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How To Name And Pronounce Colors In German

Roses are rot, violets are blau; here’s a guide to master German colors right now! Here’s an overview of all the colors in der Regenbogen (the rainbow).
colors in German

Color words are one of the most useful tools we have for identifying things. It’s a lot easier to say “I’ll have the blue one” than “I’ll take that roundish one, with the rough edges, to the left of the rectangular one.” Thus, learning how to name and pronounce colors in German is a useful skill to have in your back pocket.

A brief usage note: colors in German are adjectives and so, for the most part, they come before the noun when you’re describing something. “The red car” would be “das rote Auto.” Here, there is also often an ending -e added when the color comes before a noun. And when you want to say “light blue” or “dark blue” the words for “light” and “dark” are appended to the front of the color word, as you see with hellblau (light blue). With that knowledge, here are the basic terms to get you started as you learn German.

the colordie Farbe

redrot

orangeorange

yellowgelb

greengrün

blueblau

light blue hellblau

dark blue dunkelblau

purple lila

pinkrosa

brownbraun

blackschwarz

whiteweiß

lighthell

darkdunkel

Want to learn the more of the language?
Thomas Moore Devlin

Thomas is the editorial lead, and he has been at Babbel for over five years. He studied linguistics in college, and also has a background in English literature. He has been based in New York City for 10 years, where he spends most of his free time walking around Brooklyn and reading an unhealthy number of books.

Thomas is the editorial lead, and he has been at Babbel for over five years. He studied linguistics in college, and also has a background in English literature. He has been based in New York City for 10 years, where he spends most of his free time walking around Brooklyn and reading an unhealthy number of books.

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