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Scene illustrating a Japanese-language basic colors conversation

Key Phrases

いろ

iro

Color

あかるいいろ

akarui iro

Light color

くらいいろ

kurai iro

Dark color

Skills You'll Learn

Identifying colors

いろのはんべつ

iro no wa n betsu

Describing colors

いろのせつめい

iro no setsumei

Using color vocabulary in sentences

いろのたんごをぶんしょうでつかう

iro no tango o bunshou de tsukau

Lesson Vocabulary & Phrases

🎨

色

iro

Color

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🟥

赤

aka

Red

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🔵

青

ao

Blue

💬 [青] often covers both blue and some things English calls green, depending on context. For example, a green traffic light is usually called [青信号].

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💛

黄

kiiro

Yellow

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💚

緑

midori

Green

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⬛

黒

kuro

Black

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⚪

白

shiro

White

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💡🎨

明るい色

akarui iro

Light color

💬 With color words, [い] at the end often turns them into "-colored" or descriptive words, like [明るい色] for a light color. You can swap in other [い] words the same way: [暗い色] (dark color), [薄い色] (pale color).

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🖤

暗い色

kurai iro

Dark color

💬 [暗い] means dark in the sense of low light or a dark shade, so [暗い色] is a dark-colored thing. The same pattern works elsewhere too, like [暗い部屋] (a dark room).

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🚀

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