Colours

The colour words

You met rot with werden in the last lesson. Here is the rest of the set.

colourcolour
rotredbraunbrown
blaubluegraugrey
grüngreenweißwhite
gelbyellowrosapink
orangeorangelilapurple

The noun for colour itself, die Farbe, you already have from L39.

The car is blue.
Das Auto ist blau.

Keep them after the verb for now

German adjectives take endings when they stand IN FRONT of a noun — ein *blaues Auto — and that machinery comes later. After *sein or werden they take no ending at all, which is where every sentence in this lesson puts them.

Das Auto ist blau. — The car is blue. Die Blume wird gelb. — The flower is turning yellow.

Two that never change

rosa and lila are the odd pair: they came into German from other languages and they take no endings ever, not even in front of a noun. ein rosa Kleid, die lila Blume. Every other colour here behaves normally.

She is buying a pink dress.
Sie kauft ein rosa Kleid.

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