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JLPT N5Adjectives

色— Colors: Adjective vs Noun

A small set of core colors behave as true い-adjectives and attach directly to a noun. All other colors are nouns and must link to a noun with の.

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Pro lessonUNIT 34 · ADJECTIVES

Structure · 形

[い-adjective color]い + [Noun] | [Noun color] + の + [Noun]

Examples · 例文

  • 赤い車が好きです。

    Akai kuruma ga suki desu.

    I like red cars.

    赤い (red, い-adjective) attaches directly to 車 (car); no の needed.

  • 緑のシャツを買った。

    Midori no shatsu o katta.

    I bought a green shirt.

    緑 (green) is a noun, so it must be linked to シャツ with の.

  • 妹はピンクの服が好きです。

    Imouto wa pinku no fuku ga suki desu.

    My little sister likes pink clothes.

    ピンク (pink) is a noun-color, so it must link to 服 with の.

Usage notes · 注意

  • The core い-adjective colors: 赤い (red), 青い (blue), 白い (white), 黒い (black), 黄色い (yellow), 茶色い (brown). The truly ancient four are 赤・青・白・黒; 黄色い and 茶色い are built from the nouns 黄色/茶色 plus い.
  • Noun colors: 緑 (green), 紫 (purple), ピンク (pink), オレンジ (orange), 灰色 (gray) etc. are nouns and require の to modify another noun (緑のシャツ, ピンクの花).

Commonly confused with

The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones 色 is tested against.

vsな-adjectives (e.g. きれいな)

な-adjectives always use な before a noun; い-adjective colors use their own い form (赤い車), never な.

vsNoun colors with の

Unlike 赤い which attaches directly, noun colors like 緑・紫 cannot conjugate and must borrow の to modify a noun.

More adjectives

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