el color amarillo
/el koloɾ amaɾiʝo/from spelling rules
In Spanish, the phrase for the color yellow is el color amarillo.
The term amarillo is the most common and widely understood way to say yellow. It is common in Spanish to use the word color followed by the color name, such as color amarillo, to refer to the specific color.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In some Spanish-speaking regions, especially in Latin America, the informal phrase amarillo limón can be used to refer specifically to a lemon-yellow tone.
How does it change in a sentence?
In Spanish, the noun color comes before the adjective amarillo. When using the color as an adjective to describe something, it must agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies. For example, you would use amarillo for masculine singular nouns (as in El coche amarillo), amarilla for feminine singular nouns (as in La casa amarilla), amarillos for masculine plural nouns and amarillas for feminine plural nouns.
How do you pronounce it?
/el koloɾ amaɾiʝo/
Did you know?
- The word amarillo likely shares its roots with the word 'bitter', as it may be derived from the Latin amarus. This connection suggests the color was originally associated with the bitter, yellowish color of bile.
- If you say someone is amarillo, you might not be describing their clothes, but rather their health. In Spanish, describing a person as amarillo can mean they look sickly or jaundiced.
Examples in context
- María lleva un vestido amarillo muy brillante.María is wearing a very bright yellow dress.
- El coche de Pablo es de color amarillo limón.Pablo's car is lemon-yellow in color.
- La habitación está pintada de color amarillo.The room is painted yellow.
- Me gusta mucho el color amarillo.I really like the color yellow.
- ¿Prefieres el color amarillo o el azul?Do you prefer the color yellow or blue?
- El color amarillo es muy brillante.The color yellow is very bright.
Example conversation
Mateo and Sofía are looking at paint samples in a store.
- MateoSofía, ¿qué te parece el color amarillo?Sofía, what do you think of the color yellow?
- SofíaEs muy bonito, Mateo.It is very pretty, Mateo.
- MateoA mí me encanta el color amarillo.I love the color yellow.
- SofíaEs un color muy alegre.It is a very cheerful color.
Sources
- IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries amarillo, color, el, CC BY-SA 4.0.
