赤

Pattern visualization

Examples

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

Collocations

Mnemonic

赤 aka — the noun "red"; the i-adjective 赤い lives on as a separate word. In Japanese, color runs in noun and adjective forms side by side through daily speech. 赤の他人 — a "red stranger," a complete stranger with not one drop of shared blood. Here 赤 carries the grain of "stark, sheer" — the same root in 赤裸々 and in 赤ちゃん. Kanji-reading kin: 赤 reads Korean 'jeok' (赤裸), Mandarin chì.

Quick check

1. Idiomatic meaning of 赤の他人?

   • A complete stranger, no blood relation
   • A person in red clothes
   • A blushing person
   • A rival