Colors in Dutch

General:
Colors as nouns are het-words.
Example: het blauw van de hemel (*the blue of the sky*).

Basic Colors:

rood
oranje
geel
groen
blauw
wit
bruin
grijs

Special Colors and Variations:

scharlakenscarlet
violetviolet
kleurlooscolorless, pale, bland
kleurrijkcolorful
lichtblauwlight blue
donkerblauwdark blue
fletspale, washed-out
pasteltintenpastel tints
schutkleurcamouflage color
cyaancyan

Extreme Colors:

pikzwartpitch-black
hagelwithail white
sneeuwwitsnow white
spierwitmuscle white (very pale)
vuurroodfiery red
mauvemauve
vaalbruinfaded brown
pimpelpaarsbright purple
purperpurple (old-fashioned)
rossigreddish
groeniggreenish
geligyellowish
beigebeige
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Related Vocabulary

(de) regenboograinbow
roze rozenpink roses
roodpaarsred-purple
blauwpaarsblue-purple
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Color Usage as Adjectives

Adjectives modify nouns and almost always get an -E ending.
Note: If the base color ends with an -e (like oranje or roze), no additional -e is added.

Examples:

de sinaasappels zijn oranjethe oranges are orange
de oranje sinaasappelsthe orange oranges
de huid is rozethe skin is pink
de roze huidthe pink skin
de hemel is blauwthe sky is blue
de blauwe hemelthe blue sky
de appel is groenthe apple is green
de groene appelthe green apple
de tomaten zijn roodthe tomatoes are red
de rode tomatenthe red tomatoes
melk is witmilk is white
de witte melkthe white milk
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Spelling Adjustments with Colors

When adding -e to adjectives:

Special Cases:

mager → magerethin → thinner
edel → edelenoble → nobler
Reminder: It's all about keeping syllables correctly long or short in Dutch spelling!

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