Matching Colors to Nouns
Romanian color adjectives sit right after the noun and change to match its gender. Masculine and neuter nouns take the base form, while feminine nouns usually take an -ă ending.
| The green apple and the yellow apple are here. | Mărul verde și mărul galben sunt aici. |
The neuter noun măr (apple) takes the base form galben (yellow). The feminine noun cămașă (shirt) takes the feminine form galbenă.
| She buys the yellow shirt. | Ea cumpără cămașa galbenă. |
The same rule applies to alb (white) and negru (black). Notice how negru changes slightly to become neagră for a feminine noun.
| The car is white, but the TV is black. | Mașina este albă, dar televizorul este negru. |
| The white cat sleeps on the black sofa. | Pisica albă doarme pe canapeaua neagră. |
Invariable Colors
Some borrowed colors are invariable—they never change their endings, regardless of the noun's gender or number. These include gri (gray), maro (brown), and roz (pink).
| I wear the gray jacket and the green t-shirt. | Eu port jacheta gri și tricoul verde. |
| The brown shoe is on my chair. | Pantoful maro este pe scaunul meu. |
| She buys a pink flower and a white flower. | Ea cumpără o floare roz și o floare albă. |
Colors Ending in -iu
For colors ending in -iu, like portocaliu (orange), the feminine form replaces the final u with an e (portocalie).
| The girl has an orange dress. | Fata are o rochie portocalie. |
When talking about "the color" itself, use the feminine noun culoarea. Because the noun is feminine, the color adjective must be feminine too.
| I like the color orange. | Îmi place culoarea portocalie. |
More Color Agreements
Other standard colors follow regular patterns. For example, violet (purple) becomes violetă with feminine nouns, and the feminine form of red (roșu) is roșie.
| The purple notebook is on my desk. | Caietul violet este pe biroul meu. |
| The purple hat is new. | Pălăria violetă este nouă. |
| The red color is beautiful. | Culoarea roșie este frumoasă. |