Ways to say it
| French | IPA |
|---|---|
| marron | /ma.ʁɔ̃/ |
| brun | /bʁœ̃/ /bʁɛ̃/ (France, Northern, Paris) |
Both words mean having a brown color, but they are used in different contexts. Brun is typically used to describe hair or a dark complexion, and it can also refer to very dark, earthy tones. In French, color terms typically follow the noun they describe, such as des cheveux bruns.
Which one should you use?
The forms differ in how they behave grammatically. Brun is a standard adjective that changes its form to match gender and number, such as brune for feminine or brunes for plural. In contrast, marron is an invariable adjective, meaning it does not change its form to reflect gender or number.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Quebec, Canada, brun is preferred over marron as the formal word for brown.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
Because marron is invariable, it does not take an 's' even when describing plural items. For example, you would say des chaussures marron.
How do you pronounce it?
/ma.ʁɔ̃/
Did you know?
- The word marron comes from the Spanish word cimarrón via West Indies creole.
- In France, using brun to describe an object like a shoe instead of marron can sound overly poetic or dated.
- While brun describes hair color, the term brune is also used as a noun to describe a brown-haired woman.
Examples in context
- Le pain est brun.The bread is brown.This sentence shows how to use brun to describe the color of bread.Tatoeba #1598949 by martin9, translation #2353529 by kerbear407
- Le livre est brun.The book is brown.This sentence shows how to use brun to describe the color of a book.Tatoeba #7919920 by hennebert, translation #5256992 by solejar
- Lequel est marron ?Which is brown?This sentence demonstrates a question using marron to identify a brown object.Tatoeba #844179 by sacredceltic, translation #687702 by lukaszpp
- La table est de couleur marronThe table is brown in color
- Il porte un costume brunHe is wearing a brown suit
- J'ai acheté une robe marron caféI bought a coffee brown dress
- Ce sac à main est de couleur chocolatThis handbag is brown in color
- 93 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Lucas and Manon are shopping for home decor.
- LucasEst-ce que tu préfères ce vase marron ?Do you prefer this brown vase?
- ManonNon, je préfère le vase bleu.No, I prefer the blue vase.
- LucasLe bleu est très joli aussi.The blue one is very pretty too.
- ManonOui, mais le marron est trop foncé.Yes, but the brown one is too dark.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “brown” translations and entries marron, brun, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries brun, marron, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
