VocabularyJLPT N5 · core

赤

あか

hepburn aka

red (noun)

Part of speech · noun

Pattern visualization

赤red

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Examples

信号が赤になりました。
The light turned red.
赤と白のシャツ。
A red-and-white shirt.

Collocations

赤 (aka, the color red — noun)赤い (akai, red — i-adjective)真っ赤 (makka, deep/bright red)赤ちゃん (akachan, baby)赤の他人 (aka no tanin, complete stranger)

Mnemonic

赤 aka — the noun for "red". The i-adjective form is the separate word 赤い (akai, red). Japanese color words run in noun/adjective pairs, both high-frequency. Idiom 赤の他人 (aka no tanin) = "red stranger" = a complete stranger (no blood relation) — 赤 here carries the "stark, sheer" extended sense seen in 赤裸々 (sekirara, naked-frank) and 赤ちゃん (akachan, baby).

Quick check

Idiomatic meaning of 赤の他人?