[Grammar] yellower or more yellow (colour adjectives)

[Meja]

Hello, Teacher,

I rarely come across the comparatives of colour adjectives in English. Are these comparative forms correct and are both ways possible for some of them:

redder, bluer, greener, pinker, whiter, blacker, browner, grayer,
yellower and more yellow, more purple, more orange, more violet?

Thanks!

 

[Rover_KE]

The usual guideline applies: use 'more' before multi-syllable words. (There are exceptions: 'yellower' is fairly common.)

 

[Meja]

I guess "multi" refers to 3 or more syllables. Except violet(which probably shouldn't have been mentioned at all), all the adjectives are either monosyllabic or disyllabic.

 

[Rover_KE]

I was too lazy to type 'disyllabic or multisyllabic'.

You've shamed me into it.

 

[Meja]

So, all the comparatives I have written are correct?
I am confused and wanted to check because I have never heard "pinker" and some others.
On the other hand, I heard "more red" on TV, which is not in accordance with the rules.

 

[Rover_KE]

I deliberately avoided the word 'rule'.

I said 'guideline'.

You can expect to find many exceptions to this guideline.

 

[Meja]

Fine, no rules and no answers.

 

[MikeNewYork]

Your comparatives are all correct, but other individuals could use different words. There are no hard and fast rules. I doubt that anybody would use "violeter".

 

[Raymott]

I have never heard "pinker" and some others.

'Pinker' is a less understandable concept, since pink is a combination of red and white. Most of the other colours you've mentioned occur on the light spectrum, or rainbow.
So, if you have a can of red paint, do you need to add a lot of white, or very little white to get the pinkest colour?

 

[MikeNewYork]

One could ask the same about any color that is not a primary color: orange is made from red and yellow; purple is made from red and blue; green is made from blue and yellow, etc.

 

[Meja]

I'd say that deep pink or bright pink is the pinkest shade, while light pink is "less pink" according to my perception, but I understand your point that it could be relative.
Thanks for all the answers.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I agree with you. "Pink" is not a single color. There is a spectrum in the color called "pink".