How to Say "Brown Eyes" in Japanese

茶色い目

chairoi me

The English phrase "brown eyes" is translated into Japanese as 茶色い目 (chairoi me).

茶色い目 is used to describe eyes that have a brown color.

Which one should you use?

While the default form uses the adjective 茶色い (chairoi), you can also use the noun 茶色 (chairo) with the particle の (no) to form 茶色の目 (chairo no me).

chairoi me

While 茶色い目 describes the color, Japanese often uses 黒い目 (kuroi me), meaning 'black eyes', to describe the dark brown eyes common to East Asians.
In Japanese, the word 茶 (cha) used in 茶色い (chairoi) literally means 'tea', meaning 'brown' can be understood as the 'color of tea'.
To sound romantic or poetic, a speaker will replace 目 ('eye') with 瞳 ('hitomi'), which specifically refers to the pupil or iris.

彼女は茶色い目をしている。
She has brown eyes.
This sentence is useful for showing how to use the construction involving the form 茶色い目 to describe a physical feature.
Tatoeba #2204364 by bunbuku, translation #315797 by mamat
Watashi no hitomi wa chairo desu. (私の瞳は茶色です)
My eyes are brown.
Kare no me wa ocha-iro de kirei desu. (彼の目はお茶色で綺麗です)
His eyes are beautiful and brown.
その猫は茶色い目をしている。
Sono neko wa chairoi me o shite iru.
That cat has brown eyes.
茶色い目はとても温かい印象を与える。
Chairoi me wa totemo atatakai inshou o ataeru.
Brown eyes give a very warm impression.

Yui and Kenta are talking about a photo of a baby.

結衣 Yui

この赤ちゃん、茶色い目だね。
kono akachan, chairoi me da ne.
This baby has brown eyes, doesn't it?
健太 Kenta

本当だ。すごく可愛いね。
hontou da. sugoku kawaii ne.
You're right. It's very cute.
結衣 Yui

健太くんは目の色は何色？
kenta-kun wa me no iro wa nani iro?
Kenta, what color are your eyes?
健太 Kenta

僕は普通の黒い目だよ。
boku wa futsuu no kuroi me da yo.
I have normal black eyes.

Sources

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