There are two different ways to say each colour in Mandarin.
Colours as nouns in Mandarin
To start, there are colours as nouns in Mandarin, eg ‘the colour red’ or ‘the colour black’:
| Mandarin | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | hóng sè | red |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | hēi sè | black |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | bái sè | white |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | huáng sè | yellow |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | zǐ sè | purple |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | chéng sè | orange |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | fěn sè | pink |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | zōng sè | brown |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | lán sè | blue |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | lǜ sè | green |
These can be used in Mandarin alongside:
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. Wǒ xǐ huān - I like
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. Wǒ bù xǐ huān - I don’t like
For example:
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. Wǒ xǐ huān zǐ sè - I like the colour purple
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. Wǒ bù xǐ huān bái sè - I don’t like the colour white
Colours as adjectives in Mandarin
To use colours as adjectives in Mandarin, the particle ‘Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. de’ is added at the end to express possession.
For example, to describe the colour of on object, eg clothing, as red in Mandarin you would need to use Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. hóng sè de, rather than Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. hóng sè. Here are some other examples:
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. Zhè shì yī jiàn bái sè de chèn shān - This is a white shirt
Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. Wǒ yǒu yì dǐng lǜ sè de mào zi - I have a green hat
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