At a glance
- Colour adjectives: 빨갛다, 파랗다, 노랗다, 하얗다, 까맣다, all ㅎ irregular.
Which Adjectives Describe Size, Shape and Colour?
Size, shape and colour adjectives describe physical features of things: how large, long, high or round a thing is, and what colour. They are ordinary adjectives that take verb endings, and several belong to irregular classes. Eleven of them are in the table below, with their polite present, modifier and an example.
| Word | Meaning | Polite present | Modifier | Class | Example |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 크다 | big | 커요 | 큰 | ㅡ-drop | 집이 커요. |
| 작다 | small | 작아요 | 작은 | regular | 가방이 작아요. |
| 길다 | long | 길어요 | 긴 | ㄹ-drop | 머리가 길어요. |
| 짧다 | short | 짧아요 | 짧은 | regular | 치마가 짧아요. |
| 높다 | high, tall (things) | 높아요 | 높은 | regular | 산이 높아요. |
| 낮다 | low | 낮아요 | 낮은 | regular | 의자가 낮아요. |
| 빨갛다 | red | 빨개요 | 빨간 | ㅎ irregular | 사과가 빨개요. |
| 파랗다 | blue | 파래요 | 파란 | ㅎ irregular | 하늘이 파래요. |
| 노랗다 | yellow | 노래요 | 노란 | ㅎ irregular | 바나나가 노래요. |
| 하얗다 | white | 하얘요 | 하얀 | ㅎ irregular | 눈이 하얘요. |
| 까맣다 | black | 까매요 | 까만 | ㅎ irregular | 머리가 까매요. |
Shape words use the same grammar: 둥글다 (round, ㄹ-drop: 둥근), 동그랗다 (round, ㅎ irregular: 동그란), 뾰족하다 (pointed) and 납작하다 (flat). The next section answers the question that trips up most English speakers.
Which Word Means Tall, Big or High?
Three Korean words cover what English calls "tall", "big" and "high", and the noun decides which one to use. 크다 describes overall size and a person's build. 높다 describes height above the ground. 키가 크다 describes a person's height.
| English | Korean | Example | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| a big house | 큰 집 | 집이 커요. | overall size |
| a tall person | 키가 큰 사람 | 동생은 키가 커요. | the person's height (키) is big |
| a tall building | 높은 건물 | 건물이 높아요. | height above ground |
| a high mountain | 높은 산 | 산이 높아요. | height above ground |
The pattern 키가 크다 is the double-subject pattern: 동생은 is the topic and 키가 is the thing that is big. The same pattern appears for body states, as in 저는 배가 고파요 on the physical state adjectives page. The next section describes the two lessons.
Korean Adjectives List for Size and Colour
Two lessons hold the full lists. Each card says what you will be able to do after reading.
Korean Size Adjectives
Covers big, small, long, short, tall, wide, thick, heavy and the shape words, with the people-versus-things split for tall and the double-subject pattern 키가 크다. It also shows how to compare a pair of sizes.
Korean Color Adjectives
Covers the colour words that are real adjectives (빨갛다, 파랗다, 노랗다, 하얗다, 까맣다) with their ㅎ-irregular forms, the modifier 빨간 and the colour nouns that need 색. It also explains why a red apple is 빨간 사과 and not 빨강 사과.
Both lessons assume you know verbs vs adjectives. Single words have their own dictionary pages with every form: 크다, 작다, 길다, 짧다, 높다, 낮다, 넓다 and 좁다. The next section shows which irregular classes you will meet.
Which Irregular Classes Appear in These Lists?
Size and colour adjectives come from five classes, so the lists are good practice for irregular conjugation. The table shows one example of each class, with the change in the polite present.
| Class | Example | Polite present | Before a noun | What changes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regular | 작다 | 작아요 | 작은 | nothing: 작 + 아요 |
| ㅡ-drop | 크다 | 커요 | 큰 | ㅡ drops before 어요 |
| ㄹ-drop | 길다 | 길어요 | 긴 | ㄹ drops before ㄴ |
| ㅂ irregular | 무겁다 | 무거워요 | 무거운 | ㅂ becomes 우 |
| ㅎ irregular | 빨갛다 | 빨개요 | 빨간 | ㅎ drops, vowel changes |
The ㅎ class is the colour class: 빨갛다, 파랗다, 노랗다, 하얗다 and 까맣다 follow it, as do 이렇다 and 그렇다. The rule is in the ㅎ irregular lesson. The next section links related lists.
