Question

French Mini-Tutorial: Colors

Answer 1

French colors are interesting, because within the range of colors, there is a wide range of regular and irregular adjectives.

bleu (blue), gris (gray), and green (vert) follow the regular pattern of gender and number

ex:
bleu
singular: bleu (masc.) becomes bleue (fem.)
plural: bleus, bleues

gris
singular: gris (masc.) becomes grise (fem.)
plural: gris (not griss, as this already ends with an -s), grises

vert
singular: vert (masc.) becomes verte( fem.)
plural: verts, vertes

Answer 2

blanc (white) and violet are irregular

blanc
singular: blanc (masc.) becomes blanche (fem.) not blance
plural: blancs, blanches

violet
singular: violet (masc.) becomes violette (fem.)
plural: violets, violettes

Answer 3

jaune (yellow), rouge (red), and rose (pink) all end in silent e, and therefore the masculine and feminine forms are identical

jaune
singular: jaune
plural: jaunes

rouge
singular: rouge
plural: rouges

rose
singular: rose
plural: roses

Answer 4

marron (brown) and orange (orange) are invariable, meaning that they don't change form regardless of gender or number.

Answer 5

other colors are usually treated as invariable adjectives, especially if they're derived from nature or from some object (ex: gold, silver, turquoise, cream, etc.)

when using multiple colors in the same sentence, consider whether the colors all belong to the same object, or are split between multiple objects

ex: chaussures blanches et vertes --> "white and green shoes" (some shoes are green, some are white) vs. chaussures blanc et vert "white and green shoes" (shoes that are both white and green)

notice how in the second case, default to the sing. masc form of the adjective.

compound colors a.k.a colors that are made of multiple words (ex: red-orange, light-blue, steel-gray) are also invariable adjectives

red-orange = rouge orange
light-blue = bleu clair
steel-gray = gris acier

Answer 6

References:

Rochester, Myrna B. Easy French Step-by-Step, United States, McGraw-Hill Education, 2009, 14.

https://www.lawlessfrench.com/grammar/color-adjectives/
https://www.france-pub.com/french/french-colours.php