Colors in Spanish

Quick Answer

¿Rojo(red)? ¿Verde(green)? ¿Azul(blue)? ¿Cuál es tu color favorito?(What is your favorite color?)

In this article, you'll learn colors in Spanish so you can express your preferences, describe your surroundings, and talk about human attributes.

colores en español

Basic Color Terms

Here is a list of the major color words in Spanish and their translations:

Spanish	English
amarillo	yellow
azul	blue
blanco	white
gris	gray
marrón/ café	brown
morado/ púrpura	purple
naranja/ anaranjado	orange
negro	black
rojo	red
rosado/ rosa	pink
verde	green
violeta	violet

Shades of Color

Now that you know the basic color terms in Spanish, it’s time to have some fun! Whether you are painting a picture or decorating your home, knowing different shades of color makes things more interesting.

Spanish	English
aguamarina	aquamarine
azul aciano	cornflower blue
azul bebé	baby blue
azul celeste	light blue / sky blue
azul cobalto	cobalt blue
azul marino	navy blue
azul pervinca	periwinkle
azul turquesa	turquoise
azur	azure
beige/ beis	beige
bermellón	vermilion
bronce	bronze
burdeos	burgundy
carmesí	crimson
carmín	carmine
celeste	light blue / sky blue
cerúleo	cerulean
cian	cyan
cobre	copper
color aceituna	olive
color champán	champagne
color guinda	cerise
color índigo/ color añil	indigo
color marfil	ivory
coral	coral
fucsia	fuchsia
granate	maroon
lavanda	lavender
lila	lilac
magenta	magenta
malva	mauve
marrón claro/ café claro	tan
oro/ dorado	gold
plateado/ color plata	silver
salmón	salmon
verde azulado	teal
verde esmeralda	emerald
verde jade	jade
verde lima	lime green

Hues

There will be times when you’ll want to describe the degree of lightness, darkness, or strength of a certain color. Here is a list of helpful adjectives that can be used to describe the hue of a color:

brillante	bright
claro	light / pale
intenso	deep
mate	dull / matte
neón	neon
oscuro	dark

Let's take a look at how these are used in Spanish!

examples
Había cientos de floreros llenos de flores amarillas brillantes. There were hundreds of vases full of bright yellow flowers.
Quiere pintar las paredes de azul claro. She wants to paint the walls light blue.

Putting Colors in Context

The next step in this lesson is to learn how to put these color terms in context to express your preferences, describe your surroundings, and talk about human attributes.

Expressing Preferences

One of the easiest ways to practice colors in Spanish is to talk about your preferences.

examples
¿Cuál es tu color favorito? - Mi color favorito es lavanda. What is your favorite color? - My favorite color is lavender.
Me gusta el color azul. I like the color blue.
iNo me gusta nada el color naranja! I don’t like the color orange at all!

Describing your Surroundings

When used as an adjective, a color must agree with the noun it describes in gender and in number.

Colors that end in o in the masculine singular form have four possible endings: o , a , os , or as.
Colors that end in e or a consonant do not change according to gender. They agree with both masculine and feminine nouns in the singular form, though they do change for number. To make these colors plural, add an s to the singular ending.

Seris used instead of estarto describe the color of an object.

For example:

examples
La bufanda es morada. The scarf is purple.
Las sábanas son blancas. The sheets are white.
Hay cuatro pájaros grises. There are four gray birds.
Me gustan las paredes verdes. I like green walls.