Use the Adjective before a Noun or as a Predicate
Korean adjectives have different shapes depending on their job. Use the predicate form to say what something is like, and the adnominal form (the form placed before a noun) to describe that noun. The English translation may look the same, but the Korean ending changes.
| Job | Korean | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Predicate | 가방이 작아요. | The bag is small. |
| Before a noun | 작은 가방 | a small bag |
| Predicate | 머리가 길어요. | The hair is long. |
| Before a noun | 긴 머리 | long hair |
| Predicate | 사과가 빨개요. | The apple is red. |
| Before a noun | 빨간 사과 | a red apple |
For most adjective stems ending in a consonant, add -은 before a noun: 작다 becomes 작은 and 높다 becomes 높은. After a vowel, add -ㄴ: 크다 becomes 큰. A final ㄹ drops before ㄴ, so 길다 becomes 긴. The five basic colour adjectives use their ㅎ-irregular modifier forms: 빨간, 파란, 노란, 하얀 and 까만. These are not made by adding the regular ending to the whole dictionary form.
Compare Words That English Can Blur Together
Choose a Korean word by the feature you are describing, not by matching one English translation mechanically. These pairs are useful when a quick translation hides a difference:
| Contrast | Example | Use |
|---|---|---|
| 크다 / 작다 | 집이 커요. / 집이 작아요. | overall size: big / small |
| 길다 / 짧다 | 머리가 길어요. / 머리가 짧아요. | length: long / short |
| 높다 / 낮다 | 산이 높아요. / 의자가 낮아요. | height or position: high / low |
| 넓다 / 좁다 | 방이 넓어요. / 방이 좁아요. | width or space: spacious / narrow |
| 빨갛다 / 파랗다 | 사과가 빨개요. / 하늘이 파래요. | red / blue; both are ㅎ irregular |
무겁다 (heavy) is another useful size word: 가방이 무거워요, but 무거운 가방. Here ㅂ changes to 우 before the vowel in -어요 and -은. The form before a noun is not 무겁은. By contrast, 넓다 and 좁다 keep their final ㅂ in 넓어요, 좁아요 and 넓은, 좁은; not every adjective whose spelling ends in ㅂ follows the irregular pattern.
Quick Self-Check
Choose a Korean form before reading the answers: “a blue sky” uses a form before a noun; “the sky is blue” uses a predicate. What are the two forms? They are 파란 하늘 and 하늘이 파래요. Next, describe “a heavy bag” and “the bag is heavy”: 무거운 가방 and 가방이 무거워요.
The useful habit is to learn each adjective with both forms, for example 길다 → 길어요 → 긴. That small three-part set shows the dictionary entry, the predicate and the noun modifier, and makes it easier to spot ㄹ-drop and ㅎ-irregular forms when reading.
Which Related Lists Should You Read?
Three neighbouring pages extend these lists. For colour nouns such as 초록색 and 보라색, open colors in Korean. For opposite pairs such as 크다 and 작다, open Korean opposite adjectives. For the first 50 adjectives overall, open common Korean adjectives.
What this hub does not cover. It does not teach the comparison words 더 and 제일, the adverb form -게, or colour idioms. The size lesson covers measurement words only as far as they affect the adjective.
About this page. Last updated 2026-10-09. The Korean text on this page was machine-generated and reviewed and signed off by Min-ji Park on 15 October 2026. Forms were cross-checked with the site's rule-based conjugation engine. Romanization follows the Revised Romanization of Korean and is shown only as a learning aid.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I say "big" in Korean? Big is 크다, with the polite present 커요 and the form before a noun 큰, as in 큰 집 ("a big house"). The ㅡ of the stem drops before 어요, which is why 크 + 어요 becomes 커요. For a big amount, such as many people, use 많다 instead: 사람이 많아요 means "There are many people".
Are colours adjectives in Korean? Some are. 빨갛다, 파랗다, 노랗다, 하얗다 and 까맣다 are adjectives, so 사과가 빨개요 means "The apple is red". Other colours, such as 초록색, 보라색 and 분홍색, are nouns built with 색 ("colour") and need 이다: 초록색이에요. The colour adjectives page sorts both groups.
How do I say "tall" in Korean? It depends on what is tall. For a person, say 키가 크다, literally "the height is big": 동생은 키가 커요. For a building, mountain or ceiling, say 높다: 산이 높아요. Using 높다 for a person sounds as if the person is up high, so learners should keep the two words apart.
Which colour words are irregular? The five basic colour adjectives belong to the ㅎ irregular class. The ㅎ drops and the vowel changes before 어요, so 빨갛다 becomes 빨개요, and the modifier is 빨간. The noun colours with 색 are not irregular because they are nouns. The size words include other classes: ㅡ-drop, ㄹ-drop and ㅂ-irregular.