Have you understood the differences between concrete color names and abstract ones? Today, I continue to explain actual usages of color names from specific abstract nouns, too.
The loanwords imported from English and staying as color names since the beginning to now cannot be added "色" at all. Except for them, we can use both of the group (1) and (3).
We usually tend to use the group (1) more, especially in daily conversation, and some people tend to prefer the group (3) more, especially in writing. However, it is just tendency. It actually depends on a situation. Whether in conversation or in writing, when the users deal with colors of cloths, of products and so on clearly, we prefer to skip "色", but the users do not concentrate on the topics of colors, we sometimes add "色". Or, when we use various color names, we often skip "色" of abstract nouns to avoid the repetition. For example;
今日、庭のバラが咲きました。ピンクのとオレンジのとが同時に。隣は、あじさいが花盛りです。私は、あじさいは紫が好きなのですが、今年は、めずらしい緑のあじさいも買ってみました。清楚な趣があっていいですね。今は紺の植木鉢に入っていますが、花が終ったら花壇に植え替えようと思います。
Kyo-, niwa no bara ga sakimashita. Pinku no to orenji no to ga do-ji ni. Tonari wa, ajisai ga hanazakari desu. Watashi wa, ajisai wa murasaki ga sukinan desu ga, kotoshi wa mezurashii midori no ajisai mo katte mimashita. Seisona omomuki ga atte ii desu ne. Ima wa kon no uekibachi ni haitte imasu ga, hana ga owattara kadan ni uekaeyo- to omoimasu.
Today my pink and orange roses have simultaneously bloomed in my garden. Next to them, hydrangeas are at their best. I love purple one the most, but I purchased a rare, green hydrangea this year. I appreciate its neat and clean appearance, too. It is in a navy blue flowerpot now, but I will replant it in my flower bed when the flowers have fallen.
In this example, there are five names of colors and I skipped all of their "色". It could be still good with "色" added only once or twice. However, if I applied it to EVERY color, the descriptions would sound to be full of redundancies.
Also, I would like to pay attention to "オレンジ". I wrote "オレンジのバラ" simply and you can do so in both of conversation and writing. However, if I had a tree of orange fruit and wanted to mention about it with the discriptions above, I must have said "オレンジ色のバラ" in the case.
Tell someone something by the simplest way, but keep your message the clearest. If you do so, you can select the best usage of color name. The actual usages of color names from abstract nouns stand between the simplest way and the clearest way.
By the way, I must tell you a miserable news that my explanations above are not today's conclusions. It is just a prologue to review. I am sorry! The main subject is how to use particles and auxiliary verbs. Please remember the following list;
The couples of "だ／だった", of "である／であった" and of"です／でした" are all auxiliary verbs and their past tense which represent conclusions and we use them for the predicative construction. Please do not mistake their right moods and cases with each others. Also, "の" is the particle which express the possessive case or attribute. We use "の" for modifying some nouns.
Do you remember?
The abstract color names can be applied to these auxiliary verbs and a particle, too.
* The sipmle usage of "オレンジ" depends on the situation.
** "ピンク色" is very rare.
*** For saving spaces, I wrote "アイボリー" instead of "アイボリー／アイヴォリー". You can use アイボリー and アイヴォリー for ivory-colored.
**** "グリーン" is not standard. We prefer "緑" more.
I would like you to remember that the abstract color names above are not adjectives but nouns, so, you can use them by the same way as usual common nouns.
Thank you for reading!
Sorry for my poor English. If you have any questions, take it easy to ask me!
