Learning colors is necessary to communicate in Arabic.
Knowing color vocabulary helps you describe the world around you, from the color of a car to the shades in a painting.
I’ll walk you through the primary and secondary colors, how to use them, and some extra words for art and design which you may also find useful.
The word for “color” in Arabic is:
لَوْن
And for the plural, “colors,” you say:
أَلْوَان
Just like in English, colors in Arabic are adjectives.
A key thing to remember is that Arabic has masculine and feminine genders for nouns, and the color has to match the noun it’s describing.
The only challenge is learning which are masculine and which are feminine.
Many colors follow a specific pattern: ‘afʿal for masculine and faʿlā’ for feminine.
Here’s a table of the main colors.
| English | Arabic (masculine) | Transliteration | Arabic (feminine) | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red | أَحْمَر | ’aḥmar | حَمْرَاء | ḥamrā’ |
| Yellow | أَصْفَر | ’aṣfar | صَفْرَاء | ṣafrā’ |
| Blue | أَزْرَق | ’azraq | زَرْقَاء | zarqā’ |
| Green | أَخْضَر | ’akhḍar | خَضْرَاء | khaḍrā’ |
| Black | أَسْوَد | ’aswad | سَوْدَاء | sawdā’ |
| White | أَبْيَض | ’abyaḍ | بَيْضَاء | bayḍā’ |
The color comes after the noun.
For example, “a red house”:
بَيْت أَحْمَر
And “a red car”:
سَيَّارَة حَمْرَاء
Some colors, often those named after objects (like fruits or flowers), have a different, simpler pattern.
You just add a feminine ending (usually “-iyyah”) for feminine nouns.
| English | Arabic (masculine) | Transliteration | Arabic (feminine) | Transliteration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orange | بُرْتُقَالِي | burtuqālī | بُرْتُقَالِيَّة | burtuqāliyyah |
| Purple | بَنَفْسَجِي | banafsajī | بَنَفْسَجِيَّة | banafsajiyyah |
| Brown | بُنِّي | bunnī | بُنِّيَّة | bunniyyah |
| Pink | وَرْدِي | wardī | وَرْدِيَّة | wardiyyah |
| Gray | رَمَادِي | ramādī | رَمَادِيَّة | ramādiyyah |
You’ll notice بُرْتُقَال (burtuqāl) is the word for an orange (the fruit), and وَرْد (ward) means “roses.”
Quick Note on Dialects: While the colors above are understood everywhere, pronunciation and sometimes words can vary.
For example, in Egypt, “pink” is بمبي (bambi).
In some Levantine areas like Lebanon, it’s common to just say “pink” and “orange” in English or French. In Iraq, you might hear رصاصي (ruṣāṣī) for gray, which means “lead-colored.”
Want to sound more specific, like an artist? Here are some essential terms for talking about colors in more detail.
| English Term | Arabic Term | Transliteration | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Light (color) | فاتِح | fātiḥ | You add this after the color. Ex: أَزْرَق فَاتِح (‘azraq fātiḥ) - light blue. |
| Dark (color) | غامِق | ghāmiq | You add this after the color. Ex: أَخْضَر غامِق (‘akhḍar ghāmiq) - dark green. |
| Shade/Hue | دَرَجَة لَوْن | darajat lawn | Means “a degree of color.” |
| Shadow | ظِلّ | ẓill | This is the word for a shadow cast by an object. |
| Highlight | مِنْطَقَة الضَوْء | minṭaqat al-ḍaw’ | Literally means “the area of light.” It’s the brightest spot on an object. |
| Gradient | تَدَرُّج لَوْنِي | tadarruj lawni | Describes a smooth transition from one color to another. |
Here’s an example of describing a shade:
هَذِهِ دَرَجَة لَوْن مُخْتَلِفَة مِن الأَحْمَر.
Arabic has a cool way of turning colors into verbs.
There’s a specific verb pattern (called Form IX) that means “to become” or “to turn” a certain color.
For example, the root for “red” is H-M-R (ح-م-ر).
اِحْمَرَّ وَجْهُهُ
The same pattern works for other colors:
This isn’t something you’ll use in everyday chat all the time, but it’s common in writing and descriptive language.
Talking about colors is a core part of learning any language.
Start with the primary color names, and practice them in context with their respective masculine and feminine nouns.
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