色々な色 – Japanese Colors
When you start learning Japanese it is easier to learn words that are visual. What words are more visual than colors? Here are the main Japanese Colors.
INDEX
The Four Basic Japanese Colors
There are four basic colors in Japanese. They are basic since they can all be used as adjectives by adding い to the end of them.
白い (しろい、) – white
黒い (くろい、) – black
赤い (あかい、) – red
青い (あおい、) – blue
White – Shiro
The first basic color in Japanese is 白 (しろ、white). This is the same color and used the same way as it is in English. The one exception would be when it is used in the word 白髪 (しらが) which translates to white hair but is used most of the time to mean grey hair in Japanese.
Another side note about 白. This will often be pronounced as しら instead of しろ in many different words such as the one above, 白髪.
Black – Kuro
Black in Japanese is 黒 (くろ). This is the same as the English equivalent.
Red – Aka
Red is also the same in English and Japanese. It is pronounced あか.
Blue – Ao
The word for blue in Japanese is あお. This word in everyday usage today means blue. In the past however it used to refer to blue or green. You still see this when あお is used to refer to certain words. For example, the word 青ネギ (green onions). As an adjective, 青い can mean pale. Like in the phrase 顔が青い, (your) face is pale.
Other Popular Colors
Purple and Green – Murasaki and Midori
First, 紫 (むらさき、) is the word for purple. Unlike the four colors already represented, if you want to use むらさき like an adjective you have to add の. This is the particle in Japanese for showing ownership like the s in English in cat’s food.
Next, 緑(みどり、) is the word for green. It needs to be use with の the same way as purple.
Yellow, Brown and Grey – Kiiro, Chairo, Haiiro
The three words yellow, brown, and grey all are usually used with the word 色 (いろ、）meaning color.
黄色 (きいろ、) – yellow
茶色 (ちゃいろ、) – brown
灰色 (はいいろ、) – grey
オレンジ – Orenji
Finally, the word for orange in Japanese is オレンジ(). It is from the same word as the English word and used the same way.
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