In Arabic, colors and certain physical descriptions do not behave like standard adjectives. Instead of simply adding a ة to make a word feminine, these adjectives use a fixed pattern based on their root consonants.
The Pattern for Colors
Adjectives for colors follow the pattern أفعل for the masculine singular and فعلاء for the feminine singular. Notice that the masculine form always begins with the letter أ, while the feminine form ends with اء.
Here are the six basic colors using this pattern:
| Masculine (أفعل) | Feminine (فعلاء) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| أحمر | حمراء | Red |
| أزرق | زرقاء | Blue |
| أخضر | خضراء | Green |
| أسود | سوداء | Black |
| أبيض | بيضاء | White |
| أصفر | صفراء | Yellow |
These words function exactly like normal adjectives: they follow the noun they modify, and they must agree with that noun in gender and definiteness.
| The red pen is on the table. | القلم الأحمر على الطاولة.al-qalamu al-ahmaru 'alâ at-tâwilati |
| This is a red car. | هذه سيارة حمراء.hâdhihi sayyâratun hamrâ'u |
| The sea is very blue today. | البحر أزرق جدا اليوم.al-bahru azraqu jiddan al-yawma |
| I see a beautiful blue sky. | أرى سماء زرقاء جميلة.arâ samâ'an zarqâ'a jamîlatan |
| Do you have a white house? | هل عندك بيت أبيض؟hal 'indaka baytun abyadu? |
| The yellow flower is in the garden. | الزهرة الصفراء في الحديقة.az-zahratu as-safrâ'u fil-hadîqati |
Physical Traits
This same grammatical pattern applies to words describing inherent physical traits, such as skin complexion and hair color.
For example, the adjective for "dark-skinned" is أسمر for masculine and سمراء for feminine. Similarly, "blonde" is أشقر for masculine and شقراء for feminine.
When describing a person's features, remember that the adjective must match the gender of the specific body part being described, not necessarily the gender of the person overall. For example, the words for "face" (وجه) and "hair" (شعر) are both masculine, so they always take the masculine أفعل pattern.
| My new colleague is a dark-skinned young man. | زميلي الجديد شاب أسمر.zamîlî al-jadîdu shâbbun asmaru. |
| The dark-skinned girl is playing with the dog. | البنت السمراء تلعب مع الكلب.al-bintu as-samrâ'u tal'abu ma'a al-kalbi |
| The child has a beautiful face and blonde hair. | الطفل عنده وجه جميل وشعر أشقر.at-tiflu 'indahu wajhun jamîlun wa sha'run ashqaru |
| The blonde woman is an intelligent doctor. | المرأة الشقراء طبيبة ذكية.al-mar'atu ash-shaqrâ'u tabîbatun dhakiyyatun |
