Learn the Colors in Japanese: A Complete Guide

Colors add detail and texture to your words and paint an image in your listeners’ minds. Learning the colors in Japanese will add more vibrancy to your language.  Be sure to check out our learning Japanese page for more lessons to improve your skills!

Let’s begin by taking a look at the two different adjective forms for colors in Japanese.

Colors in Japanese:  Noun Form

Let’s start with the basics. There are two forms of colors in Japanese. The noun form and the adjective form.

What is the difference? It’s the same as English; the noun form is used to talk about the color itself, not to modify another noun.

For Example:

1. I like red.
2. What color is this? It’s red.

The adjective form is the opposite. You ONLY use it to modify nouns/objects. This means that you will put a color directly in front of whatever you are describing.

Examples:

1.  A red car.
2. A blue house.

Japanese colors are the same, except that the word for noun colors and adjectival colors can be slightly different. Let’s take a closer look at both of these forms.

First, here is a list of the colors in Japanese in their noun forms.

Noun Colors

色 (Iro): Color

You may have noticed that some of the colors end with the word 色 (iro). Iro means color, and as a suffix, it means the “color of -.” It is added to the color names when we want to talk about the colors themselves.

1.  I like purple. 紫色が好きです。 Murasaki iro ga suki desu.
2.  What’s your favorite color? I like blue. 好きな色は何ですか。青色が好きです。 Sukina iro wa nan desu ka? Aoiro ga suki desu.

Some of the basic color names already end in -iro. These are special cases:

1. Yellow 黄色 きいろ Kiiro
2. Brown 茶色 ちゃいろ Chairo

“Cha” means “tea,” and -iro is added to make it a color word (cha-iro: the color of tea).

For kiiro, the -iro suffix is added not for grammatical reasons, but just to make the word easier to pronounce and conjugate.

Using Colors in Their Noun Form

You can use colors in their noun form to describe something, but the color must always come AFTER the object/subject. Example: (Object/subject is/are {color}).

Example Sentences:

1.  This car is red. この車は赤です。 (Kono kuruma wa aka desu)
2.   His hair is brown. 彼の髪の毛は茶色です。 (Kare no kaminoke wa chairo desu)
3.  Bananas are yellow. バナナは黄色です。 (Banana wa kiiro desu)

Putting a color in its noun form directly in front of an object/subject is not correct.

Wrong:

1.  Red car: 赤車 – あかくるま (Aka kuruma)
2. Black trousers (pants in the US): 黒ズボン – くろずぼん (kuro zubon)

If you want to describe an object/subject by putting a color directly in front of it (to modify the object/subject), it MUST be in the adjective form. We’ll talk about more below.

How to Conjugate Colors: Nouns and Adjectives

There are two ways to conjugate colors in Japanese: the noun form and adjective form. The adjective form, which we’ll get to later, applies only to the primary colors: red, blue, yellow, white, black, and brown. All other colors are adjectival nouns, or what is known as no-adjectives.

Conjugating Japanese Colors:  Noun Colors (No-Adjectives)

No-adjectives take the particle の (no) before a noun. Let’s look at some examples.

1.  Green dress: 緑のワンピース (Midori no wanpiisu)
2.  Orange flower: オレンジの花 (Orenji no hana)
3. Purple shoes: 紫の靴 (Murasaki no kutsu)

Let’s look at these in a sentence.

Example Sentences:

1.  Your green dress is cute. – あなたの緑のワンピースはかわいいです。 (Anata no midori no wanpiisu wa kawaii desu)
2.  I want an orange flower. – オレンジの花がほしいです。 (Orenji no hana ga hoshii desu)
3.  She is wearing purple shoes. – 彼女が紫の靴を履いています。 (Kanojo ga murasaki no kutsu o haiteimasu)

No-adjective colors can also be used with the suffix -iro.

Consider the Examples From Above:

1.  Green dress 緑色のワンピース (Midori-iro no wanpiisu)
2.  Orange flower オレンジ色の花 (Orenji-iro no hana)
3.  Purple shoes 紫色の靴 (Murasaki-iro no kutsu)

The colors are still no-adjectives, even with -iro added. The meaning is the same.

So, When Do We Use -Iro?

There is no hard and fast rule, but in general, adding -iro makes it more polite while omitting it is more casual. You are sure to come across both in your studies, so take note of the context when you see it, giving you a feel for how each is commonly used.

All colors other than the few adjective-form colors we will talk about next, are no-adjectives and are used the same way.

*Note: オレンジ (orenji) is an English loan word. There is an older native Japanese word for orange, 橙色 だいだいいろ (daidaiiro), but this is usually only seen on paints, crayons, and other art supplies. (Daidai is a type of citrus fruit.)

Noun Colors: Negative Form

To turn a color in its noun form, you just need to put じゃない (ja nai) or ではない (dewa nai) after it.  じゃない is used in more casual situations.  ではない is still casual, but slightly more formal than じゃない.

**If you would like to use the polite form, drop the ない (nai) at the end of both forms and add ありません (arimasen).

Examples:

1. 赤じゃありません。 (aka ja arimasen)  /  赤ではありません。(aka dewa arimasen)
2. 黒じゃありません。(kuro ja arimasen)  /  くろではありません。(kuro dewa arimasen)

Noun Colors: Past Tense Form

To describe a noun color in the past tense,  you’ll add だった (datta) or でした (deshita) after it.  だった is the casual form, while でした is the polite form.

