颜色
color
yánsè
What does 颜色 mean?
颜色 (yánsè) is the everyday Chinese word for 'color.' To ask about a color, Chinese uses 什么颜色 ('what color'): 你喜欢什么颜色？ ('what color do you like?'). To say 'X is [color],' Chinese typically uses 是 + color + 的: 这件衣服是红色的 ('this piece of clothing is red'). The basic colors are usually paired with 色 (sè, the second character of 颜色): 红色 (red), 蓝色 (blue), 绿色 (green), 黄色 (yellow), 黑色 (black), 白色 (white). One thing English speakers should know: in older / literary Chinese, 颜色 can also mean 'expression on a face' (look at someone's 脸色, liǎnsè), and the phrase 给他点颜色看看 ('show him some color') is an idiom meaning 'teach him a lesson' — color here is figurative, like 'show him what's what.'
Character breakdown
face; countenance; color
color; hue
Memory hook: 颜 (face) + 色 (hue) — the hues of a face / the visible colors of things.
Measure word for 颜色
Example sentences
你喜欢什么颜色？
Nǐ xǐhuan shénme yánsè?
What color do you like?
spoken
这件衣服的颜色很漂亮。
Zhè jiàn yīfu de yánsè hěn piàoliang.
The color of this piece of clothing is very pretty.
neutral
天上有各种颜色的云。
Tiān shàng yǒu gè zhǒng yánsè de yún.
There are clouds of all colors in the sky.
written
我最喜欢的颜色是蓝色。
Wǒ zuì xǐhuan de yánsè shì lán sè.
My favorite color is blue.
neutral
Common phrases with 颜色
Hear it in real Fluentide episodes
颜色 appears in 5 podcast episodes at natural native speed, with full Chinese script, pinyin, and line-by-line English translation.
Synonyms
More literary and artistic — 'colors / coloration' as in art, design, or atmosphere. 色彩鲜明 ('vivid coloration'). 颜色 is everyday speech; 色彩 belongs to writing about art, fashion, and aesthetics.
Don't confuse 颜色 with
颜 alone is mostly bound — it appears in 颜色 ('color') and 笑颜 ('smiling face'). It also serves as a surname (颜 Yán). On its own it's not used for 'color' in modern speech.
色 alone CAN mean color (especially in compounds like 红色 'red'), but as a standalone noun it carries other meanings — 'lust' or 'quality' depending on context. To say 'color' clearly, use 颜色.
脸色 = 'facial expression / complexion,' i.e. the color of someone's face that signals mood or health. 你脸色不好 ('you don't look well'). 颜色 is general 'color'; 脸色 is specifically face-color.