You're meeting a new friend outside a busy metro station in Mexico City, and they message you: "¿Cómo te reconozco?" ("How will I recognise you?"). You reply: "Llevo una chamarra roja y unos jeans azules." ("I'm wearing a red jacket and blue jeans.") Two colours, two clothes words and one verb, and they'll find you.
Level: A1.
The colour goes after the noun
In English the colour comes first: a red jacket. In Spanish it almost always comes after: una chaqueta roja, el vestido negro, la casa blanca. Put the noun first, then say what colour it is.
To ask about a colour, use ¿De qué color es...? ("What colour is...?"), and answer with ser: Es azul. Colour is part of what the thing is, so it normally takes ser, not estar. With estar, verde usually means unripe: el plátano está verde (the banana isn't ripe yet).
Colours change to match the noun
A colour is an adjective, so it matches its noun. Colours ending in -o have four forms:
- el zapato rojo, la camisa roja
- los zapatos rojos, las camisas rojas
Rojo, negro, blanco, amarillo and morado all work this way.
Colours ending in -e or a consonant have one form for masculine and feminine, and only change in the plural:
- el suéter verde, la falda verde, los calcetines verdes
- el pantalón azul, la camisa azul, los zapatos azules
- gris, grises
Rosa and naranja are also the names of a flower and a fruit, and they stay the same for masculine and feminine: el vestido rosa, la camiseta naranja. You'll also hear rosado and anaranjado, which change like rojo.
Two-word colours don't change at all: una falda azul oscuro (a dark blue skirt), una camisa verde claro (a light green shirt).
Wearing: llevar
To say what you're wearing, use llevar: Llevo una camiseta blanca (I'm wearing a white T-shirt), ¿Qué llevas hoy? (What are you wearing today?). Llevar also means to carry, so context does the work. You'll also hear usar for wearing clothes.
Spain and Latin America
Where Spain and Latin America differ, the cards give both. Clothes are one of the areas where words change most from country to country:
| English | Latin America | Spain |
|---|---|---|
| sweater / jumper | el suéter | el jersey |
| jeans | los jeans | los vaqueros |
| jacket | la chaqueta; la chamarra (Mexico); la campera (Argentina) | la chaqueta |
| T-shirt | la camiseta; la playera (Mexico); la remera (Argentina) | la camiseta |
| brown | café (Mexico), marrón | marrón |
In Argentina and Uruguay a skirt is often la pollera instead of la falda. People will understand you either way; the local word just sounds natural.
Mistakes learners make
- "Una roja camisa." The colour follows the noun: una camisa roja.
- "La camisa rojo." Match the ending to the noun: camisa is feminine, so roja.
- "Zapatos azul." Plural nouns need plural colours: zapatos azules.
- "Mi ropa son nuevas." La ropa (clothes) is singular in Spanish: mi ropa es nueva. And it doesn't mean rope; rope is la cuerda.
- Guessing gender from who wears it. El vestido (dress) is masculine. Learn every clothes word with its el or la.
Frequently asked questions
What are the basic colors in Spanish?
Rojo (red), azul (blue), verde (green), amarillo (yellow), negro (black), blanco (white), gris (grey), morado (purple), rosa (pink), naranja (orange) and marrón or café (brown).
Do colours go before or after the noun in Spanish?
After, in almost every case: una camisa blanca, unos zapatos negros.
Is it azules or azuls?
Azules. Colours that end in a consonant add -es in the plural, so gris becomes grises too.
How do you say what you're wearing in Spanish?
Use llevar: "Llevo unos pantalones negros y una camisa azul" means "I'm wearing black trousers and a blue shirt."
Try it
Look down at what you're wearing right now and say it out loud, colour after the noun, with every ending matched. ¿Cómo se dice "I'm wearing a green T-shirt and black shoes"?