HSK 2 · Common Things

颜色 yánsè “colour” in Chinese

Traditional 顏色

What 颜色 means

  1. colour
  2. countenance
  3. appearance
  4. facial expression
  5. pigment
More meanings from CC-CEDICT
  • dyestuff

How to say 颜色

  • Pitch chart of the second tone: rises from mid to high, 3 to 5 on the five-level scale颜yán2nd tone, rising
  • Pitch chart of the fourth tone: falls from high to low, 5 to 1 on the five-level scale色sè4th tone, falling

颜色 in a sentence

  1. 这是我最喜欢的颜色。

    Zhè shì wǒ zuì xǐhuan de yánsè.

    This is my favourite colour.

    Sentence #11235967 from Tatoeba

  2. 你的衣服是什么颜色的？

    Nǐ de yīfu shì shénme yánsè de?

    What colour are your clothes?

    Sentence #3565125 from Tatoeba · translation adapted

  3. 我们有你的尺寸，但是没有那个颜色。

    Wǒmen yǒu nǐ de chǐcun, dànshì méiyǒu nà ge yánsè.

    We have your size, but not in that colour.

    Sentence #332857 from Tatoeba

How 颜色 is built

Each colour is one part of the character. Parts repeat across thousands of characters, so learning them makes new words easier. See all 214 in our radicals chart.

The character 颜 (yán) with each of its parts in a different colour
颜yáncolour
  • 彦elegant · yànSound part
  • 页page · xiéMeaning part

页 hints at the meaning (page); 彦 (yàn) hints at the sound. Compare it with yán.

The character 色 (sè) with each of its parts in a different colour
色sècolour
  • ⺈knife form of 刀 · dāo
  • 巴to desire · bā

How to write 颜色

颜 15 strokes · 色 6 strokes

Watch the order, then press Try writing it and draw each stroke in the grid. Each stroke is checked as you go.

颜色 (yánsè) stroke order chart: each stroke of the characters in the order you write them
Stroke order chart for 颜色 (yánsè). Red marks the next stroke, so you can copy it onto paper one step at a time.

Words related to 颜色

Words with 色

白色báisè · white黑色hēisè · black红色hóngsè · red (colour)绿色lǜsè · green黄色huángsè · yellow景色jǐngsè · scenery出色chūsè · remarkable角色juésè · role色彩sècǎi · colour特色tèsè · distinctive feature

More words: Everyday Things

题tí · question (on a test)雪xuě · snow问题wèntí · question事情shìqing · matter公共汽车gōnggòng qìchē · bus意思yìsi · meaning船chuán · a boat护照hùzhào · passport

FAQs

颜色 (yánsè) means “colour” or “countenance”. It is an HSK 2 word, so it is one of the words learners meet early.
Say it yánsè: yán with a 2nd tone, then sè with a 4th tone. Press Listen at the top of this page to hear it, or Slowly to hear each tone clearly.
In Traditional characters, used in Taiwan and Hong Kong, 颜色 is written 顏色. The pronunciation is the same.
Add a Chinese (Simplified) pinyin keyboard to your phone or computer, type yanse with no tone marks or spaces, then choose 颜色 from the suggestions. Typing yanse into this dictionary’s search box finds it too.
颜色 is an HSK 2 word in the HSK 2.0 word lists.

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Sources: meaning and pinyin checked by a native Mandarin teacher against the official HSK lists. Extra meanings from CC-CEDICT (CC BY-SA 4.0). Example sentences from Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR). Character parts and stroke order from Make Me a Hanzi.