What is the difference between い-adjective colors and noun colors in Japanese?

Core colors such as 赤い、青い、白い、黒い、黄色い、and 茶色い can work as い-adjectives. Many other colors, including 緑、紫、オレンジ、ピンク、and 灰色, work as nouns and normally use の before another noun.

How do you say your favorite color in Japanese?

Use 好きな色は〜です: 私の好きな色は青です means My favorite color is blue. To describe an object, use an adjective such as 赤い or a color noun followed by の.

How do you say light blue or dark red in Japanese?

Add 薄い (usui, pale or light) or 濃い (koi, deep or dark) before the color: 薄い青 is pale blue and 濃い赤 is deep red. 水色 is a common word for light blue.

Japanese Colors: Red (Aka), Blue (Ao) and 30-Color Chart

Q: How do you say red in Japanese?

Red is 赤い (あかい, akai) when used as an adjective before a noun or in a sentence. The noun form is 赤 (あか, aka), used when referring to the color itself and in compounds.

Q: How do you say blue and green in Japanese?

Blue is 青い (あおい, aoi) as an adjective. Green is 緑 (みどり, midori), usually used as a noun, so you can say 緑の木 for a green tree or 緑です for it is green.

Red in Japanese is 赤 (aka) as a color, or 赤い (akai) before a noun; blue is 青 (ao) or 青い (aoi). This chart gives 30 everyday color names in kanji, hiragana, and romaji, then shows when to use an い-adjective and when a color stays a noun, such as 緑 (midori).

Quick answers: red is 赤い (akai), blue is 青い (aoi), and green is usually 緑 (midori). Use 赤い本 for “a red book,” but 緑の本 for “a green book.”

Jump to a color: red, blue, white, black · green, purple, pink, orange · traditional and cultural colors

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Fast Japanese Colour Answers

Use these six everyday forms as a starting point. The next sections show when a colour works directly before a noun and when it needs の.

赤 / 赤いaka / akai · red

青 / 青いao / aoi · blue

緑midori · green

黄色いkiiroi · yellow

白いshiroi · white

黒いkuroi · black

い-Adjective Colours (6 core colours)

These six colours are true い-adjectives: they conjugate like たかい, can precede nouns directly, and change form for negatives and past tense.

Colour	日本語	Reading	Romaji	Before noun	Negative
Red	赤い	あかい	akai	赤いバラ	赤くない
Blue	青い	あおい	aoi	青い空	青くない
White	白い	しろい	shiroi	白い雪	白くない
Black	黒い	くろい	kuroi	黒い猫	黒くない
Yellow	黄色い	きいろい	kiiroi	黄色い花	黄色くない
Brown	茶色い	ちゃいろい	chairoi	茶色いかばん	茶色くない

Also used as nouns: Each colour above also has a noun form — 赤、青、白、黒、黄色、茶色 — used when talking about the colour itself: 赤が好きです (I like red), 信号は赤です (the traffic light is red).

Practise colors on iOS

Noun Colours — Modified with の or 〜色

These colours are nouns. To modify another noun, use の: みどりのT-シャツ (green T-shirt). For sentences, use 〜色です or just 〜です.

Colour	日本語	Reading	Romaji	Before noun (の)	In sentence
Green	緑	みどり	midori	みどりの木	葉っぱはみどりです
Purple	紫	むらさき	murasaki	むらさきのドレス	スミレはむらさきです
Orange	オレンジ	おれんじ	orenji	オレンジのかばん	かぼちゃはオレンジです
Pink	ピンク	ぴんく	pinku	ピンクのシャツ	さくらはピンクです
Grey	灰色	はいいろ	haiiro	灰色のくも	空が灰色です
Gold	金色	きんいろ	kin'iro	金色のメダル	トロフィーは金色です
Silver	銀色	ぎんいろ	gin'iro	銀色のリング	リングは銀色です
Beige	ベージュ	べーじゅ	beeju	ベージュのコート	コートはベージュです
Light blue	水色	みずいろ	mizuiro	水色のスカーフ	空は水色です
Dark red/navy	紺	こん	kon	紺のズボン	制服は紺です

い-Adjective Colour Conjugation

Using 赤い as the model — all six い-adjective colours follow this pattern:

Form	赤い (red)	白い (white)
Present positive (polite)	赤いです	白いです
Present negative (polite)	赤くないです / 赤くありません	白くないです
Past positive (polite)	赤かったです	白かったです
Past negative (polite)	赤くなかったです	白くなかったです
Before a noun	赤い + noun	白い + noun
Adverb (turn red)	赤くなる (become red)	白くなる (become white)

