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German · Vocabulary · A1 to B1

Colours in German: rot, ein roter Hut, and why blau sein means drunk

Nominative case: the form for the subject, and after ist / sind.
masculine · der Hut ein roter Hut
einaroterredHut.hat
ain ROH-ter HOOT · “a red hat” Why: Ein doesn’t show the gender, so the colour does: -er for masculine.
After ist / sind: no ending
Der Hutthe hatistisrot.red
dair HOOT ist ROHT · “The hat is red.”

Short answer: colours in German behave in two ways: on its own, after sein (to be), a colour never changes: Der Hut ist rot. Before a noun it takes an adjective ending that depends on the article and the noun’s gender: der rote Hut, ein roter Hut, rote Schuhe. A few colours borrowed from other languages, such as rosa, lila and beige, never take an ending. As nouns, colours are neuter and capitalised: das Blau.

The ending table, nominative

Der rote, ein roter, rote

The rule of thumb: if the article already shows the gender (der, die, das), the colour takes a weak -e or -en. If it doesn’t (ein, or no article), the colour shows it instead: -er, -e, -es.

Aftermasculinefeminineneuterplural
der / die / dasder rote Hutdie rote Taschedas rote Autodie roten Schuhe
ein / eineein roter Huteine rote Tascheein rotes Auto(no article) rote Schuhe
Shades and compounds

Hellblau, dunkelrot, knallgelb

German glues the shade straight onto the colour as one word: hell- (light), dunkel- (dark), knall- (bright, literally “bang”), or a thing with that colour: himmelblau, sky blue.

Colour idioms

Colour idioms: Blau sein, schwarzfahren, grün hinter den Ohren

blau sein
Erhewarwastotaltotallyblau.blue
air vaar to-TAAL BLAU · “He was completely drunk.”Blau sein: to be drunk. Nothing to do with sadness.
schwarzfahren
Erheistisschwarzgefahren.black-ridden
air ist SHVARTS-ge-faa-ren · “He rode without a ticket.”Schwarz- means unofficial: schwarzarbeiten, to work off the books.
grün hinter den Ohren
Erheistisnochstillgrüngreenhinter den Ohren.behind the ears
air ist nokh GRÜN HIN-ter dain OH-ren · “He’s still wet behind the ears.”Green for inexperience, as in English “green”.
ins Schwarze treffen
Duyouhasthaveins Schwarzeinto-the blackgetroffen.hit
doo hast ins SHVAR-tse ge-TRO-fen · “You’ve hit the nail on the head.”Das Schwarze is the bullseye of a target.
das Blaue vom Himmel versprechen
Erheversprichtpromisesdas Blauethe bluevom Himmel.from-the sky
air fer-SHPRIKHT das BLAU-e fom HI-mel · “He promises the earth.”Promising more than anyone could give.
sich grün und blau ärgern
IchIärgere michannoy myselfgrün und blau.green and blue
ikh ER-ge-re mikh GRÜN unt BLAU · “I’m absolutely furious.”Like being beaten black and blue, but with anger.
Colours in German life

Schwarz-Rot-Gold, die Grünen, der blaue Brief

Schwarz-Rot-GoldThe German flag. Note gold, not gelb, from the 1848 democratic movement.
Die GrünenThe Green Party; parties are often named by colour, as in eine rot-grüne Koalition.
Der blaue BriefA letter from school warning that a pupil may have to repeat the year.
Grüner PfeilA small green arrow on a traffic light: you may turn right on red after stopping.
Keep going

Related guides

Adjective endings →The full system, all four cases.des roten HutesClothes vocabulary →Colours on what you wear.ein blauer PulliIdioms →More vivid German.Tomaten auf den AugenBody vocabulary →Rot werden, grün und blau.rot werden