Say the Colors in Spanish
The word "color" is spelled the same in Spanish as it is in English, but is pronounced differently (co-LOR, plural "colores" or coh-LOR-ays). If you're just learning how to speak Spanish, words for basic colors may be some of the first words you learn. Consider labeling colored objects around your home with the Spanish word for the color so you can learn them more quickly.
Contents
Steps
Learning Basic Color Words
- Say rojo, pronounced roh-hoh. The word rojo is Spanish for the color red. To pronounce this word correctly, you must roll the "r." Learning how to roll the "r" can be difficult, especially if your first language is English.
- One way to get better with the rolled "r" is to say the word "butter" over and over again very quickly. Your tongue is in the same position when making the "tt" sound as it is when you make a rolled "r" sound correctly.
- You also can start with an "l" sound, which puts your tongue in the right position. Try to gradually morph it into a rolled "r."
- Use naranja or anaranjado to say "orange" in Spanish. There are two different words in Spanish for "orange" – naranja, pronounced nah-RAHN-hah, and anaranjado, pronounced ah-NAH-rahn-HAH-doh.
- Typically, the word naranja is used to refer to the fruit, while anaranjado is used to refer to the color. While Spanish speakers may talk about the color orange using the word naranja, the word anaranjado would never be used to refer to the fruit – although perhaps you could speak of having an "una naranja anaranjada," or an orange-colored orange.
- Pronounce amarillo ah-mah-REE-yo to describe something yellow. You may be familiar with the city of Amarillo in Texas, but the city's name is given the English pronunciation. You may have to practice this one more to train your brain to produce the correct pronunciation.
- Other shades of yellow have different words in Spanish. For example, you might use the word limón (lee-MOHN), Spanish for "lemon," to describe a lemony-colored object, or dorado (doh-RAH-doh) for something that is gold-colored.
- Use "verde" to talk about something that is green. The Spanish word for the color green is pronounced BIR-day. Remember that in Spanish, the letter "v" always makes a "b" sound, similar to the English words "bike" or "belt," although you don't close your lips completely as you would for an English "b."
- There are several shades of green that have a compound word to describe them. For example, lime green in Spanish is verde lima (BIR-day LEE-mah) and apple green is verde manzana (BIR-day man-ZAHN-ah).
- Say azul, pronounced AH-sool, to describe something blue. You may be familiar with the English word "azure," which is typically used to describe a particular shade of blue in the sky. The Spanish word "azul" is related.
- Once you've learned azul, you may find it useful to learn words for different shades of blue. For example, in Spanish the word celeste (say-LAYSS-tay) is used to describe something that is sky blue, or baby blue.
- Use the words morado or violeta to describe something purple. Purple in Spanish typically is translated as "morado," which is pronounced moh-RAH-doh. The "r" is not rolled in this word. Violeta is pronounced vee-oh-LAY-tah.
- The Spanish language also has another word for purple, púrpura (POOR-poor-ah).
- These words may be used specifically to refer to different shades, depending on personal preference, or they may be used interchangeably by some Spanish speakers.
- Choose marrón or café to describe something brown. The Spanish language has two words that are typically used to say that something is brown, although they typically refer to different shades of brown.
- Marrón, pronounced mah-RROHN, is typically used to describe something of a lighter brown, chestnut color. Remember to roll the "r" on this word. Café, pronounced the same as the word in English, is used to describe darker brown shades.
- You also can use words for types of wood to describe something as brown.
- Describe something as having a black color by saying it is negro. The Spanish word for "black" is pronounced "NAY-grow." Be careful not to pronounce this word the same as the English word with the same spelling.
- Gray is considered a shade of black, although you wouldn't say something was "light black," so you need to learn the word for "gray" in Spanish. Say gris, which is pronounced "GREESS."
- Use the word "blanco" to talk about something that is white. While white isn't necessarily a color, it still is considered a color description since it describes the absence of color. The Spanish word for "white" is pronounced BLAHN-koh.
