Learn Korean color names from basic hues to shades, plus the cultural meaning of colors like red, white, and gold in Korean tradition and everyday life.
Colors are everywhere in daily conversation, from describing clothes to picking a paint swatch. Korean color vocabulary has a small twist that trips up beginners: many colors function as descriptive verbs (irregular ㅎ adjectives), not simple nouns like in English.
| Korean | Romanization | English |
|---|---|---|
| 빨간색 | ppalgansaek | red |
| 파란색 | paransaek | blue |
| 노란색 | noransaek | yellow |
| 초록색 | choroksaek | green |
| 주황색 | juhwangsaek | orange |
| 보라색 | borasaek | purple |
| 분홍색 | bunhongsaek | pink |
| 검은색 | geomeunsaek | black |
| 흰색 | huinsaek | white |
| 갈색 | galsaek | brown |
| 회색 | hoesaek | gray |
| 금색 | geumsaek | gold |
| 은색 | eunsaek | silver |
Most color nouns end in 색 (saek), meaning "color" — 빨간색 literally means "red color." To describe something directly, use the descriptive verb instead (파랗다 → 파래요): 하늘이 파래요 (The sky is blue).
Basic color adjectives (빨갛다, 파랗다, 노랗다, 하얗다, 까맣다) follow the ㅎ irregular pattern — the ㅎ disappears and the vowel changes before -어요.
| Dictionary form | Meaning | -어요 form |
|---|---|---|
| 빨갛다 | to be red | 빨개요 |
| 파랗다 | to be blue | 파래요 |
| 노랗다 | to be yellow | 노래요 |
| 하얗다 | to be white | 하얘요 |
| 까맣다 | to be black | 까매요 |
Why do some colors end in 색 and others don't? 색 is the general suffix for naming a color as a noun. Verb forms like 빨갛다 describe something being that color directly, without needing 색.
Is 파란색 used for both blue and green? Traditionally yes — older Korean grouped blue and green together, which is why 파란불 (a "blue" traffic light) actually refers to the green light. Modern Korean now distinguishes 초록색 for green more clearly.
Colors are a small but essential building block of everyday Korean. Klovers' beginner courses cover exactly this kind of practical, real-life vocabulary so you can describe the world around you from lesson one.