The main colours in European Portuguese are vermelho (red), azul (blue), verde (green), amarelo (yellow), preto (black), branco (white) and castanho (brown). A colour is an adjective that comes after the noun and agrees with it, as in a casa branca. Portugal says castanho for brown, not the Brazilian marrom.
Colour words are among the first you can actually use: pointing at something in a shop, describing a car, saying which door is yours. They are quick to pick up because many look close to related English or Spanish words, like verde and azul.
Almost every colour is shared with Brazil, so a list from either variety mostly works. The two words worth getting right for Portugal are castanho for brown and cinzento for grey, where Brazil reaches for marrom and cinza.
Key takeaways
- The main colours in Portugal are vermelho, azul, verde, amarelo, preto, branco, castanho, cinzento, cor-de-rosa, cor-de-laranja and roxo.
- A colour in European Portuguese is an adjective placed after the noun, so you say a camisola azul, not azul camisola.
- Most colours agree in gender and number with the noun, as in branco, branca, brancos and brancas.
- Portugal says castanho for brown and cinzento for grey, where Brazil uses marrom and cinza.
What are the main colours?
These are the colours you will reach for most often in the Portuguese spoken in Portugal. Learn this core set first, then add shades like dourado for gold or lilás for lilac once the basics are automatic.
| English | European Portuguese |
|---|---|
| Red | vermelho |
| Blue | azul |
| Green | verde |
| Yellow | amarelo |
| Black | preto |
| White | branco |
| Grey | cinzento |
| Brown | castanho |
| Orange | cor-de-laranja |
| Pink | cor-de-rosa |
| Purple | roxo |
Orange and pink are built from the word cor, meaning colour. Cor-de-laranja is literally colour of orange and cor-de-rosa is colour of rose. You will also hear laranja on its own for orange in everyday speech.
How do colours agree with the noun?
A colour in Portugal is an adjective, and it goes after the noun it describes, never before it. You say o carro vermelho for the red car and a porta vermelha for the red door, the opposite order to English.
Most colours change their ending to match the noun in gender and number. Vermelho becomes vermelha for a feminine noun, and vermelhos or vermelhas in the plural. Preto, branco, amarelo, roxo and castanho all follow this same pattern.
Colours ending in -e or a consonant, like verde and azul, keep the same form for both genders. They still add an -s in the plural, so azul becomes azuis. That split between changing and non-changing colours is the one thing to watch.
Colour names borrowed from a noun stay fixed. Cor-de-rosa, cor-de-laranja, bege, violeta and creme do not agree with anything, so you say duas camisolas cor-de-rosa and paredes bege, with no plural ending added.
What changes in European Portuguese?
The colours themselves are almost all shared with Brazil, so a Brazilian word list will serve you for red, blue, green and the rest. Two everyday colours are the exception, and they are worth learning the Portugal way.
Portugal's normal word for brown is castanho. It covers brown objects as well as brown hair and eyes, as in olhos castanhos for brown eyes. Brazil mostly says marrom for brown things and keeps castanho mainly for hair and eyes, so castanho is the safer choice across Portugal Portuguese.
| Portugal | Brazil | English |
|---|---|---|
| castanho | marrom | brown |
| cinzento | cinza | grey |
For grey, Portugal usually says cinzento, as in um céu cinzento for a grey sky, while Brazil tends to say cinza. Both are understood in either country, but cinzento is the form you will see and hear in Portugal.
Portugal also keeps an older word for red, encarnado, which still turns up in sport and traditional contexts alongside the everyday vermelho. You do not need to use it, but it helps to recognise it when a Portuguese speaker does.
How do you practise colours out loud?
Reading a colour off a list is easy. Saying the right ending without thinking, and catching a colour in fast speech, is the part that only speaking practice fixes. The words are few, so the whole task is turning them from recognition into speech.
This is where Fluentus fits. Fluentus teaches the Portuguese spoken in Portugal only, and its AI tutor holds spoken conversations with you 24 hours a day in a real human voice. You describe things by colour out loud, and the tutor corrects both the word and its ending.
Fluentus runs courses from A1 to B2 with smart flashcards built from your own conversations, on iOS and Android. If you are just starting, how to learn European Portuguese from scratch lays out a first path. For the wider word gap, see how European Portuguese differs from Brazilian.
In one sentence: learn the core colours, place them after the noun and match the ending, and use castanho and cinzento in Portugal where Brazil says marrom and cinza.
Frequently asked questions
What are the main colours in Portugal Portuguese?
The main colours are vermelho for red, azul for blue, verde for green, amarelo for yellow, preto for black, branco for white, castanho for brown and cinzento for grey. Orange is cor-de-laranja, pink is cor-de-rosa and purple is roxo. These cover almost everything you need day to day.
Is brown castanho or marrom in Portugal?
In Portugal brown is castanho. It is used for brown objects as well as for brown hair and eyes, as in olhos castanhos. Marrom is the Brazilian word for brown, so you will meet it in Brazilian material, but castanho is the natural choice in the Portuguese spoken in Portugal.
Do Portuguese colours change for gender?
Most do. A colour is an adjective, so vermelho becomes vermelha for a feminine noun and vermelhos or vermelhas in the plural. Colours ending in -e or a consonant, like verde and azul, keep one form for both genders but still add an -s in the plural. Cor-de-rosa and bege never change.
How do you ask what colour something is?
You ask de que cor é, which means what colour is it, or qual é a cor for what is the colour. To answer, name the colour as an adjective after é, as in é azul for it is blue or é castanho for it is brown.