Colors in Arabic behave like adjectives — they come after the noun and must agree in gender. For example, كتاب أحمر (kitaab ahmar) means “a red book” (masculine), but سيارة حمراء (sayyaara hamraa’) means “a red car” (feminine, with the ء added).
Color Patterns
Most Arabic colors follow the أفعل (af3al) pattern for masculine, and add ء (hamza) for feminine:
| Color | Masculine | Feminine | Pattern |
|---|---|---|---|
| red | أحمر | حمراء | أفعل / فعلى |
| blue | أزرق | زرقاء | أفعل / فعلى |
| green | أخضر | خضراء | أفعل / فعلى |
| yellow | أصفر | صفراء | أفعل / فعلى |
| white | أبيض | بيضاء | أفعل / فعلى |
| black | أسود | سوداء | أفعل / فعلى |
Colors like بني (brown), رمادي (gray), وردي (pink), and برتقالي (orange) follow different patterns and don’t change form for gender.
Colors in Sentences
| Arabic | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| السيارة حمراء | as-sayyaara ḥamraa’ | the car is red |
| الكتاب أزرق | al-kitābu azraq | the book is blue |
| القميص أبيض | al-qameeṣu abyaḍ | the shirt is white |
| الحقيبة سوداء | al-ḥaqība sawdaa’ | the bag is black |
| الزهرة صفراء | az-zahra ṣafraa’ | the flower is yellow |
| العين خضراء | al-3ayn khadraa’ | the eye is green |
| الشعر بني | ash-sha3ru bunnee | the hair is brown |
| السماء رمادية | as-samā’ ramaadiyya | the sky is gray |
Definite Colors
When colors are definite (with ال), they follow the noun:
| Arabic | Transliteration | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| الكتاب الأحمر | al-kitābu l-ahmar | the red book |
| السيارة الحمراء | as-sayyaara l-hamraa’ | the red car |
| القميص الأبيض | al-qameeṣu l-abyaḍ | the white shirt |
Colors in Daily Life
Colors are useful for many situations:
Clothing:
- أريد قميصاً أزرقاً — I want a blue shirt
- هل عندك فستان أحمر؟ — Do you have a red dress?
Food:
- التفاح أحمر والليمون أصفر — The apple is red and the lemon is yellow
- الخضروات خضراء — The vegetables are green
Nature:
- السماء زرقاء — The sky is blue
- العشب أخضر — The grass is green
Color Symbolism in Arabic Culture
| Color | Symbolism |
|---|---|
| أخضر (green) | Islam, paradise, fertility |
| أبيض (white) | purity, peace, cleanliness |
| أسود (black) | mourning, authority, power |
| أحمر (red) | danger, love, passion |
| أزرق (blue) | protection, spirituality |
Cultural Note: Green is especially significant in Arab culture — it is the color of Islam and appears on many national flags. The phrase العلم الأخضر (the green flag) often refers to the Saudi flag.
Practice
How do you say 'the car is red' in Arabic?
hint: Car is feminine, so use the feminine color form
What is the feminine form of 'أزرق' (blue)?
hint: Most feminine colors end in ـاء
How do you say 'the red book' in Arabic?
hint: Use the definite article ال before the color
Match each pair — start with Arabic (left)
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