Colors in German Without knowing colors it's hard to speak | Learn German with Leo🦁

Colors in German

Without knowing colors it's hard to speak German: you can't tell what color the sky is, what your favorite color is or what colors you like in your clothes. So here's a little list of basic colors for you.

blau - blue
braun - brown
bunt - coloured
dunkel - dark
farbig - coloured
flieder - lilac
gelb - yellow
golden - golden
grau - gray
grün - green
hell - light
hellblau - blue
lila - purple
orange - orange
rosa - rose
rot - red
schwarz - black
schwarz-weiß black and white
silbern - silver
türkis - turquoise
verschiedenfarbig - multicolored
violett - purple
weiß - white

If you add the word "hell" (light) to the beginning, you get light colors. They are always spelled together, for example: hellblau - light blue

The same with "dunkel" (dark) at the beginning of the word, it turns into a dark color: dunkelblau (dark blue).

Der Himmel ist blau. Meine Lieblingsfarbe ist schwarz.
The sky is blue. My favorite color is black.

Bonus: Top 3 idioms with colors!

Er ist Blau.
Meaning: he is drunk.
Literal translation: he is blue

Da kannst du warten bist du schwarz wirst.
Meaning: you can wait till the cows come home
Literal translation: Don't wait, or you'll turn black

Durch die rosa Brille schauen
Meaning: looking through rose-colored glasses.
Literal translation: Look through rose-colored glasses