Noun Colors: Negative Past Tense Form

To change a noun color (or any type of noun) into the negative past tense form, you just need to add either じゃなかった (ja nakatta) or ではなかった (dewa nakatta) after it.  Both of these are in the casual form.

**For the polite form on the negative past tense, you’ll use じゃありませんでした (ja arimasen deshita) or ではありませんでした (dewa arimasen deshita) instead.

Examples:

1. 赤じゃありませんでした。 (aka ja arimasen deshita)  /  赤ではありませんでした。(aka dewa arimasen deshita)
2. 黒じゃありませんでした。(kuro ja arimasen deshita)  /  くろではありませんでした。(kuro dewa arimasen deshita)

Colors in Japanese:  Adjective Form

As I mentioned earlier, the primary noun colors also have an adjective form. Let’s take a look at these.

Adjective Colors

Using Colors in Their Adjective Form – Examples:

Adjectives ending in い (i) can be placed before a noun to modify it.

1. Brown dog: 茶色い犬 (Chairoi inu)
2. Blue ocean: 青い海 (Aoi umi)
3. Red apple: 赤いりんご (Akai ringo)

Sentence Examples:

1.  I have a brown dog. 茶色い犬を飼っています。 Chairoi inu o katteimasu.
2. I want to swim in the blue ocean. 青い海に泳ぎたいです。 Aoi umi ni oyogitai desu.
3. That red apple looks delicious. あの赤いりんごはおいしそうです。 Ano akai ringo ha oishisou desu.

Color adjectives function like any other adjective and can be conjugated in the same way.

Conjugating Japanese Colors:  Adjectives

Here are all of the ways to conjugate the adjective form of colors in Japanese.

Color Adjectives: Negative Form

Make the negative form of color adjectives by dropping -い (i) at the end and adding -くない (kunai).

Example Sentences:

1.  The curtains aren’t red. カーテンは赤くないです。 (Kaaten wa akakunai desu)
2. Her bicycle isn’t yellow. 彼女の自転車は黄色くない。 (Kanojo no jitensha wa kiirokunai)
3. Marie’s face isn’t pale. 真理恵の顔色が青くない。(Marie no kaoiro ga aokunai).*

*This is an idiomatic usage, which we will get to later.

Color Adjectives: Past Tense Form

Make the past tense form of color adjectives by dropping -い (i) at the end and adding -かった (katta).

Example Sentences:

1.  Her cat was black. 彼女のねこは黒かったです。Kanojo no neko wa kurokatta desu.
2.  My wedding dress was white. 私のウェディングドレスは白かったです。(Watashi no ueddingu doresu wa shirokatta desu)

Color Adjectives: Negative Past Tense Form

Make the past tense form of color adjectives by dropping the -い (i) at the end and adding -くなかった (kunakatta).

Example Sentences:

1.  Taro’s shoes weren’t red. 太郎の靴は赤くなかった。 Taro no kutsu ha akakunakatta.
2. My dad’s car wasn’t blue. お父さんの車は青くなかったです。 Otousan no kuruma ha aokunakatta desu.

Note that all forms of i-adjectives can be used before -です (desu) or not. Using -desu is polite speech, and omitting it is a more casual style.

There is a slight difference in meaning whether you conjugate the adjective or the copula -desu as past tense. Observe the differences in the following:

Example Sentences:

1. Colors Noun Form: 黒い猫だった くろいねこだった (Kuroi neko datta) It was a black cat.
2. Colors Adjective Form: 猫が黒かった ねこがくろかった (Neko ga kurokatta) The cat was black.

Other Colors

There are many other color names in common use. Here are some of the most common.

These colors are all no-adjectives (colors in their noun form).

*The color names for silver and gold are the same as the names of the metals.

Example Sentences:

1.  She wore a navy blue skirt. 彼女は紺色のスカートを履いた。 (Kanojo ha koniro no sukaato wo haita)
2.  Can I have a pink balloon? ピンクバルーンをもらっていいですか？ (Pinku baruun wo moratte ii desuka)

Cultural Notes on Colors

Throughout this article, you may have noticed that 4 colors are slightly different from the rest: red, blue, black, and white. These colors have a special status. They are the oldest known colors in Japanese, having made their first appearance in the Kojiki, a chronicle of Japan’s history that is part history and part legend, and was written in the 7th century.

These colors maintain their special status today, often forming parts of place names, family names, and are featured heavily in expressions that use colors.

There are unique forms that only apply to these colors. The following colors have the character 真 (ma), which means pure, added before them.

Extreme Colors in Japanese

Example Sentences:

1.  His face was bright red. 彼の顔は真っ赤だった。 (Kare no kao wa makka datta)
2.  The night is pitch black. 夜は真っ黒です。 (Yoru wa makkuro desu)

Cultural Differences in Color

Historically, these 4 basic colors are thought to have had a broader scope than they do today, and this ambiguity persists in the use of 青 (ao – blue) today. Ao covers a range from green to blue and is used in many places where we would use green in English.

The Most Famous Example Is:

1. Green traffic light: 青信号 あおしんごう (Aoshingo)

But there are many such expressions, including 青松 aomatsu “green pine trees” and 青ねぎ aonegi “green onions” as well.

Japanese Expressions Using Colors

As you can see, mastering the colors and their related expressions adds a rich dimension to your Japanese. You’ve learned all the major colors and some of the more interesting color-related idioms. There’s a lot of information here, so refer back to it when you need it, and enjoy expanding your color vocabulary. Happy studying!