Appearance
Vocab: Colours — A2
Colours vocabulary at A2 level.
Maskulin Feminin Neutrum Plural
beige — beige
Beige is normally an ungradable colour adjective, so standard comparative and superlative forms are not used. Before a noun it still takes ordinary adjective endings, as in ein beiges Kleid.
Das Sofa ist beige.
The sofa is beige.
das Sofa means the sofa. Beige is predicative after ist, so it has no adjective ending; the finite verb ist is in position two.
Sie trägt ein beiges Kleid.
She is wearing a beige dress.
tragen means to wear and das Kleid means the dress. Beiges describes ein Kleid in the accusative, and the adjective takes -es after the indefinite article ein.
Die Wand ist beige, aber die Tür ist weiß.
The wall is beige, but the door is white.
die Wand means the wall, die Tür means the door, and weiß means white. Beige is normally a non-gradable colour adjective, so this sentence shows that it does not have a standard comparative form; the labelled slot is illustrated by a neutral colour comparison.
Das Zimmer ist beige, nicht blau.
The room is beige, not blue.
das Zimmer means the room and blau means blue. Beige normally has no standard superlative because a colour is usually not graded; the adjective is predicative after ist and therefore has no ending.
blass — pale
blass usually describes a person's face or skin when there is little colour, often because of fear or illness. It can also describe a light, weak colour, as in blasses Blau (pale blue).
Sein Gesicht ist blass.
His face is pale.
sein Gesicht means his face. Blass is predicative after ist, so it has no adjective ending; sein Gesicht is the nominative subject.
Sie hat ein blasses Gesicht.
She has a pale face.
sie means she and hat means has. Ein blasses Gesicht is the accusative object of hat, and blasses takes -es after the neuter indefinite article ein; the finite verb hat is in position two.
Nach dem Schreck war er blasser als vorher.
After the fright, he was paler than before.
nach dem Schreck means after the fright, war means was, and vorher means before or previously. Nach takes the dative, so dem Schreck is dative; blasser is predicative and als introduces the comparison.
Von allen Kindern war er am blassesten.
Of all the children, he was the palest.
von allen Kindern means of all the children and er means he. Von takes the dative, so allen Kindern is dative; am blassesten is the predicative superlative, and war stands in position two.
brünett — brunette, brown-haired
Brünett normally describes hair or a person with brown hair and is less common than simply saying braunhaarig in some contexts. It can be compared grammatically, although comparisons of hair colour are relatively subjective.
Ihre Haare sind brünett.
Her hair is brunette.
ihre Haare means her hair, and sind means are. Brünett is predicative after sein, so it has no adjective ending.
Sie hat brünettes Haar.
She has brunette hair.
hat means has, and Haar means hair. Brünettes stands before the neuter accusative noun Haar and therefore takes the ending -es.
Ihre Haare sind heute brünetter als gestern.
Her hair is more brunette today than yesterday.
heute means today, and gestern means yesterday. Brünetter compares two states and is followed by als; after sind, it is predicative and has no ending.
Von allen im Team ist Lara am brünettsten.
Of everyone on the team, Lara is the most brunette.
von allen im Team means of everyone on the team. Am brünettsten is the predicative superlative; do not use the am-form directly before a noun.
einfarbig — plain-coloured, monochrome
Einfarbig describes something with one colour, often a piece of clothing or a design. Its opposite is bunt or mehrfarbig; in English, plain-coloured does not necessarily mean boring.
Das T-Shirt ist einfarbig.
The T-shirt is plain-coloured.
das T-Shirt is the T-shirt, and ist means is. Einfarbig is predicative after sein, so it has no adjective ending; the finite verb ist stands in position two.
Sie trägt ein einfarbiges Kleid.
She is wearing a plain-coloured dress.
trägt means is wearing, and ein Kleid is a dress. Einfarbiges is attributive and takes -es after the indefinite article in the neuter accusative; ein Kleid is accusative because tragen takes a direct object.
Diese Jacke ist einfarbiger als die andere.
This jacket is more plain-coloured than the other one.
diese Jacke means this jacket, and die andere means the other one. Einfarbiger is predicative after ist and is followed by als for the comparison; it therefore has no adjective ending.
Von allen Hemden ist dieses am einfarbigsten.
Of all the shirts, this one is the plainest.
von allen Hemden means of all the shirts, and dieses means this one. The predicative superlative uses am einfarbigsten; because it follows ist, it does not take a noun ending.
färben — to dye, to colour
Färben is usually transitive and takes an accusative object: etwas färben. It can also be reflexive, as in sich färben, when something changes colour by itself.
Meine Schwester färbt ihre Haare.
My sister dyes her hair.
meine Schwester means my sister, and ihre Haare means her hair. Ihre Haare is accusative because färben takes a direct object; the finite verb färbt stands in position two.
Sie hat ihre Haare gefärbt.
She dyed her hair.
ihre Haare means her hair. The perfect uses hat plus gefärbt because färben takes haben; the auxiliary is in position two and the Partizip II goes to the end.
Früher färbte er den Stoff selbst.
He used to dye the fabric himself.
früher means in the past, den Stoff means the fabric, and selbst means himself. Den Stoff is accusative as the direct object, and the weak-verb preterite färbte stands in position two.
Färb deine Haare nicht zu dunkel!
Don’t dye your hair too dark!
deine Haare means your hair, nicht means not, and zu dunkel means too dark. This is the du imperative, so the subject is omitted; the direct object remains accusative, and nicht makes the command negative.
Wenn ich mehr Zeit hätte, färbte ich die Wand blau.
If I had more time, I would dye the wall blue.
mehr Zeit means more time, die Wand means the wall, and blau means blue. In this hypothetical sentence, hätte marks the conditional idea and the verb in the wenn clause goes to the end; die Wand is accusative.
Morgen werde ich den Stoff färben.
Tomorrow I will dye the fabric.
morgen means tomorrow and den Stoff means the fabric. Future tense uses werde in position two and the infinitive färben at the end; the fabric is accusative because it is the direct object.
orange — orange
The adjective orange describes the colour between red and yellow. As a colour adjective it is normally used predicatively or with an adjective ending before a noun, as in ein oranges Kleid.
Die Wand ist orange.
The wall is orange.
Wand means wall. orange is predicative after ist, so it has no adjective ending; the finite verb ist stands in position two.
Sie trägt ein oranges Kleid.
She is wearing an orange dress.
trägt means is wearing and Kleid means dress. oranges stands before the neuter accusative noun Kleid after ein, so it takes the ending -es; trägt is in position two.
Dieses T-Shirt ist oranger als das andere.
This T-shirt is more orange than the other one.
T-Shirt means T-shirt and andere means other. oranger compares two colours and is followed by als; after ist, the adjective is predicative and has no case ending.
Das Kleid ist am orangesten.
The dress is the most orange.
Kleid means dress. am orangesten is the predicative superlative, formed with am and -sten; it has no adjective ending because it does not stand directly before a noun.