A1 · Beginner Vocabulary
Colors (die Farben) come up everywhere — describing clothes, objects and places. Here are the essential German colors with pronunciation and audio, followed by a quick note on how they behave in a sentence.
Tap 🔊 to hear each word spoken in German.
| German | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| rot | roht | red |
| blau | blow | blue |
| grün | gruun | green |
| gelb | gelp | yellow |
| schwarz | shvarts | black |
| weiß | vice | white |
| orange | o-RAHNGZH | orange |
| lila | LEE-lah | purple |
| rosa | ROH-zah | pink |
| braun | brown | brown |
| grau | grow | grey |
| türkis | tuur-KEES | turquoise |
| bunt | boont | colourful |
| hell | hell | light (e.g. hellblau = light blue) |
| dunkel | DOON-kel | dark (e.g. dunkelblau = dark blue) |
Good news: when a color comes after the verb, it never changes — „Das Auto ist rot“ (the car is red). It only takes an ending when it sits directly before a noun — „das rote Auto“ (the red car). Want to master those endings? See our German adjective endings guide.
Want to actually use these words in conversation? Practise them with a friendly native tutor on italki.
Practise with a tutor on italki →