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Colour vocabulary in German is mostly A1-level — simple, high-frequency, and useful immediately. The complexity comes from adjective declension: German adjectives change endings based on grammatical gender and case. But for everyday use, knowing the base form of each colour gets you a long way.
Grammar tip
Colours are adjectives in German and change endings based on gender and case. In the simple form (after sein — to be), no ending is needed: Das Auto ist rot (The car is red). When used before a noun, the ending changes: das rote Auto (the red car), der rote Ball (the red ball), die rote Rose (the red rose).
| German | English | Level |
|---|---|---|
| rot | red | A1 |
| blau | blue | A1 |
| grün | green | A1 |
| gelb | yellow | A1 |
| weiß | white | A1 |
| schwarz | black | A1 |
| grau | grey | A1 |
| braun | brown | A1 |
| orange | orange | A1 |
| lila | purple / violet | A1 |
| rosa | pink | A1 |
| die Farbe | colour / paint | A1 |
| silber | silver | A2 |
| gold | golden / gold | A2 |
| hell | light (shade) | A2 |
| dunkel | dark (shade) | A2 |
| bunt | colourful / multi-coloured | A2 |
| hellblau | light blue | A2 |
| dunkelgrün | dark green | A2 |
| violett | violet | A2 |
| farblos | colourless / transparent | B1 |
| türkis | turquoise | B1 |
| beige | beige | B1 |
| der Farbton | hue / colour tone | B1 |
| färben | to dye / to colour | B1 |
| blassblau | pale blue | B1 |
| leuchtend | bright / vivid (colour) | B1 |
| die Nuance | shade / nuance (of colour) | B2 |
| die Palette | palette (of colours) | B2 |
| weinrot | wine red / burgundy | B2 |
See these words in action
Butterfluent shows German subtitles on real videos — and highlights noun genders in colour as you watch. Masculine words appear in blue, feminine in pink, neuter in green. Click any word to see its translation, article, and grammar explanation instantly. No more forgetting which article goes with which noun.
When a colour comes after sein (to be), it does not change: Das Auto ist rot. When a colour comes before a noun, it takes an ending based on gender and case: das rote Auto (neuter, nominative), der rote Ball (masculine, nominative), die rote Rose (feminine, nominative). Mastering these three basic forms covers most everyday usage.
Yes — German uses hell- (light) and dunkel- (dark) as prefixes to create shade variations: hellblau (light blue), dunkelgrün (dark green), hellrot (light red), dunkelbraun (dark brown). These compound forms are extremely productive — you can create shade descriptions for any base colour by adding hell- or dunkel- before it.