Here are Japanese words for colors & shapes to start with: 黒い (kuroi, black), 青い (aoi, blue), 緑 (midori, green), オレンジ (orenji, orange). Below are 48 words (A1–C2) with their English translations, part of speech and a romanization to help you say them, across 6 themed lists.
| English | Japanese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| black | 黒いkuroi | adj | A1 |
| blue | 青いaoi | adj | A1 |
| green | 緑midori | adj | A1 |
| orange | オレンジorenji | adj | A1 |
| purple | 紫murasaki | adj | A1 |
| red | 赤いakai | adj | A1 |
| white | 白いshiroi | adj | A1 |
| yellow | 黄色kiiro | adj | A1 |
| English | Japanese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| bright | 明るいakarui | adj | A1 |
| brown | 茶色chairo | adj | A1 |
| pink | ピンクpinku | adj | A1 |
| colorful | カラフルkarafuru | adj | A2 |
| amber | 琥珀色kohakuiro | adj | B1 |
| crimson | 深紅shinku | adj | B1 |
| emerald | エメラルドemerarudo | adj | B1 |
| ivory | アイボリーaiborii | adj | B1 |
| English | Japanese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| shade | 色合いiroai | noun | A2 |
| tone | 色調shikichou | noun | A2 |
| pastel | パステルpasuteru | adj | B2 |
| opaque | 不透明なfutoumei na | adj | C1 |
| pigment | 顔料ganryou | noun | C1 |
| vibrant | 鮮やかなazayaka na | adj | C1 |
| chromatic | 色彩のshikisai no | adj | C2 |
| spectrum | スペクトルsupekutoru | noun | C2 |
| English | Japanese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| cool color | 寒色kanshoku | noun | B1 |
| primary color | 原色genshoku | noun | B1 |
| secondary color | 二次色nijiiro | noun | B1 |
| warm color | 暖色danshoku | noun | B1 |
| complementary | 補色のhoshoku no | adj | B2 |
| dye | 染料senryou | noun | B2 |
| hue | 色相shikisou | noun | B2 |
| tint | 明清色meiseishoku | noun | B2 |
| English | Japanese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| bronze | ブロンズburonzu | adj | B1 |
| indigo | 藍色aiiro | adj | B1 |
| lavender | ラベンダーrabendaa | adj | B1 |
| teal | ティールtiiru | adj | B1 |
| khaki | カーキkaaki | adj | B2 |
| olive | オリーブoriibu | adj | B2 |
| scarlet | 緋色hiiro | adj | B2 |
| tan | 黄褐色oukasshoku | adj | B2 |
| English | Japanese | Type | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| diagonal | 対角線taikakusen | noun | B1 |
| ellipse | 楕円daen | noun | B1 |
| hexagon | 六角形rokkakkei | noun | B1 |
| octagon | 八角形hakkakkei | noun | B1 |
| perpendicular | 垂直suichoku | adj | B1 |
| polygon | 多角形takakukei | noun | B1 |
| prism | 角柱kakuchuu | noun | B1 |
| sphere | 球tama | noun | B1 |
Emoji: Twemoji, CC-BY 4.0
Watch Your LanguageVocabulary widgets for iPhone & Apple Watch
These lists show a sample of the A1–C2 words for colors & shapes. The packs in Watch Your Language hold more and reach the advanced levels, along with every other topic.
The app shows them to you a few at a time, in a widget on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, and brings back the ones you keep forgetting.
You could start with words like 黒い (kuroi, black), 青い (aoi, blue), 緑 (midori, green), オレンジ (orenji, orange). This page lists 48 Japanese words for colors & shapes (A1–C2), each with its English translation and part of speech.
Reading a list once is rarely enough. Watch Your Language shows Japanese words like these in a widget on your iPhone Lock Screen and on your Apple Watch face, and schedules repeats so the words you keep forgetting come back more often.
Yes. The lists on this page are free to read, with no sign-up. The app holds more words for each topic.