kékre

Kékre is a Hungarian color-related form derived from the adjective kék (blue). It is used to express that something is colored toward or into blue, especially in combinations with verbs of coloring such as festeni (to paint) or színezni (to color). In typical sentences the form kékre appears before the conjugated verb, signaling the target color of the action.

Common uses include conveying the result of a coloring process. For example, A falat kékre festették means “They painted the wall blue.” Similarly, A kendőt kékre színezték means “They colored the scarf blue.” The construction focuses on the outcome—the object being blue—rather than describing an existing, inherent color.

Kékre is most natural when the color is a product of an action. If an item is naturally blue, Hungarian generally uses the base color word kék rather than kékre, as in Az autó kék (The car is blue). The kékre form thus functions as a color complement in predication of a change or artificial coloring, rather than a stative descriptor of the object's permanent color.

The term is primarily a grammatical tool in color-verb constructions and is not typically used outside of statements about coloring or dyeing a subject to blue. See also kék and Hungarian color terminology.