The 1-2-3 challenge
Join Scottish pupils as they give Mandarin a go!
Tip: This video can be used as an interactive introduction to this topic or as a recap on key vocabulary and phrases already learnt.
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Colours
There are two different ways to say each colour in Mandarin.
To start, there are colours as nouns in Mandarin, eg ‘the colour red’ or ‘the colour black’.
Click on the colours below to learn what they are in Mandarin:
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hóng sè
red
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hēi sè
black
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bái sè
white
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huáng sè
yellow
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zǐ sè
purple
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chéng sè
orange
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fěn sè
pink
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zōng sè
brown
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lán sè
blue
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lǜ sè
green
Here are the same words in a table:
Mandarin | Pinyin | English |
---|---|---|
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. | hóng sè | red |
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. | hēi sè | black |
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. | bái sè | white |
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. | huáng sè | yellow |
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. | zǐ sè | purple |
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. | chéng sè | orange |
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. | fěn sè | pink |
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. | zōng sè | brown |
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. | lán sè | blue |
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. | lǜ sè | green |
Likes and dislikes
To say what you like and don't like, you can use the phrases:
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. Wǒ xǐ huān - I like
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. Wǒ bù xǐ huān - I don’t like
You can use those phrases to talk about the colours you like and don't like, by adding a colour at the end:
Examples:
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. Wǒ xǐ huān zǐ sè - I like the colour purple
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. Wǒ bù xǐ huān bái sè - I don’t like the colour white
Colours as adjectives
To use colours as adjectives in Mandarin, the particle ‘Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. de’ is added at the end to express possession.
For example, to describe the colour of on object, eg clothing, as red in Mandarin you would need to use Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. hóng sè de, rather than Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. hóng sè. Here are some other examples:
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. zōng sè de kù zi - brown trousers
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. lán sè de duǎn qún - blue skirt
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. lǜ sè de máo yī - green jumper
Sorry, something went wrongCheck your connection, refresh the page and try again. chéng sè de dà yī - orange coat
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