The blue one is mine; the red one is yours. (respectful)
Here both omitted objects are understood as feminine. नीली and वाली display that gender, whereas लाल cannot change. This is a useful reminder that an unchanged color word may still have a perfectly clear feminine or plural target.
The broader contrast is explained in indeclinable adjectives.
Agreement in a ने-clause
रोहन ने काली टोपी और सफ़ेद कमीज़ ख़रीदीं।
rohan ne kālī ṭopī aur safed kamīz xarīdīṃ.
Rohan bought a black cap and a white shirt.
Declinable काली and invariant सफ़ेद each modify a feminine noun, and plural ख़रीदीं agrees with the coordinated feminine object phrase. The ने-marked agent controls none of these forms.
Common Mistakes
❌ नीला साड़ी महँगी है।
Incorrect—feminine साड़ी requires नीली.
✅ नीली साड़ी महँगी है।
nīlī sāṛī mahãgī hai.
The blue sari is expensive.
❌ लालें किताबें मेज़ पर हैं।
Incorrect—लाल is invariant.
✅ लाल किताबें मेज़ पर हैं।
lāl kitābeṃ mez par haiṃ.
The red books are on the table.
❌ नीला डिब्बे में चाबी है।
Incorrect—में requires masculine oblique नीले डिब्बे में.
✅ नीले डिब्बे में चाबी है।
nīle ḍibbe meṃ cābī hai.
The key is in the blue box.
❌ मीरा ने गुलाबीं चूड़ियाँ ख़रीदीं।
Incorrect—गुलाबी is invariant and does not take a nasalized plural ending.
✅ मीरा ने गुलाबी चूड़ियाँ ख़रीदीं।
mīrā ne gulābī cūṛiyā̃ xarīdīṃ.
Meera bought pink bangles.
Key Takeaways
- Some color adjectives decline; others remain invariant.
- Direct, oblique, attributive, and predicative uses preserve each color's lexical class.
- Shade modifiers and color words each follow their own agreement behavior.
- Idiomatic color meanings do not alter morphology.
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Start learning Hindi →Related Topics
- Declinable adjectives in -āA1 — Form the -ā, -e, and -ī agreement pattern of variable Hindi adjectives across gender, number, case, and predicate position.
- Indeclinable adjectivesA2 — Recognize Hindi adjectives that keep one form across gender, number, case, and attributive or predicative position.
- Multiple adjectives and agreement targetsC1 — Track the local agreement target of each modifier when several Hindi adjectives occur in one noun phrase or clause.
- Attributive adjectivesA2 — Place adjectives inside Hindi noun phrases, normally before the head noun, with the agreement required by the adjective's class.