Korean Colors: 빨간색, 파란색 and the ㅎ Trick
Written and reviewed by Jun and Jin, native Korean speakers
Published · How we write & review
After this page, you can name colors in Korean in both noun and adjective form, and ask what color something is with 무슨 색.
10-second answer
The short answer
Korean colors come in two shapes: a NOUN form ending in 색 (saek, "color") — 빨간색 (ppalgansaek, red), 파란색 (paransaek, blue) — and an ADJECTIVE form ending in –다 (-da) — 빨갛다 (ppalgata), 파랗다 (parata). The noun form is what you'll use most (이 빨간색 가방, i ppalgansaek gabang — this red bag). The adjective forms hide a famous irregular: their ㅎ vanishes when conjugated (빨갛다 → 빨간 ppalgan, 빨개요 ppalgaeyo).
Quick check — did that land?
1. What happens to 빨갛다 when you conjugate it to polite present tense?
색깔, 색, 한국 색. Korean colors have a little surprise.
The Core Color List
| Color | Noun form (X색) | Adjective form |
|---|---|---|
| Red | 빨간색 (ppalgansaek) | 빨갛다 (ppalgata) |
| Blue | 파란색 (paransaek) | 파랗다 (parata) |
| Yellow | 노란색 (noransaek) | 노랗다 (norata) |
| White | 하얀색/흰색 (hayansaek/huinsaek) | 하얗다 (hayata) |
| Black | 까만색/검은색 (kkamansaek/geomeunsaek) | 까맣다 (kkamata) |
| Green | 초록색 (choroksaek) | — (noun only) |
| Orange | 주황색 (juhwangsaek) | — (noun only) |
| Pink | 분홍색 (bunhongsaek) | — (noun only) |
| Purple | 보라색 (borasaek) | — (noun only) |
Notice only the "big five" (red, blue, yellow, white, black) have native adjective forms — the rest are noun-only. For those, you say 보라색이에요 (it's purple) rather than conjugating an adjective. 보라색 fans may recognize it from 보라해.
See also: 무슨 vs 어느 vs 어떤
The Vanishing ㅎ
The five color adjectives are ㅎ-irregular: the ㅎ in the stem disappears when endings attach. 빨갛다 → 빨간 가방 (red bag) → 빨개요 (it's red). This is the same batchim-level sound logic you've seen elsewhere — Korean quietly deletes sounds that would clog pronunciation.
하늘이 파래요.
haneuri paraeyo.
The sky is blue.
파랗다 → 파래요: the ㅎ is gone and the vowel fuses.
무슨 색: Asking About Color
Common Mistakes
Mistake #1 — Conjugating 빨갛다 with the ㅎ intact
빨갛아요 doesn't exist — the ㅎ drops and vowels fuse: 빨개요.
Mistake #2 — Hunting for an adjective form of every color
Green, orange, pink, and purple are noun-only in everyday Korean — use X색이에요 instead.
Mini Quiz
2. Which color has NO native adjective form?
3. How do you ask "what color do you like?"
Related Knowledge
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