Nuances
To nuance these adjectives, we also use these other adjectives:
· Light - clair
· Dark - foncé
· Bright – Vif (feminine vive)
· Pale - pâle
French Color Adjectives and Names of Stones, Fruits, Flowers etc...
Adjectives coming from nouns of fruits, precious stones or flowers are invariable, in general. Some common colors coming from fruits/ stones / flowers include:
· Marron (horse chestnut)
· Noisette (hazelnut)
· Olive (olive)
· Citron (lemon)
· Orange (orange)
· Abricot (apricot)
· Lavande (lavender)
· Fuschia (fuschia)
· Turquoise (turquoise)
· Brique (brick)
· Bronze (bronze)
· And the list goes on and on...
so, since these do not change, you would say:
· Des cravates orange – orange ties (not oranges)
· Des yeux marron – brown eyes (not marrons)
· Des yeux noisette – hazel eyes (not noisettes)
· Des fleurs fuschia - fuschia color flowers (not fuschia/e/s)
· Des chaussures citron - lemon color shoes (not citron/e/s)
· Des pantalons cerise - cherry color pants (not cerises)
·
Except for “pourpre (purple red), mauve, rose, écarlate (scarlet red), fauve (fawn), incarnat (crimson red)” which agree with the number and gender of the noun they modify.
· Des chaussures roses – pink shoes
Des chaussures violettes- violet shoes
When Several Adjectives Form One Single Color in French
When a color uses several colors, or an adjective of nuance, then the color adjectives are invariable.
· Une Chemise bleu vert (not bleue verte)
· Des yeux gris bleu (not gris bleus)
· Une robe vert pâle. (not verte pâle) source french.about.com
