Seven useful Japanese color names are 赤 (あか, aka), red; 青 (あお, ao), blue; 白 (しろ, shiro), white; 黒 (くろ, kuro), black; 黄色 (きいろ, kiiro), yellow; 茶色 (ちゃいろ, chairo), brown; and 緑 (みどり, midori), green. To describe an object, the form matters: a red umbrella is 赤い傘 (あかいかさ, akai kasa), but a green umbrella is 緑の傘 (みどりのかさ, midori no kasa).
That is the job for this page: name these seven colors, then use them to describe something. You do not need a catalogue of every shade.
Learn the names before the endings
These cards give the color names as nouns. The University of Texas at Austin's JOSHU color vocabulary page gives the same readings and English meanings.
The word 色 (いろ, iro) means “color.” You can hear it at the end of 黄色 (きいろ, kiiro) and 茶色 (ちゃいろ, chairo). Keep both i sounds in kiiro: it is not kiro.
Read the cards once. Then look away and try “brown, white, green” in that order. If the answer only comes after reciting the whole list, return to that card on its own.
Put a color before an object
An i-adjective color form sits directly before the thing it describes. A color noun needs の (no) to connect it to the next noun. Fusa Tamaki's “Color Words” lesson in Awa Life, March 2019, explains this distinction and the forms below.
Start with four adjective forms:
For practice, keep the object fixed: 傘 (かさ, kasa), “umbrella.” Change only its color.
- 赤い傘 (あかいかさ, akai kasa): a red umbrella.
- 青い傘 (あおいかさ, aoi kasa): a blue umbrella.
- 白い傘 (しろいかさ, shiroi kasa): a white umbrella.
- 黒い傘 (くろいかさ, kuroi kasa): a black umbrella.
Yellow also has an adjective form: 黄色い (きいろい, kiiroi). A yellow umbrella is 黄色い傘 (きいろいかさ, kiiroi kasa). Brown allows both 茶色い傘 (ちゃいろいかさ, chairoi kasa) and 茶色の傘 (ちゃいろのかさ, chairo no kasa).
Green does not follow that adjective pattern. Use 緑の傘 (みどりのかさ, midori no kasa). Do not add an extra i to midori.
Mango Languages' “How to describe color in Japanese?” explains why the noun pattern is useful when picking one color option from several. It is not a rule that red must always use the adjective form.
Name the color, or describe the umbrella
Compare two short answers:
- 赤です。 (あかです, aka desu): “It is red.” Here you name the color.
- 赤い傘です。 (あかいかさです, akai kasa desu): “It is a red umbrella.” Here you describe the object.
For green, the same contrast is 緑です。 (みどりです, midori desu), “It is green,” and 緑の傘です。 (みどりのかさです, midori no kasa desu), “It is a green umbrella.” The の (no) connects the color to the umbrella; it is not needed in the first answer.
Find your umbrella without guessing
Imagine these labels on a lost-property shelf. This is a practice scene, not a real collection of belongings.
- Shelf A: 白い傘 (しろいかさ, shiroi kasa).
- Shelf B: 緑の傘 (みどりのかさ, midori no kasa).
- Shelf C: 茶色の傘 (ちゃいろのかさ, chairo no kasa).
Your umbrella is brown. Which shelf should you check? Now say “a green umbrella” without looking back. Finally, change the white umbrella's label to “a yellow umbrella.”
Answers: Shelf C; 緑の傘 (みどりのかさ, midori no kasa); 黄色い傘 (きいろいかさ, kiiroi kasa). 黄色の傘 (きいろのかさ, kiiro no kasa) also works for the last answer.
Now test the names out of order. Say the reading and meaning before revealing each card.
茶色Tap to reveal
ちゃいろ chairothe color brown
白Tap to reveal
しろ shirothe color white
緑Tap to reveal
みどり midorithe color green
赤Tap to reveal
あか akathe color red
黒Tap to reveal
くろ kurothe color black
黄色Tap to reveal
きいろ kiirothe color yellow
青Tap to reveal
あお aothe color blue
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Give the next phone check a small task
Before opening your phone, pick an object nearby and name its color in Japanese. If you are unsure, check the cards here. Then try the umbrella phrase with that color. This is a practice suggestion, not an automatic app exercise.
Lock In Japanese places a vocabulary quiz before access to apps you choose to block. Our lock-screen learning guide explains that routine. The quiz on this page is only practice; it does not unlock apps.
For another everyday word group, try JLPT N5 words grouped for daily use. If the kana readings still feel unfamiliar, start with the script introduction in JLPT N5 in your pocket.
Further reading
- University of Texas at Austin, JOSHU: Basic Vocabulary, Colors: kana, romaji and meanings for the color names and adjective forms.
- Fusa Tamaki, “Color Words,” Awa Life, March 2019, printed page 7, Tokushima Prefectural International Exchange Association: adjective endings and color nouns with の (no).
- Mayumi Ito and Isabel McKay, “How to describe color in Japanese?”, Mango Languages: noun connections, sentence endings and choosing between color options.
Every word opens like this in Lock In
Kanji, kana and a real sentence, on your lock screen.
Example sentence from Tatoeba, CC BY 2.0 FR.
Word data: JMdict and KANJIDIC2 (EDRDG), CC BY-SA 4.0, adapted.