Colors

Use of color words is more complex in Korean than in English. See below for more details and examples.

Color	Example	Native Korean	Sino-Korean (Chinese)
Red		빨간색, 빨강	적 <赤>, 홍 <紅>
Maroon			적갈색 <赤褐色>
Pink		진분홍색, 꽃분홍색
Pink		분홍색, 핑크색
Light Pink		연분홍색
Orange		주황색	주황 <硃黃>
Orange		오렌지색
Apricot		살색]]/살구색	※참고↓
Yellow		노란색, 노랑	황 <黃>
Yellow		연노랑색
Beige		베이지색
Yellow		아이보리색
Green		초록색	녹 <綠>, 초록색]] <草綠色>
Light Green		연두색
Green		카키색
Green		청록색
Navy Blue		남색,네이비
Blue		파란색, 파랑	청 <靑>
Sky Blue		하늘색
Purple		보라색	자주 <紫硃>
Purple		연보라색
Brown		밤색
Brown		갈색	갈 <褐>
Brown		황토색
White		하얀색, 하양, 흰색	백 <白>
Light Gray		밝은 회색
Gray		회색	회 <灰>
Gray		진회색
Black		검은색, 검정, 까만	흑 <黑>
Silver		은색	은색 <銀色> (glitter)
Gold		금색	금색 <金色> (glitter)

※살색(flesh-colored)은 인종차별적인 단어라고 여겨져, 2005년에 정식명칭이 살구색(apricot)이라고 바뀌었지만, 아직도 살색이라는 단어가 더 흔히 쓰이고 있다.

Use of color words is more complex in Korean than in English.

In English, a single color word can nearly always be used for multiple different grammatical roles and contexts. In Korean, there are various different patterns.

In English, each color word like "yellow" can be used both as adjective ("the yellow flower", "The flower is yellow."), and as a noun taking various distinct meanings: such as the color yellow itself ("I like yellow."), and yellow paint or light ("It needs more yellow.").

In Korean, on the other hand, all four of the above examples use distinct forms.

노란 꽃 (the yellow flower) 꽃 노랗다. (The flower is yellow.) 노랑 좋아해요. (I like yellow.) 노란색 좋아해요. (I like yellow.) 노란빛 더 필요해요. (It needs more yellow.)

That pattern is used for a small group of colors that have native Korean adjectives (descriptive verbs), such as 노랗다 (yellow) and 하얗다 (white). The normal Korean adjective form expresses the color as a noun modifier: 노란 꽃 (the yellow flower). Related to each adjective is a color noun ending in the sound -앙: 노랑 ("the color yellow"), 하양 ("the color white"). Somewhat confusingly, an alternate color noun can also be created using the modifier form of the adjective with the word 색 ("color"): 노란색 ("the color yellow"), 하얀색 ("the color white").

On the other hand, the majority of Korean color words follow a very different pattern. They use a color base word in combination with the word 색 ("color"):

오렌지색 꽃 (the orange flower) 꽃 오렌지색이에요. (The flower is orange.) 오렌지색 좋아해요. (I like orange.) 오렌지빛 더 필요해요. (It needs more orange.)

The color base word is never used by itself, but always in combination with a noun like 색 (color), or 빛 (shade, hue, tint).

In the table above you will be able to see that each color word is one of these two types.