# Korean Colors Cheat Sheet: Words for Red, Blue, and Everything Between

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Colors come up constantly in everyday conversation, describing a shirt, a paint sample, a traffic light. A dozen color words cover most of what actually gets said out loud.

## The Basics

| Korean | Pronunciation | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 빨간색 | ppal-gan-saek | red |
| 파란색 | pa-ran-saek | blue |
| 노란색 | no-ran-saek | yellow |

Korean color words for the main colors end in 색 (color), attached to a root that describes the shade itself. 빨간색, 파란색, and 노란색 are the three most common starting points. 빨갛다, 파랗다, and 노랗다 are the adjective forms behind these color nouns, used in any register, not just casual speech. Before a noun, they take a modifier form instead: 빨갛다 becomes 빨간, as in 빨간 사과 (a red apple).

## More Core Colors

| Korean | Pronunciation | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 초록색 | cho-rok-saek | green |
| 검은색 | geo-meun-saek | black |
| 흰색 | huin-saek | white |

초록색 covers green, though 녹색 is a near-synonym that shows up more in formal or written contexts. 검은색 and 흰색 fill out the rest of the basics. Neither has a shortened casual form the way red, blue, and yellow do; 까맣다 and 하얗다 exist as separate adjective roots instead of contractions of these nouns.

## Colors That Come Up Less Often

| Korean | Pronunciation | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 보라색 | bo-ra-saek | purple |
| 주황색 | ju-hwang-saek | orange |
| 회색 | hoe-saek | gray |

보라색, 주황색, and 회색 round out a basic palette without needing a paint-store-level vocabulary. 회색 specifically is worth knowing for anything metal, concrete, or overcast-sky colored, since it shows up everywhere once you start listening for it.

## Asking About Color

| Korean | Pronunciation | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 무슨 색이에요? | mu-seun sae-gi-e-yo | What color is it? |
| 다른 색 있어요? | da-reun saek i-sseo-yo | Do you have another color? |

무슨 색이에요? asks the basic question in any shop or when describing an object someone can't see. 다른 색 있어요? is the practical follow-up at a store, since not everything on display is all that's available.

## 색 vs 색깔

| Korean | Pronunciation | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 이 색 예뻐요 | i saek ye-ppeo-yo | This color is pretty |
| 색깔이 다양해요 | saek-kka-ri da-yang-hae-yo | The colors are varied |

색 and 색깔 both mean color, and in everyday speech they're mostly interchangeable, though 색깔 leans slightly more toward describing color in a general or varied sense, as in 색깔이 다양해요, while 색 pairs more naturally with a specific shade name, as in 빨간색 or 이 색. Neither rule is strict enough to worry about getting it wrong in conversation.

That covers the color words you'll actually reach for day to day.

EKC_Colors_CheatSheet.pdf

For the site tree, see the [root Markdown](https://easykoreanchat.com/.md).