When describing things, it is very important that you know how to say colours in Spanish. We are going to see how to say them in a sentence, how to say the main colours and their classification.
How do you use colours in Spanish in a sentence?
There are four ways to use a colour in a sentence in English that help to describe an object or thing:
- Using the verb “ser” (to be). To indicate what colour something is. Example: El coche es rojo (The car is red).
- With the verb “estar” (to be). To indicate the state of something. Example: El cielo está gris o el cielo está azul (The sky is grey or the sky is blue).
- The colour as a noun and subject in the sentence. Example: Blue is the colour of the sea (El azul es el color del mar).
- Noun + colour removing the verb ser or estar. Example: The green frog (La rana verde).
Main colors in Spanish
We can say that there are 11 basic colours (black, brown, grey, white, yellow, orange, pink, purple, red, blue, and green). These colours are the most commonly used in English to describe things.
Using these colours, we can describe different shades or intensities if we add the word light or dark to them. For example: light blue or dark blue. These would be two different shades of blue.
Classification of colors in Spanish
Colors can be divided into three large groups:
- The primary colors: yellow, blue and red.
- The secondary colors: green, orange and purple.
- The tertiary: formed by mixing a primary with a secondary.
These three families of colors are what is known as the chromatic base, since all the possible colors arise from it when mixed with each other. This means that there are different nuances that humans can perceive.
Primary colors in Spanish
Primary colors are called basic or pure colors, because these are not achieved by mixing other colors, but rather they give life to the rest.
Yellow objects and things
Blue objects and things
Red objects and things
Secondary Colors in Spanish
Secondary colors arise by mixing the primary colors with each other:
- Green: Obtained by mixing yellow and blue.
- Orange: result of mixing yellow and red.
- Purple: mix of red and blue.
Green objects and things
Orange objects and things
Purple objects and things
Tertiary colors
Tertiary colors are made by mixing a primary color with an adjacent secondary color on the color wheel.
For example: red + purple = purplish red / pink.
Pink objects and things
Neutral colors
Neutral colors are those with certain characteristics that distinguish them from the rest of the colors on the color wheel.
Black is the mixture of all colors, while white is the total absence of color.
Black objects and things
Brown objects and things
Grey objects and things
White objects and things
