Color Your Vocabulary: Spanish Words for Colors

Here you will learn the words for a number of different colors. You will also learn how to form a phrase to describe something in terms of its color. The vocabulary terms are also available for download from the Media Gallery.

By djthyberg

Desk More

Reading time 2 min read

Word count 379

Quick Take

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Intro

Talking about colors is one of the most basic parts of learning any language. All beginning Spanish students will need to learn how to describe things in terms of color. Let’s take a look at the vocabulary list for colors (los colores) :

Los Colores

los colores

rojo - red
amarillo - yellow
marrón - brown
azul - blue
naranja - orange
verde - green
negro - black
blanco - white
morado - purple
plateado - silver
dorado - gold
rosado - pink
beige - beige
granate - maroon
gris - gray

Forming Phrases

When we describe things in terms of color, the colors are no longer nouns, but adjectives. In Spanish, adjectives must always agree with the nouns that they modify in terms of number and gender. That is to say, most plural nouns will require a plural adjective in Spanish. Depending on the nature of the adjective it may have both feminine and masculine forms, or it may be gender neutral. In any case, you will need to use a conjugated form of the verb “ser” (to be) to describe something in terms of color.

Observe the following examples to get a better understanding of this concept:

Es rojo (It’s red)
Son rojos (They are red)
Es verde (It’s green)
Son morados (They are purple)
El bus es amarillo (The bus is yellow)
El cielo es azul (The sky is blue)
Las nubes son negras (The clouds are black)
El vestido es rosado (The dress is pink)
Las monedas son plateadas (The coins are silver)
La casa es blanca (The house is white)
Rojo como sangre (Red as blood)
El césped es siempre más verde al otro lado de la cerca (The grass is always greener on the other side)
Dar la luz verde (To give the green light)
Las rosas son rojas (Roses are red)

Wrap-Up

Don’t be discouraged if the concept of concordance for adjectives and nouns is a little confusing at first. It takes time to master, so look for more articles that can help you with that subject area. Also, don’t forget to look in the Media Gallery for downloads of these vocabulary terms .