- There technically are shades of white, such as cream, which in Spanish is crema, pronounced CRAY-mah, or beige, which is spelled and pronounced the same in Spanish as it is in English.
Learning Other Color Words
- Follow the color word with the word oscuro. If you want to say in Spanish that something is a darker, richer shade of a basic color, you can do this by saying oscuro immediately afterward. Keep in mind that this word should be after the color, not before, as it would be in English.
- For example, if you wanted to say something was dark green, you could say verde oscuro, pronounced BIR-day oh-SCOO-roh.
- Some darker shades have their own words. For example, navy blue in Spanish is azul marino. However, until you've learned these various words you can just refer to the color you want to describe as azul oscuro if you want.
- Add the word claro to talk about light colors. When you say or write the word claro (CLAH-roh) after another color word, you are talking about a lighter shade of the same color. For example, "verde claro" means "light green."
- As with dark shades, many lighter shades have their own unique word, you'll still get the point across to Spanish speakers if you simply add claro.
- Talk about various patterns. When talking about colors, you may want to say that an object is striped or polka-dotted, rather than being a solid color. You also may use the word estampado (ess-tahm-PAH-doh) to simply say something has a pattern generally.
- To say something is striped, use the word rayado (ray-YAH-doh). If something, such as an article of clothing, is polka-dotted, use the phrase de lunares (DAY loo-NAH-rays), which also means "spotted" or "speckled" generally.
- Learn additional words for colors named after minerals, flowers, or foods. You probably know words in English, such as "lilac" or "jade," that refer to both a color and a plant or mineral. In Spanish, you can use "jade" (pronounced HAH-day in Spanish) to refer to something green, or "lila" (LEE-lah) to refer to something purple.
- For example, Spanish speakers say "rosa" (pronounced ROH-sah) to refer either to a rose flower, or to a rosy color.
- Ámbar is a Spanish word that describes the deep, golden-orange color of the mineral amber. Another good orange word is "albaricoque" (ahl-bah-ree-COH-kay), the Spanish word for "apricot."
Using Colors in Speech
- Change the gender of color words to match the noun they describe. Since color words typically are used as adjectives, when you say the colors in Spanish they must match the gender of the thing you're describing.
- Generally, you would change the last "o" on a color word to an "a" if the noun is feminine. For example, if you wanted to say "the shirt is black," you would say "La camisa es negra."
- If the color word ends in an "e" or a consonant, it does not change form to reflect the gender of the noun it describes. So, for example, the word azul does not change gender.
- Add an "s" to color words if you are describing more than one thing. In most cases, you must reflect the plurality of the objects you're describing by pluralizing the color word as well.
- For most colors, you only need to add an "s" to the end of the word to pluralize it. For example, if you wanted to say "there are two black cats," you would say "hay dos gatos negros."
- For three colors, you must add an "es" to pluralize them, rather than simply an "s." These colors are azul (azules), marrón (marrónes), and gris (grises).
- Recognize colors that are invariable. Color words that naturally end in "a" do not change gender and don't have plural forms either. In other words, if you were describing a masculine noun in Spanish as being violet, you would not change "violeta" to "violeto."
- Keep color words the same when they are part of a phrase. If you are describing something as "the color of" the form of the color does not change at all to agree with either gender or plurality.
- In Spanish you would say "de color" or simply "color," as in "color negro." This phrase can be helpful if you are a beginner and are uncertain whether a particular color should change gender or be pluralized or not. Simply use this phrase in front of the color and you won't have to worry about it for the time being.
- Don't modify color words in adjective phrases. If a color word is modified with another word, such as verde lima (lime green), it does not have to be changed to match the gender or number of the noun the phrase describes.
- Place color words correctly in your sentence. In English, the color word typically comes before the word it describes in the sentence. However, in Spanish, you want to put the color word immediately after the word it describes.
- You may have noted this with the "orange orange" example. To say something about an orange-colored orange in Spanish, you would say "una naranja anaranjada." The word anaranjado comes last because it refers to the color, while the word naranja refers to the fruit.
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