Learn the Colors, and Colorful Expressions, in German

Every language has its own colorful expressions and symbolism, including German. But in German,  bunt  or  farbenfroh  (colorful) expressions are usually very literal: Expressions that contain colors—grà ¼n (green),  rot (red),  blau  (blue),  schwarz  (black), and  braun  (brown)—use colors literally. Adjectives and Expressions As in English, the German words for colors (Farben) usually function as adjectives and take the normal adjective endings. In certain situations, colors can also be nouns and are thus are capitalized, as in: Eine Bluse in  Blau a blouse in blueDas  Blaue  vom Himmel  versprechen   to promise heaven and earth, or literally, the blue of the heavens In German, colors are used, literally, to give color to expressions. For example, in English,  you can feel  blue, be yellow, or see red. In  German, these colors may or may not have the same meaning.  Blau, for example,  can have numerous meanings in German, including drunk or black (as in black eye). In Germany and Austria,  political parties  are often identified by or associated with a specific color. Both the Austrian and German conservative parties are  schwarz, while the socialists  are  rot. Various other political parties in German-speaking Europe are identified by other colors, and one political coalition is even called  Ampelkoalition, thetraffic-light coalition (red, yellow, green:  SPD, FDP, Grà ¼ne). Learning the Colors The table provides literal translations of the colors, as well as colorful expressions, in German. The color is listed in German in the first column, with the English translation in the second, followed by a colorful phrase or expression in the third. Click on the link in the third column to bring up a sound file that will allow you to hear the color in German followed by the expression using the color. Colors - FarbenClick on  Audio  to hear a color and its sample phrases. Farbe Color Colorful Phrases (color adjectives) rot red der rote Wagen (the red car), der Wagen ist rot rosa pink die rosa Rose (the pink rose)* blau blue ein blaues Auge (a black* eye), er ist blau (hes drunk)*In German, a black eye is blue. hell-blau lightblue die hellblaue Bluse (the light blue blouse)** dunkel-blau darkblue die dunkelblaue Bluse (the dark blue blouse) grn green der grne Hut (the green hat) gelb yellow ein gelbes Licht (a yellow light) orange orange das orange Buch (the orange book) braun brown die braunen Schuhe (the brown shoes) beige beige der beige Kasten (the beige box) violett violet der violette Hut (the violet hat) lila lilac/mauve der lila Hut (the lilac hat)* wei white das weie Papier (the white paper) schwarz black der schwarze Koffer (the black suitcase) grau gray der graue Pulli (the gray sweater) trkis turquoise eine trkise Karte (a turquoise card) silber silver eine silberne Mnze (a silver coin) gold gold eine goldene Mnze (a gold coin), eine Goldmnze * Colors ending in -a  (lila, rosa) or -e  (beige, orange) do not take the normal adjective endings.** Light or dark colors are preceded by  hell- (light) or  dunkel- (dark), as in  hellgrà ¼n  (light green) or  dunkelgrà ¼n  (dark green).