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Certain colour adjectives are invariable—that is, they never change regardless of the gender and number of the noun. All of these adjectives are derived from nouns.
Take orange for example. As in English, in French orange refers to both the colour and the fruit (une orange ). Though you can certainly have de multiples oranges (multiple oranges), the adjective form of the word never changes, even in the plural. This applies to all colours that are derived from nouns.
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Wouldn't "rose" also be derived from a noun? Also what are some other examples of colours derived from nouns? I'm drawing a blank haha
Yes it does and rose is an exception. I am not sure why, but it does change in the plural to roses.
Why do we not pronounce the "s" at the end of "poches" leading into "orange?" Should we pronounce it "poche sorange," since "poches" is followed by a vowel?
Liaisons are forbidden:
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Before and after et ("and").
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After singular nouns (including proper nouns and names).
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After inversions (which you'll learn in "Questions").
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Before an aspirated H (e.g. héros - "hero").
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After a nasal sound, except that un, on, and en do liaise.
----from tips and notes in “Phrases”
Maybe this situation belongs to 3.
- 1715
That may be but "brun" is generally used to refer to hair or skin color, not the color of objects.
I made the same mistake again, "oranges". Mmmm! As our language has no plural form or no gender form, I'm always confused. Our language is Japanese.
- 1715
There are some colors which change form for masculine/feminine and singular/plural. Others are invariable in regard to gender but not to number. Still others are invariable for both gender and number. Here is a link that will tell you everything you need to know about it. https://www.thoughtco.com/french-adjective-of-color-1368982
I can't remember rules about this stuff, which always seem to have so many exceptions that it's impossible to make a rule. All I take away is like determining the gender of nouns, or spelling -- "Just keep practicing until the right option is clearly embedded in your brain and the wrong one feels weird."
Why is the adjective "orange" singular and not "oranges" plural to agree with the noun "poches"
- 1715
Never. Some BrE speakers use "has got" instead of "has". The FR "des" is the plural of "une". In an effort to translate each and every French word into English, some people use "some" but it is unnecessary and is almost always ignored in English in this context. https://www.thoughtco.com/du-de-la-des-1368977
Remember the "rules" came after the spoken language. The "rule" are only "guides" and should be referred to as "guides"!!! I believe ;-)
- 1715
I'm not sure what "rules" you're talking about. When standard practice is put into writing, it may be referred to as a rule, but many people do not follow it for reasons of being unfamiliar with it or by reason of speaking informally. It's the same in French and English.
I thought I could use 'brun' for 'brown'. Please translate meaning for 'marron'.
I made the same mistake! Marron totally sounds like maroon to me. But, apparently, brun is only used when referring to hair or skin color. Go figure!
