German · Time, Numbers & Colors

"Gray" in German: grau

grau

Say it: GROWadjective/ɡʁaʊ/

Gray in German is grau. Say Der Himmel ist grau or graue Haare. Forms change with gender and case: graues, grauer, graue.

Weather

Heute ist der Himmel richtig grau.
Today the sky is really gray.
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How to pronounce grau

Say it

GROW

/ɡʁaʊ/

GROW. Like English grow with a German r.

"Gray" in German: quick reference

GermanEnglish
graugray / grey

Base form.

graue / graues / grauergray (inflected)

Before nouns.

in Grauin gray

Clothes / paint.

hellgrau / dunkelgraulight / dark gray

Shades.

How to use grau in real life

  1. 1Weather

    Heute ist der Himmel richtig grau.

    Today the sky is really gray.

    Ist … grau.

  2. 2Clothes

    Ich nehme den grauen Mantel mit.

    I'll take the gray coat along.

    Grauen Mantel.

  3. 3Hair

    Er hat schon ein paar graue Haare.

    He already has a few gray hairs.

    Graue Haare.

Mistakes English speakers make with grau

Incorrect: ein grau Mantel

Correct: ein grauer Mantel

Decline: grauer Mantel.

Incorrect: das Gray

Correct: grau / in Grau

Use grau for the color.

Good to know

Grau is weather vocabulary all winter. Fashion loves Grau for neutrals; hellgrau and dunkelgrau fine-tune the shade.

Try it in a ChatPal conversation

Choosing a laptop sleeve

  1. ChatPal

    Willst du Schwarz oder Grau?

    Do you want black or gray?

  2. You

    Grau. Das hellgraue Teil wirkt weicher.

    Gray. The light-gray one looks softer.

  3. ChatPal

    Stimmt. In Grau sieht der Fleck weniger stark aus.

    True. In gray the stain shows less.

  4. You

    Dann kaufe ich die graue Hülle.

    Then I'll buy the gray sleeve.

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"Gray" in other languages

FAQ

Common questions about "Gray" in German

How do you say gray?

Grau.

Gray coat?

Ein grauer Mantel.

In gray?

In Grau.

Light gray?

Hellgrau.

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