Japanese colours game
Twelve colours, and several of them say what they are made of. Chairo is tea colour for brown, mizuiro is water colour for light blue, kiiro is yellow colour. Two more, orenji and pinku, are English borrowed straight in.
12 words 5 games Free · no signup
Five games take this set, and at twelve entries it is one of the quickest here. Pop Quiz is the fastest way to find which colours you are still translating rather than recognising.
The 12 words you will practise
| Japanese | English | Say it like |
|---|---|---|
| 赤 あかaka | red | AH-kah |
| オレンジorenji | orange | oh-REN-jee |
| 黄色 きいろkiiro | yellow | KEE-roh |
| 緑 みどりmidori | green | mee-DOH-ree |
| 青 あおao | blue | AH-oh |
| 紫 むらさきmurasaki | purple | moo-rah-SAH-kee |
| ピンクpinku | pink | PEEN-koo |
| 茶色 ちゃいろchairo | brown | CHAH-ee-roh |
| 黒 くろkuro | black | KOO-roh |
| 白 しろshiro | white | SHEE-roh |
| 灰色 はいいろhaiiro | grey | HYE-ee-roh |
| 水色 みずいろmizuiro | light blue | mee-zoo-EE-roh |
Want the explanations rather than the drill? Read the Japanese colors lesson.
5 games run on this set
- Sky Rescue: 10 rounds
- Pop Quiz: 10 rounds
- Kraken Escape: 48 rounds
- Warp Run: 10 rounds
- Flooded Hold: 6 rounds
Questions
Why do some colours end in -iro?
Iro means colour, and the compounds spell out where the shade came from: chairo from tea, mizuiro from water, haiiro from ash. Aka, ao, kuro and shiro are older words that need no such help.
Is ao blue or green?
Blue, but historically it covered both, and the overlap survives. A green traffic light is still called ao, and so are some green apples and fresh leaves. Midori is the modern word for green and is in this set too.
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