白菜 meaning in English
Chinese cabbage, esp. napa cabbage (Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis); sometimes used to refer to bok choy (Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis)
Meaning of 白菜
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- Chinese cabbage, esp. napa cabbage (Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis)
- sometimes used to refer to bok choy (Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis)
Measure word: 棵
How to use 白菜
白菜 is an everyday word for napa cabbage, a staple in Chinese cooking, especially in northern China in winter. You will hear it at markets and see it on menus in dishes like soups, stir fries, and dumpling fillings. Example: 我今天买了一棵白菜。(Wǒ jīntiān mǎi le yì kē báicài.) I bought a head of cabbage today.
白 (bái) means white and 菜 (cài) means vegetable, so 白菜 is the white vegetable. Picture a napa cabbage with its pale white stalks and you have the word.
Common mistake: Learners often say cài with the wrong tone. It is fourth tone, falling sharply, just like in 菜单 (càidān). Also note the measure word for a whole cabbage is 棵 (kē), not 个 (gè) in careful speech.
白菜 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
白 bái · white · 5 strokes
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菜 cài · vegetable · 11 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 白菜.
| 明白 | míngbai | clear; obvious; unequivocal; sensible; reasonable |
| 白天 | báitiān | daytime; during the day |
| 白色 | báisè | white; fig. reactionary |
| 菜单 | càidān | menu |
| 蔬菜 | shūcài | vegetables |
| 白酒 | báijiǔ | baijiu, a spirit usually distilled from sorghum; (Tw) white wine (abbr. for 白葡萄酒[bai2 pu2 |
| 白领 | báilǐng | white-collar; white-collar worker |
| 坦白 | tǎnbái | honest; forthcoming |
| 白白 | báibái | in vain; to no purpose |
| 空白 | kòngbái | blank space |
| 表白 | biǎobái | to explain oneself; to express |
| 黑白 | hēibái | black and white; right and wrong |
Questions about 白菜
What does 白菜 mean?
白菜 (báicài) means "Chinese cabbage, esp. napa cabbage (Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis); sometimes used to refer to bok choy (Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis)" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 白菜?
白菜 is made of 2 characters: 白 (5 strokes), 菜 (11 strokes). That is 16 strokes in total.
Is 白菜 an HSK word?
Yes. 白菜 is on the HSK 3 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does 白菜价 mean?
白菜价 (báicài jià) literally means cabbage price. It is a casual way to say something is very cheap, because cabbage is one of the cheapest vegetables.
Is 白菜 the same as bok choy?
Usually 白菜 means napa cabbage, the large oval head. Some people and regions also use it for bok choy, which is often called 小白菜 (xiǎo báicài) or 青菜 (qīngcài) to tell them apart.