Also, I would like you to correct my errors, if you could.
| (1)color name | (2)origin | (3)allowed to be added "色" | (4)meaning |
| 緑 （みどり：midori） | adjective-verb, みどり, to be fresh, vivid from Japanese origin | 緑色 （みどりいろ：midori iro） | green |
| 紫 （むらさき：murasaki） | the name of dyeing weed, 紫草 from Japanese origin | 紫色 （むらさきいろ：murasaki iro） | purple |
| 紺 （コン：kon） | a dyeing technical term from Chinese origin | 紺色 （コンいろ：kon iro） | navy blue |
| 臙脂／えんじ／エンジ （エンジ：enji） | the name of safflower-producing area from Chinese origin | 臙脂色／えんじ色／エンジ色 （エンジいろ：kon iro） | dark red |
| オレンジ （オレンジ：orenji） | the name of fruit, orange from English origin | オレンジ色 （オレンジいろ：orenji iro） | orange |
| ピンク （ピンク：pinku） | the name of color, pink from English origin | ピンク色 *very rare （ピンクいろ：pinku iro） | pink |
| アイボリー／ アイヴォリー （アイボリー：aibori-） | the name of color, ivory from English origin | ― | ivory-colored |
| グレー （グレー：gure-） | the name of color, gray from English origin | ― | gray |
| グリーン （グリーン：guri-n） | the name of color, green from English origin | ― | green * not usual |
The loanwords imported from English and staying as color names since the beginning to now cannot be added "色" at all. Except for them, we can use both of the group (1) and (3).
We usually tend to use the group (1) more, especially in daily conversation, and some people tend to prefer the group (3) more, especially in writing. However, it is just tendency. It actually depends on a situation. Whether in conversation or in writing, when the users deal with colors of cloths, of products and so on clearly, we prefer to skip "色", but the users do not concentrate on the topics of colors, we sometimes add "色". Or, when we use various color names, we often skip "色" of abstract nouns to avoid the repetition. For example;
今日、庭のバラが咲きました。ピンクのとオレンジのとが同時に。隣は、あじさいが花盛りです。私は、あじさいは紫が好きなのですが、今年は、めずらしい緑のあじさいも買ってみました。清楚な趣があっていいですね。今は紺の植木鉢に入っていますが、花が終ったら花壇に植え替えようと思います。
Kyo-, niwa no bara ga sakimashita. Pinku no to orenji no to ga do-ji ni. Tonari wa, ajisai ga hanazakari desu. Watashi wa, ajisai wa murasaki ga sukinan desu ga, kotoshi wa mezurashii midori no ajisai mo katte mimashita. Seisona omomuki ga atte ii desu ne. Ima wa kon no uekibachi ni haitte imasu ga, hana ga owattara kadan ni uekaeyo- to omoimasu.
Today my pink and orange roses have simultaneously bloomed in my garden. Next to them, hydrangeas are at their best. I love purple one the most, but I purchased a rare, green hydrangea this year. I appreciate its neat and clean appearance, too. It is in a navy blue flowerpot now, but I will replant it in my flower bed when the flowers have fallen.
In this example, there are five names of colors and I skipped all of their "色". It could be still good with "色" added only once or twice. However, if I applied it to EVERY color, the descriptions would sound to be full of redundancies.
Also, I would like to pay attention to "オレンジ". I wrote "オレンジのバラ" simply and you can do so in both of conversation and writing. However, if I had a tree of orange fruit and wanted to mention about it with the discriptions above, I must have said "オレンジ色のバラ" in the case.
Tell someone something by the simplest way, but keep your message the clearest. If you do so, you can select the best usage of color name. The actual usages of color names from abstract nouns stand between the simplest way and the clearest way.
By the way, I must tell you a miserable news that my explanations above are not today's conclusions. It is just a prologue to review. I am sorry! The main subject is how to use particles and auxiliary verbs. Please remember the following list;
| present tense | past tense | |
| standard mood (casual conversation and standard writing) | だ | だった |
| standard mood of literary style (only strict writing) | である | であった |
| respectful mood (formal conversation and gentle writing) | です | でした |
The couples of "だ／だった", of "である／であった" and of"です／でした" are all auxiliary verbs and their past tense which represent conclusions and we use them for the predicative construction. Please do not mistake their right moods and cases with each others. Also, "の" is the particle which express the possessive case or attribute. We use "の" for modifying some nouns.
Do you remember?