How to Describe Colours in Sentences

Pattern	日本語	Translation
[Thing] は [color い] です	このバラは赤いです。	This rose is red.
[color い] + noun	青い空がきれいです。	The blue sky is beautiful.
[noun color] + の + noun	みどりのドレスを着ています。	She is wearing a green dress.
[thing] は [color] 色です	この車はオレンジ色です。	This car is orange-coloured.
What colour is it?	何色ですか。	What colour is it? (nani-iro)
Favourite colour	すきな色は何ですか。	What is your favourite colour?
[Thing] becomes [color]	葉っぱが赤くなります。	The leaves turn red. (autumn)

Light, Dark, and Shade Expressions

Expression	Reading	Meaning	Example
薄い〜	うすい	light / pale	薄い青 = pale blue
濃い〜	こい	dark / deep	濃い赤 = deep red
明るい〜	あかるい	bright	明るいみどり = bright green
暗い〜	くらい	dark	暗い青 = dark blue
〜色	〜いろ	coloured / colour of	オレンジ色 = orange-coloured
〜っぽい	〜っぽい	-ish, somewhat	赤っぽい = reddish

Cultural Notes on Japanese Colours

青 (blue) vs 緑 (green): Historically, Japanese used 青 for both blue and green. Traffic lights in Japan are still called 青信号 even though they appear green. 緑 came into wider use later.
White (白): Associated with purity, funerals, and new beginnings. White envelopes are used for both weddings and funerals — the difference is in the colour of the writing.
Red (赤): Used on New Year cards (年賀状), lucky envelopes, and shrine architecture. 赤ちゃん (baby) comes from 赤 because newborns appear red.
Black (黒): Worn at funerals. Black in 黒板 (kokuban = blackboard) — literally "black board," even though most modern boards are green.
Purple (紫): Historically the colour of the imperial family and highest-ranking officials in the Heian period. Still associated with nobility and refinement.

Printable Japanese Colour Flashcards

Cut or fold these cards after printing. Read the Japanese side first, then use the colour and phrase to check yourself.

赤 / 赤いaka / akai · red

青 / 青いao / aoi · blue

緑midori · green

黄色 / 黄色いkiiro / kiiroi · yellow

白 / 白いshiro / shiroi · white

黒 / 黒いkuro / kuroi · black

紫murasaki · purple

桃色momoiro · pink

Japanese Colour Recall Quiz

Use the colour, then choose the Japanese word or phrase before checking the explanation.

Score: 0 / 0

5 Common Mistakes

Using の with い-adjective colours before a noun. 赤のバラ ✗ → 赤いバラ ✓. い-adjective colours connect directly to nouns. の is for noun colours only.
Using みどりい. みどり is a noun, not an い-adjective. There is no form みどりい. Use みどりの〜 before nouns and みどりです in sentences.
Saying 青くない for "not green." Green is みどり (noun) — its negative is みどりじゃない, not みどりくない.
Confusing 黄色い and 黄色. 黄色い (kiiroi) is the adjective form (yellow as a description). 黄色 (kiiro) is the noun form (the color yellow). Both are useful beginner forms.
Forgetting 何色 reads なにいろ. "What colour?" is 何色ですか (なにいろですか) — not 何の色. The compound counter 色 (いろ) is part of the fixed phrase.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you say red in Japanese?

赤い (あかい, akai) is the adjective form: 赤いバラ (red rose). 赤 (あか, aka) is the noun form: 赤が好きです (I like red).

What is the difference between い-adjective and noun colours?

Six colours are い-adjectives (赤い、青い、白い、黒い、黄色い、茶色い) and connect directly to nouns. All other colours are nouns and need の before a noun: みどりのT-シャツ.

How do you say blue and green in Japanese?

Blue = 青い (あおい). Green = 緑 (みどり, noun). Historically, 青 covered both — which is why Japanese traffic lights are called 青信号 even though they look green.

How do you say your favourite colour?

私のすきな色は〜です: e.g. すきな色は青です (My favourite colour is blue).

How do you say light blue or dark red?

Use 薄い (usui, pale/light) or 濃い (koi, deep/dark): 薄い青 (pale blue), 濃い赤 (deep red). 水色 (mizuiro) is the specific N5 word for light blue.

Which Japanese colors are useful for N5-level study?

A practical beginner set is 赤い、青い、白い、黒い、黄色い、茶色い、緑、紫、ピンク、オレンジ、灰色. The JLPT does not publish a fixed post-2010 vocabulary list, so treat these as useful beginner words rather than an official guaranteed test list.

Sources and Editorial Notes

This chart follows standard beginner usage and distinguishes adjective forms from color nouns. YoruLearn checks beginner terminology against the Japan Foundation’s practical Japanese framework and avoids presenting unofficial vocabulary sets as guaranteed JLPT content.

Related Vocabulary Pages

Japanese Adjectives N5Full い-adjective and な-adjective conjugation. N5 Vocabulary List800 words including all colour vocabulary. Japanese Question Words何色ですか and more question patterns. N5 Practice Test30 questions testing N5 vocabulary.