French Word of the Day

blue

La mer bleue est au-dessous du ciel bleu.
The blue sea is beneath the blue sky.

GRAMMAR NOTE
As with a similar related example, you can see how the gender of the adjective bleu changes depending upon the noun it modifies, adding an e when used to modify la mer, which is feminine, and maintaining its masculine form with no e when modifying le ciel, which is masculine.

TODAY
Our word is from a topic that’s perfect for beginning French students — colors, or les couleurs. If you’ll be studying French for the first time next school year or if you just need a refresher, these French words for colors are for you.

TAKE THE QUIZ
See if you remember how to say blue in French and more with our Colors Quiz.

brown

Les feuilles d’automne sont jaunes, oranges et brunes.
The autumn leaves are yellow, orange and brown.

TODAY
Our word is from a topic that’s perfect for beginning French students — colors, or les couleurs. If you’ll be studying French for the first time next school year or if you just need a refresher, these French words for colors are for you.

TAKE THE QUIZ
See if you remember how to say brown in French and more with our Colors Quiz.

yellow

Un citron est jaune.
A lemon is yellow.

TODAY
Our word is from a topic that’s perfect for beginning French students — colors, or les couleurs. If you’ll be studying French for the first time next school year or if you just need a refresher, these French words for colors are for you.

TAKE THE QUIZ
See if you remember how to say yellow in French and more with our Colors Quiz.

pink

Elle porte des chaussures roses.
She’s wearing pink shoes.

THIS WEEK
We’re focusing on a topic that’s perfect for beginning French students — colors, or les couleurs. If you’ll be studying French for the first time next school year or if you just need a refresher, these beginning French words are for you.

FOR OUR VOILÀ! MEMBERS
Review last week’s words by taking our weekly quiz.

red

Elle met la rose rouge dans le vase.
She’s putting the red rose in the vase.

GRAMMAR NOTE
You might notice that some adjectives such as rouge already end in an e.  In these cases, the adjectives do not change spelling from the masculine to feminine form. They are the same for both. They do, however, continue to change for number: la rose rouge (the red rose), les roses rouges (the red roses).

TODAY
Our word is from a topic that’s perfect for beginning French students — colors, or les couleurs. If you’ll be studying French for the first time next school year or if you just need a refresher, these French words for colors are for you.

TAKE THE QUIZ
See if you remember how to say red in French and more with our Colors Quiz.

green

La campagne irlandaise est toute verte.
The Irish countryside is all green.

GRAMMAR NOTE
If you’re new to French, you might wonder why adjectives must sometimes change their spellings to add an e, an s, or both. It is because, in French, all nouns have a gender and number. They are either masculine or feminine, and either singular or plural. The adjectives that describe them must, in turn, agree with the nouns. In general, adjectives add an e to become feminine and an s to become plural — although there are notable exceptions that you will learn along the way. Using today’s word, you can see the many forms:

• le stylo vert (the green pen) – masculine singular
• les stylos verts (the green pens) – masculine plural
• la maison verte (the green house) – feminine singular
• les maisons vertes (the green houses) – feminine plural

ADVANCED GRAMMAR TIP
Did you happen to notice in today’s example sentence above that the adverb toute is feminine to agree with the adjective that follows it? Why is this remarkable? Tout as an adverb is usually invariable,  meaning that it does not change gender or number. (Don’t confuse this with tout as an adjective, which must always be made to agree.) But there is an exception! When tout precedes a feminine adjective beginning with a consonant or aspirate h, it must then be made to agree with adjective it’s modifying.

TODAY
Our word is from a topic that’s perfect for beginning French students — colors, or les couleurs. If you’ll be studying French for the first time next school year or if you just need a refresher, these French words for colors are for you.

TAKE THE QUIZ
See if you remember how to say green in French and more with our Colors Quiz.

purple

Il se tenait sous un ciel violet dans sa chemise violette.
He was standing under a purple sky in his purple shirt.

GRAMMAR NOTE
Earlier this week, we explained that adjectives often add an e to become feminine, but that there would be exceptions. The color purple, or violet in French, is among them. Words that end in et often double the t before adding the e.

TODAY
Our word is from a topic that’s perfect for beginning French students — colors, or les couleurs. If you’ll be studying French for the first time next school year or if you just need a refresher, these French words for colors are for you.

TAKE THE QUIZ
See if you remember how to say purple in French and more with our Colors Quiz.