Questions tagged [colors]
Questions about colors and names of colors. Make sure to include [mandarin] or other topolects tags as appropriate.
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Most common way of saying 'X is red'
What is the most common way to say that 'something is red' (or any other colour)?
I ask this because grammar books (for example, Yip Po-ching and Don Rimmington's Chinese: A Comprehensive Grammar) ...
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Difference of 青 and 黑
My dictionary tells 青 can mean black.
My questions are:
Is 青 generally used to mean black? In other words, is it always ambiguous to some extent whether it means blue or black?
When it means black, ...
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Colors in Chinese with 很
I have learned (是+color+色+的)pattern to describe colors. I am told that "Color" is a quality that cannot be compared. (you can't say this is bluer than that) Because of this, one should use ...
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Monosyllabic colors names (e.g. 红, 蓝) as predicates with and without 色
What are the different options for using colors predicatively? Particularly monosyllabic colors like 红, 蓝, 黃 that can appear with or without 色.
For context, here is a sentence using 红色 predicatively ...
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What is the use of 色 in color names?
I thought that the proper way to use the basic color names is generally with 色, i.e.:
这件衣服是蓝色的
But recently I have come across such a sentence:
我不喜欢黄的，我喜欢白的。
Is the 色 optional, or is the ...
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If 蓝天 means "blue sky", does 青天 mean "cyan sky"?
Peole use both 蓝天 and 青天 and I am wondering if there is any difference. While 蓝 means blue, 青 means cyan, right?
Why do people say 蓝天白云 often but seldom 青天白云 (though 青天白日 is sometimes used)?
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Where did the words for various colours originate from?
I wonder if, like in English, the words for colours (red, yellow, green) just formed arbitrarily in Chinese? Or is there a story behind choosing 红色 for red, 蓝色 for blue, etc.?
It’s also interesting ...
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Has 咖啡色 replaced 茶色 in everyday use for "brown", or can I use both?
I've learned that 咖啡色 now is the most common way of saying "brown". Does that mean that saying 茶色 now is outdated, and not used any more, or are both words still used?
Would also be interesting to ...
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