10 Hebrew Color Words

10 Hebrew Color Words

1. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]אדום – red

Colors describe something, so they’re adjectives. Which means that in Hebrew there are two versions – masculine and feminine.

Red in the masculine is אדום, as in הים האדום – the Red Sea.

In the feminine it’s אדומה, as in: כיפה אדומה – Little Red Riding Hood (red hood)

2. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]כתום – orange

כתום is the masculine form of orange, while כתומה is the feminine.

For example:

הוא אוכל תפוז כתום מעל צלחת כתומה.

He’s eating an orange orange over an orange plate.

Note that the word for orange the fruit is תפוז, which is an abbreviated version of תפוח זהב – a golden apple.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner]

Something grammatically masculine that is yellow is צהוב – for example, מטוס צהוב – a yellow airplane, while something feminine is צהובה, such as גבינה צהובה – Swiss (yellow) cheese.

Something of a golden hue is זהוב or זהובה.

4. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]ירוק – green

Hebrew has several words for car, including מכונית and רכב.

מכונית is grammatically feminine, so a green car is מכונית ירוקה.

But רכב is grammatically masculine, so that same car could be called רכב ירוק.

]5. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]תכלת – azure

Light blue is תכלת. Unlike other color words, this one doesn’t change depending on the grammatical gender of the word it’s describing. 

In fact, תכלת isn’t an adjective at all. So when we talk about something azure, we say בצבע תכלת – of the color azure.

For example:

המים בחוף הזה הם בצבע תכלת.

The water at this beach are of the color azure.

6. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]כחול – blue

כחול and כחולה are blue.

For example:

אני אוהב את החולצה הכחולה.

I like the blue shirt.

and

ראיתם את הבית הכחול על הגבעה?

Have you guys seen the blue house on the hill?

7. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]סגול – purple

8. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]שחור – black

9. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]לבן – white

10. [audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]צבע – color

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/אביב-#.m4a” /]חג אביב שמח – happy spring holiday!