French I, Semester I; Les Couleurs
Sections:

Introduction  |   Section 1  |   Section 2  |   Section 3   |   Dictionaries

  Section One:

Part A  |   Part B  |   Part C  |   Part D  |   Part E   |   Part F

Section One - Part E

key conceptLes Couleurs

Talking about things gets even more fun when we can add color to it. Observe the chart and listen to the color words in French. Be sure to repeat after the speaker.

blue
black
gray
green
orange
pink
purple
red
white
yellow


tvView the presentation
and learn the ways to say the colors in French.

 

Did you notice that there were sometimes two ways of saying the color? Some of the colors have a masculine form (that's always the neutral name for the color), but also a feminine form that is used to describe words that are feminine in gender.

With some colors, you have to add -e to make it feminine even though it doesn't change the pronunciation. Listen to the example:

un T-shirt bleu; une robe bleue

With some colors, the -e you add to make it feminine changes the pronunciation. Listen to the example:

un T-shirt vert; une robe verte

Remember that if a color already ends in -e, you don't have to do anything! hourray

When a color is also the name of a fruit (orange, marron), it does not agree in number and gender.

des T-shirts orange; une robe marron

ga,ePractice Activity


activity Practice
Use this practice session to become familiar with the concepts of this lesson module.


colorsQuelle est ta couleur préférée?
Ma couleur préférée est le vert. Everyone has a favorite. Which color is your favorite? Write a discussion posting stating which is your favorite color and asking what someone else's favorite color is in French. Go to Discussion 1e.

This assignment is worth 4 points.


practiceAu travail! Write this exercise in your notebook.


In the practice activity below, answer the question, De quelle couleur est...? in French. The first one is done for you. Click on the question to see if you have answered the questions correctly.

1. De quelle couleur est la calculatrice? Calculator La calculatrice est verte et jaune.
2. De quelle couleur est la pomme? Apple
3. De quelle couleur est l'ange? (un ange) Angel
4. De quelle couleur est le soleil? Sun
5. De quelle couleur est l'ordinateur? (un ordinateur) Computer
6. De quelle couleur est l'arbre? (un arbre) Tree
7. De quelle couleur est le tee-shirt? T-shirt
8. De quelle couleur sont les chaussettes? (une chaussette) Sock

Notice that on the last one, we use sont instead of est. Do you know why? Les chaussettes is more than one sock, so we must use the form of the verb that goes with a plural subject. If you are having problems with être, this is the time to go back and review.


Graded AssignmentWriting Activity

After you have practiced this new vocabulary sufficiently, compose a short paragraph talking about the items of clothing you have on. Write at least 5 sentences and be sure to give the color for each item you are wearing. Attention! The color words are adjectives, so they must "agree with" the words they are describing as you saw in the above activity and they also go after the noun, as is common with adjectives in French. Turn in your assignment at Writing 1e.

This assignment is worth 16 points.

Va à 1f.

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