Colors and days of the week are some of the easiest words to master when you’re first learning French. If you know any other romance languages, like Spanish or Italian, you are going to see that the French words for colors and days of the week are very similar.
Colors in French
As you may know already, adjectives in French take on the gender of the word that they are describing. In addition, the color comes after the word that it is describing. For example, if you wanted to say “The purple house”, you would say “La maison violette”. Here you are using the feminine form of purple because “La maison” is feminine.
Another rule in the French language is if the noun that the adjective is describing is plural, the adjective is pural. Therefore, if you wanted to say “the purple houses”, you would say “Des maisons violettes”. Due to this, I will give you the all genders and the plural form of the colors.
| Masculine Singular | Feminine Singular | Masculine Plural | Feminine Plural | |
| Red | Rouge | Rouge | Rouges | Rouges |
| Orange | Orange | Orange | Oranges | Oranges |
| Yellow | Jaune | Jaune | Jaunes | Jaunes |
| Green | Vert | Verte | Verts | Vertes |
| Blue | Bleu | Bleue | Bleus | Bleues |
| Purple | Violet | Violette | Violets | Violettes |
| Pink | Rose | Rose | Roses | Roses |
| Brown | Marron | Marron | Marron | Marron |
| White | Blanc | Blanche | Blancs | Blanches |
| Grey | Gris | Grise | Gris | Grises |
| Black | Noir | Noire | Noirs | Noires |
Here is a helpful video tutorial for how to pronounce some of the most common colors in French.
Days of the Week
The days of the week are much simpler. The days of the week in French are not capitalized, like in English, and all days of the week are masculine. In addition, the American week starts on Sundays, but the French week starts on Monday.
Monday Lundi
Tuesday Mardi
Wednesday Mercredi
Thursday Jeudi
Friday Vendredi
Saturday Samedi
Sunday Dimanche
Need help pronouncing this new vocabulary? Check out the video lesson below.
There are many phrases that one should know relating to the days of the week. These phrases apply to all days of the week, but I will only give you the specific example for Monday.
Monday Lundi
Mondays Les lundis
On Mondays Le lundi
This Monday Ce lundi
Last Monday Lundi dernier
Next Monday Lundi prochain
Monday the 15th Lundi 15
Monday the 15th of January Le lundi 15 janvier
It’s Monday C’est lundi
On Monday evening Lundi soir
Every Monday Tous les lundis
Yesterday Hier
Today Aujourd’hui
Tomorrow Demain
Next day Le lendemain
Day after tomorrow Après-demain
Day before yesterday Avant-hier
These very basic French words can greatly increase your French vocabulary. This is something that you have to learn for every basic French class.
There are many ways to study language; some of the best are group study and flash cards. For everyone, practicing speaking the language with others will help a lot. Working with a French tutor is another great way to make progress in your studies. Have fun studying and bonne chance!
Anna M. is an academic tutor in Tampa, FL. She is currently studying chemistry at the University of South Florida, and she has been tutoring for one year. Learn more about Anna.
Photo by Capture Queen
Suzy S.