Colours in Irish, and Why the Adjective Follows the Noun

Colour words are a fun place to start with Irish adjectives, because they show two key rules at once: word order and mutation.

The colours

English	Irish
red	dearg
blue	gorm
green	glas
yellow	buí
white	bán
black	dubh
orange	oráiste
pink	bándearg
brown	donn
grey	liath
purple	corcra

Glas covers green, especially grass and plants, and can also mean a grey-blue shade in some phrases.

The adjective follows the noun

In English we say "a black cat". In Irish the noun comes first:

• cat dubh — a black cat
• teach bán — a white house
• leabhar dearg — a red book

Feminine nouns and lenition

After a feminine noun, the adjective's first consonant is lenited (softened, shown by adding h):

Noun (gender)	Phrase	Meaning
bó (feminine)	bó bhán	a white cow
bróg (feminine)	bróg dhubh	a black shoe
carr (masculine)	carr bán	a white car

This is one reason learners are told to learn each noun's gender with the word. The dictionary shows it for you.

Useful sentences

• Tá an ghrian buí. — The sun is yellow.
• Tá an spéir gorm. — The sky is blue.
• Is maith liom an carr dearg. — I like the red car.

Other colour words

• uaine — bright green, often used for the green of shamrocks and Ireland's national colours.
• rua — reddish-brown or red-haired, as in fear rua (a red-haired man).

Tips

1. Learn nouns with their gender.
2. Practise noun + adjective pairs.
3. Use the dictionary to check adjective forms.

Look up any word with English Irish Dictionary →