Learning About Colors In Spanish

The Colors - Los Colores

Adding colors, or in Spanish, los colores, to your vocabulary is a vibrant way to add descriptive details to your sentences.  Colors are discussed in the Novice II course specifically with the verbs ser and estar. Let’s start out with the the colors of the rainbow, el arcoíris, along with a few other basic colors:

red	rojo
orange	anaranjado, naranja
yellow	amarillo
green	verde
blue	azul
purple	morado
pink	rosa, rosado
white	blanco
black	negro
brown	marrón, café
gray	gris

Before we put these colors to use, we need to establish some basic background information. Colors are both nouns and adjectives.  When used as nouns, colors are masculine and singular: el azul, el rosa o el rosado. As adjectives, they must agree in number (singular or plural) and gender (masculine or feminine). They also typically go after the noun like other adjectives. Check out the examples below to see these concepts in action:

 purple hat  = el sombrero morado (singular masculine)

purple hats  = los sombreros morados (plural masculine)

purple boot = la bota morada (singular feminine)

 purple boots = las botas moradas (plural feminine)

Now, there are some more vivacious and detailed colors that are fun to use when you want to be even more expressive and descriptive as well as tones, tonos, that will come in handy. When working with less common colors you can help form the description by using de color, color de, or simply color followed by the name of the color.  

beige	beige, beis
blackish	negruzco
bluish	azulado
bright	brillante
cherry	cereza
dark	oscuro/a
dull	opaco/a
dusty	gastado/a
emerald	esmeralda
golden	dorado/a
greenish	verdoso
hue	tonalidad, tinte
indigo	añil
light	claro/a
lilac	lila
maroon	granate
mauve	malva
mustard-colored	mostaza
pale	pálido/a, palo
pastel	pastel
pinkish	rosadito, rosáceo
purplish	purpurino
reddish	rojizo
ruby red	rojo rubí
shade, tone	tono
silver	plata, color plateado
smokey	humo
teal	verde azulado
turquoise	turquesa
violet	violeta
yellowish	amarillento

A lot of these more descriptive colors with the ‘-ish’ ending or when talking about shades or tones will follow the color being talked about. Let’s put some of these new colors into sentences so we can better understand how they work. 

Ejemplo 1:

The dress was a bluish green color.

El vestido es azul verdoso. 

OR 

El vestido es de color azul verdoso.

Ejemplo 2:

Bright red lipstick.

El pintalabios rojo brillante.

Ejemplo 3:

The bruise is a dark purple color.

El moretón es de color morado oscuro.

Finally, let’s brighten your lexicon even further by adding some colorful and fairly common expressions you might be able to incorporate into your vocabulary:

-Ponerse rojo

Meaning: To blush

Ponerse is a reflexive verb that means “to become”. When combined with red it means to blush.

Ejemplo: Me pongo rojo. (I am blushing.)

-Príncipe azul

Meaning: Ideal man

Someone’s príncipe azul (blue prince) is their perfect man that you would typically find in a fairytale. A similar expression in English is “prince charming” and “knight in shining armor.”

Ejemplo: Ella quiere un príncipe azul. (She wanted a knight in shining armor.)

-Verlo todo color de rosa/negro

Meaning: To see everything in a positive light/negative light

The phrase with the color pink is quite similar to the English phrase “see things through rose-colored glasses”, whereas the phrase used with the color black is to be pessimistic about something or to see it black, dark and with a negative outlook.

Ejemplo: Tú siempre lo ves todo de color de rosa. (You always see everything in a positive light.)

-Dar luz verde

Meaning: to give the green light

This phrase is very similar to the expression in English, to give the green light, meaning grant permission to someone to move forward and go ahead with something like an action or task..

Ejemplo: El presidente de la compañía acaba de dar luz verde para el proyecto.

-Prensa amarilla/rosa

Meaning: Tabloids, gossip news

Both of these phrases refer to news sources both written and digital that are usually celebrity gossip magazines like People Magazine, In Touch and US Weekly. Similarly, there are tabloids in the Spanish-speaking world like ¡Hola!, Gente, Semana, QMD - ¡QUÉ ME DICES!, Diez Minutos, pronto, etc.

Ejemplo: No hagas caso a la prensa amarilla.  (Don’t pay attention to the tabloid news.)

-Media naranja

Meaning: Significant other, soul mate

This lovely expression is not actually talking about the color but referring to the fruit that is called by its color and means to be someone’s “other half,” significant other or sweetheart. 

Ejemplo: Por fin he encontrado a mi media naranja. (I’ve finally found my other half.)

-Chiste verde

Meaning: An adult/raunchy joke

A chiste verde refers to the kind of joke that is dirty or a joke with suggestive connotations.

Ejemplo: Él siempre cuenta chistes verdes.  (He always tells dirty jokes.)

We hope you enjoyed this reading all about the colors in Spanish. If you found these words and phrases helpful and interesting, you can learn more about when to use these new vocabulary words as adjectives as well as with the verbs ser and estar by checking out the Novice II course that dives into much more detail. You can also find more content at  Down to Earth Spanish,  where you will find a variety of  self-paced online Spanish courses and free printables and digital worksheets.