Colour words and gender
Arabic · Key Stage 1 · The School
Six common colours
أَحْمَر (aḥmar) red. أَزْرَق (azraq) blue. أَصْفَر (aṣfar) yellow. أَخْضَر (akhḍar) green. أَسْوَد (aswad) black. أَبْيَض (abyaḍ) white. Notice they all start with أ. Say each one slowly, several times, until your mouth gets used to the shape. Try each one now.
The masculine form
These six words, as they are, describe MASCULINE things. A red book: كِتاب أَحْمَر. A blue pen: قَلَم أَزْرَق. Say them together, noun then colour, in that order. Arabic puts the colour word after the thing it describes, not before it.
The feminine form changes
For FEMININE things, most colour words change shape. Red becomes حَمْراء (ḥamrāʾ), not أَحْمَر. Blue becomes زَرْقاء (zarqāʾ). A red car: سَيّارة حَمْراء. Notice the whole word changes, not just an ending added on. This is a real Arabic pattern.
Describing four objects correctly
Describe four things, choosing the right colour form each time. A book is masculine: كِتاب أَحْمَر, a red book. A car (سَيّارة) is feminine: سَيّارة حَمْراء, a red car. A pen is masculine: قَلَم أَزْرَق, a blue pen. A school (مَدْرَسة) is feminine: مَدْرَسة زَرْقاء, a blue school. Two masculine things kept the plain colour word. Two feminine things needed the changed, feminine form instead.
Colours all around you
Look around the room and name three colours you can see, in Arabic. Point at each object as you say its colour. Colours are some of the most useful words you can learn, because you can practise them absolutely anywhere.