Iro - Guide to Colors in Japanese

Do you know the colors in Japanese? Talking about colors in nihongo can be more complicated than it looks. There are a couple of important points regarding its usage. There may be several ways to speak a certain color in Japanese.

Some colors were adapted from another language and were written in katakana. Not to mention how to use them as an adjective or not. In this article, we will try to quickly and basicly explain colors in the Japanese language.

The Colors in Japanese - Primary

Primary colors in Japanese are adjectives that end with the letter "i" [い]. But in no way is it wrong to write the colors without the "i" there are some rules that we will see. First let's see the table of primary colors:

Hiragana	Kanji	Rōmaji	Portuguese
あかい	red	red	Red
あおい	blue	aoi	Blue green
きいろい	yellow	yellow	Yellow
しろい	white	white	White
くろい	black	black	Black

We can notice the use of the kanji Iroi [色] in the color yellow, which means color, while the other colors do not need it. So basically it's like you're saying: Color yellow instead of yellow. We're not going to discuss these little quirks.

You may have noticed that green and blue are the same thing, wait for us to explain later.

adjective of colors in japanese

To give color to things, like any adjective that ends with "i", you simply put the noun in front.

Hiragana	Kanji	Rōmaji	Portuguese
あかいくるま	赤い車	akai kuruma	a red car
きいろいほん	黄色い本	kiiroi hon	a yellow book
しろいマグ	白いマグ	shiroi magu	a white mug
くろいペン	黒いペン	kuroi pen	a black pen

However, when you want to say that something "is" a certain color, you must drop the "i" from the word. Example:

Kanji	Rōmaji	Portuguese
車は赤です	kuruma wa aka desu	The car is red
本は黄色です	hon wa kiiro desu	the book is yellow
マグは白です	magu wa shiro desu	the mug is white
ペンは黒です	pen wa kuro desu	the pen is black

This rule applies only to primary colors, as there are other colors that are not adjectives "i". You can also use the form without "i" to refer to the color.

You are not obliged to use the adjective "i" to refer to some things, such as:

Kana	Kanji	Rōmaji	Portuguese
あかワイン	赤ワイン	akawain	Red wine
くろねこ	黒猫	Kuroneko	Black cat

Blue and Green in Japanese

In fact, there is the word Midori [緑] which means green. however, the word [青い] can mean either "blue" or "green" depending on the occasion. "Aoi" refers to all shades of green and blue as an entire spectrum.

You can even notice the similarity between the colors blue and green, as in a car, some say it's green others say it's blue, that's the point of the word.

So, occasionally, when we are going to call something green, the Japanese people use Ao.

Kana	Rōmaji	Portuguese
くさはあおです.	Kusa wa Ao desu.	The grass is green.
あおしんごう	aoshingo	green light (traffic sign)

Curiosity: Japanese traffic lights are actually a bit bluish compared to those in the West.

The Japanese also consider the ocean “Ao”, which makes sense considering that sea water is as green up close as it is blue from a distance.

But don't forget that there is a word to refer to the Green: "Midori" [緑].

Other Colors in Japanese

The other colors are not the adjectives "i", and have no complications.

Kana	Kanji	Rōmaji	Portuguese	Grades
こん- いろ	紺色	kon ou koniro	dark blue	a tone of To (blue green)
みずいろ	水色	mizuiro	light blue	literally "the color of water", a shade of To.
みどり	green	green	green	even in the English sense - bright green and dark green, a shade of To
むらさき	purple	murasaki	violet / purple	There is no distinction between "violet" and "purple" in Japanese.
オレンジ (オレンジいろ)		orenji (orenjiiro)	orange	a similar color is daidaiiro (dark orange)
ピンク		pink	rose	a similar color is Momoiro"peach color"
ちゃいろ	brown	brown	brown	literally "tea color"
はいいろ	Gray	Gray	gray	literally "gray color", another word is nezumiiro "color mouse"
きんいろ	金色	golden	gold	kin is the "gold" metal
ぎんいろ	銀色	gin'iro	silver	gin is the "silver" metal
せいどう		seidou	Scarlet
しゅいろ	深緑	shuiro	green	Dark green
あかねいろ		akaneiro	Bronze
ももいろ	桃色	momoiro	Rose	momo means peach, and the peach is pink.
ベージュ	黄緑	be-ju kimidori	beige	Kimimidori means yellow green
グレー		Gure	Gray
だいだいいろ	橙色	Daidairo	Dark orange
あいいろ	藍色	Aiiro	Indigo Blue
こげちゃいろ	焦げ茶色	Kogechairo	Brown
やまぶきいろ	brown	Yamabukiiro	bright yellow
ターコイズ	銅色	Ta-koizu	lilac	(Kanji is Akaganeiro)

Many colors, is a normal word (like Gold and Peach) + [color 色]. So if you want to say that one thing has the color of another, you say [Word] + [Iro 色.]

Example sentences for colors in Japanese

Unlike colors that have an adjective "i" in most cases you will need to use the particle "no" の to say that something has a certain color. Examples:

Kana	Rōmaji	Portuguese
みどりのかばん	Midori no kaban	green bag
紫の自転車	Murasaki no jitensha	purple bike

ing that the way of saying that something is a certain color remains the same. Example: 自転車は紫です- Jitensha wa murasaki desu.

To ask "what color" is one thing, you can use the word question nani-iro.

Kana	Rōmaji	Portuguese
何色ですか.	Nani-iro desu ka?	What color is this?
オレンジです.	Orenji desu.	And orange.

Well, that was a little color explanation in Japanese. Hope you liked it, leave your comment, share and follow us on social media.

Watch a video of the pronunciation of colors, for you to practice: