黄色 vs 黄色い？

Japanese
#1

I understand 黄色 is a noun, while 黄色い is an adjective. So I understand some context of when to use either but I have ran into a sentence that does not make sense to me why one uses the noun and the other uses the adjective form of yellow. Here are the sentences:

子供が農家に：「トマトの花は黄色いでしょう？」
Child to farmer: ‘Tomato flowers are yellow, right?’

この花の色は黄色です
The color of this flower is yellow.

To me these sentences are similar and telling you that N is Adj. But the are not.

Wondering if someone can better give me a guide on when colors in Japanese need the い and when they can remain a noun.

I do know the 色のN works to describe something color but I guess I am just confused on the more N is _____ structure.

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#2

Even in your English translated example sentences, yellow is functioning as a noun in one but an adjective in another. It’s just harder to tell because it doesn’t change forms like in Japanese. (This is something I didn’t really realize until I started studying Japanese either, so please don’t take offense, I don’t blame you.)

Let’s take a look at how your example sentences would sound if we flipped the noun/adjective function:
子供が農家に：「トマトの花は黄色 でしょう？」
Child to farmer: ‘Tomato flowers are yellow(noun), right?’
In this version, we are saying “tomato flowers = yellow” as in we aren’t describing the color, but moreso saying that the two are interchangeable. We could say “Bananas are tomato flowers” and be understood, or maybe that tomato flowers are also called by the name “yellow”.

この花の色は黄色い です
The color of this flower is yellow(adjective).
In this version, instead of saying the flower is yellow, it’s almost like we’re saying the color of the flower is yellow-ish. We aren’t stating the color, we’re describing the color, if that makes sense.

What determines which you use is essentially what the subject/topic of the sentence is. In the first example, the topic is the flowers themselves, meanwhile the second sentence is talking about the color itself, not the flowers. Does that help at all?

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#3

As a follow up, I’m trying to think of examples in English that would be more clear.

“Tomato flowers are beautiful, right?”
→ Beautiful is an adjective. You cannot say “tomato flowers are beauty, right?”

“The defining trait of this flower is beauty”
→ Beauty is a noun. Saying “The defining trait of this flower is beautiful” would give a different meaning.

Not sure if these were the most clear examples, but I agree that the confusion comes from English not having the different forms in many cases.

Taking this to Japanese, we have:
トマトの花は美しいでしょう?
→ 美しい adjective, just like English.

この花の一番のとくちょうは美しさです
→ 美しさ noun, just like English.

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