The abstract color names can be applied to these auxiliary verbs and a particle, too.
| noun of color | の ex)本(book(s)) | だ だった | である であった | です でした |
| 緑 (みどり／midori) | 緑の本 | 緑だ 緑だった | 緑である 緑であった | 緑です 緑でした |
| 緑色 (みどり／midori iro) | 緑色の本 | 緑色だ 緑色だった | 緑色である 緑色であった | 緑色です 緑色でした |
| green | green book(s) | It is/was (They are/were) green. | ||
| 紫 (むらさき／murasaki) | 紫の本 | 紫だ 紫だった | 紫である 紫であった | 緑です 緑でした |
| 紫色 (むらさきいろ／ murasaki iro) | 紫色の本 | 紫色だ 紫色だった | 紫色である 紫色であった | 緑色です 緑色でした |
| purple | purple book(s) | It is/was (They are/were) purple. | ||
| 紺 (コン／kon) | 紺の本 | 紺だ 紺だった | 紺である 紺であった | 紺です 紺でした |
| 紺色 (コンいろ／kon iro) | 紺色の本 | 紺色だ 紺色だった | 紺色である 紺色であった | 紺色です 紺色でした |
| navy blue | navy blue book(s) | It is/was (They are/were) navy blue. | ||
| 臙脂／えんじ／エンジ (エンジ／enji) | 臙脂の本 | 臙脂だ 臙脂だった | 臙脂である 臙脂であった | 臙脂です 臙脂でした |
| 臙脂色／えんじ色／ エンジ色 (エンジいろ／enji iro) | 臙脂色の本 | 臙脂色だ 臙脂色だった | 臙脂色である 臙脂色であった | 臙脂色です 臙脂色でした |
| dark red | dark red book(s) | It is/was (They are/were) dark red. | ||
| オレンジ* (オレンジ／orenji) | オレンジの本 | オレンジだ オレンジだった | オレンジである オレンジであった | オレンジです オレンジでした |
| オレンジ色 (オレンジいろ／orenji iro) | オレンジ色の本 | オレンジ色だ オレンジ色だった | オレンジ色である オレンジ色であった | オレンジ色です オレンジ色でした |
| orange | orange book(s) | It is/was (They are/were) orange. | ||
| ピンク (ピンク／pinku) | ピンクの本 | ピンクだ ピンクだった | ピンクである ピンクであった | ピンクです ピンクでした |
| ピンク色** (ピンクいろ／pinku iro) | ピンク色の本 | ピンク色だ ピンク色だった | ピンク色である ピンク色であった | ピンク色です ピンク色でした |
| pink | pink book(s) | It is/was (They are/were) pink. | ||
| アイボリー／ アイヴォリー*** (アイボリー／aibori-) | アイボリーの本 | アイボリーだ アイボリーだった | アイボリーである アイボリーであった | アイボリーです アイボリーでした |
| ivory-colored | ivory-colored book(s) | It is/was (They are/were) ivory-colored. | ||
| グレー (グレー／gure-) | グレーの本 | グレーだ グレーだった | グレーである グレーであった | グレーです グレーでした |
| gray | gray book(s) | It is/was (They are/were) gray. | ||
| グリーン**** (グリーン／guri-n) | グリーンの本 | グリーンだ グリーンだった | グリーンである グリーンであった | グリーンです グリーンでした |
| green | green book(s) | It is/was (They are/were) green. | ||
* The sipmle usage of "オレンジ" depends on the situation.
** "ピンク色" is very rare.
*** For saving spaces, I wrote "アイボリー" instead of "アイボリー／アイヴォリー". You can use アイボリー and アイヴォリー for ivory-colored.
**** "グリーン" is not standard. We prefer "緑" more.
I would like you to remember that the abstract color names above are not adjectives but nouns, so, you can use them by the same way as usual common nouns.
Thank you for reading!
Sorry for my poor English. If you have any questions, take it easy to ask me!
Also, I would like you to correct my errors, if you could.
Japanese expressions of colors (1) four adjectives (1)
Japanese expressions of colors (8) specific abstract nouns (3)
