How to say "yellow" in Japanese

• 黄色きいろJLPT N5approx.Common
  no-adjective, na-adjectiveThe noun for the color itself; it can also mean amber. Use it when yellow is named as a color in its own right, rather than to describe an object as yellow.
  床ゆかは緑色みどりいろに塗ぬられていたが、一方いっぽう壁かべは黄色きいろだった。↗

  The floor was painted green, while the walls were yellow.
• 黄色いきいろいJLPT N5approx.Common
  i-adjectiveThe adjective for describing things as yellow. When you want to say that something — a piece of clothing, a wall, a flower — is yellow, this is the natural choice.
  秋あきになると葉はは黄色きいろくなる。↗

  In autumn the leaves turn yellow.
• イエローCommon
  no-adjectiveThe English loanword in katakana. For describing something as yellow, 黄色い is usually the word you want; イエロー is really a borrowing of the English term, used where that term itself would appear.
• 黄ばむきばむCommon
  godan verb, intransitive verbA verb: to turn yellow or become tinged with yellow, typically with age — the way old paper or plastic yellows over time. Use it for the process of yellowing, not for the color itself.

Use 黄色 for yellow as a color noun, 「黄色い」 to describe something as yellow, 「イエロー」 when the English loanword fits, and 「黄ばむ」 for things turning yellow with age.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• 黄色きいろyellow
• 黄色いきいろいyellow
• イエローyellow
• 黄ばむきばむto turn yellow
• 黄きyellow
• 黄みきみyellow
• 鬱金色うこんいろyellow
• Ｙワイyellow