颜色

• 拼音: yán sè
• 汉字拆解: 颜 = 彦 (elegant) + 页 (head/page), the look of a face; 色 = depicts a person kneeling, originally meaning facial expression

含义

Colour. Refers to the visual property of objects such as red, blue, green, etc.

This is the standard word for colour in Chinese. Common colour words include 红色 (hóngsè, red), 蓝色 (lánsè, blue), 白色 (báisè, white), and 黑色 (hēisè, black). Note that 色 alone can also mean colour but is more literary. The phrase 给他点颜色看看 is an idiom meaning to teach someone a lesson.

例句

1. 你喜欢什么颜色？
2. 这件衣服的颜色很好看。
3. 她买了三种颜色的花。

用法指南

语境: shopping, daily description

语气: neutral

正确说法

• 这个颜色太深了。(This colour is too dark.)
• 你想要什么颜色的？(What colour do you want?)

错误说法

• 它的色是红 (Too literary and incomplete — say 它的颜色是红色的; in everyday speech, use 颜色 not 色 alone)

起源与历史

A compound of 颜 (yán, face/appearance) and 色 (sè, colour/hue). Originally 颜 referred to the space between the eyebrows, and 色 meant the expression on one's face. Together they evolved to mean colour in general.

文化背景

世代: All ages

社会背景: Universal