Most of us get confused when it comes to writing color adjectives in the plural. Here is the spelling point of the week.
Ah, the French! As rich as it is enigmatic, it often surprises us with its rules… and its exceptions. Among these rules that sow confusion in our minds, the agreement of adjectives of color is often debated. Today we answer the question that torments many French people: “I have brown eyes” or “I have brown eyes”?
The answer is simple: the rule of thumb is that color adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they refer to. So, we’d say without hesitation: red cars and blue shirts. But as often, French has great exceptions in store for us.
One such exception is color adjectives that are derived from common nouns. These adjectives remain invariable. This is particularly the case for colors derived from the names of flowers, trees, fruits, metals, minerals, and animals. For example: ebony, lemon, silver, or even salmon. And yes, you guessed it, our famous “chestnut” is one of them, because it derives from the name of a fruit. Therefore, the correct form is “I have brown eyes” and not “brown”. Just as we say “brown bags”, “turquoise shirts” or “indigo skirts”.
However, you must remain vigilant! Some noun-derived adjectives, such as rose, purple, mauve, and scarlet, agree as ordinary adjectives. Thus, we will have “pink birds” or “scarlet carpets”. Let’s add one more exception (yes, one more): if the adjective color is composed of two words, then it remains invariable. This is the case for colors such as “light grey”, “apple green” or “dark blue”. If the two components are color adjectives, they are joined with a hyphen and the whole remains unchanged, as in “blue-gray dresses”.
Finally, let’s not forget the small nuance that exists between blue, white and red flags (tricolor like the French flag) and blue, white and red flags (unicolour). French is a living language, constantly evolving, but if there is one thing that remains, it is its complexity combined with its beauty. So the next time you talk about your eye color, remember, “I have brown eyes”!
