菜 meaning in English
vegetable; greens (CL:棵[ke1]); dish (of food) (CL:樣|样[yang4],道[dao4],盤|盘[pan2])
Meaning of 菜
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- vegetable; greens (CL:棵[ke1])
- dish (of food) (CL:樣|样[yang4],道[dao4],盤|盘[pan2])
- (of one's skills etc) weak; poor
- (coll.) (one's) type
How to use 菜
菜 means both vegetables and a cooked dish, so 点菜 (diǎn cài) means to order food, not just vegetables. In casual speech it can also mean someone is bad at something. Example: 这个菜很好吃。(Zhège cài hěn hǎochī.) This dish is delicious.
菜 (cài) has the grass radical 艹 on top and 采 (cǎi, to pick) below, so picture hands picking green plants to cook. The bottom part also hints at the sound, since 采 (cǎi) and 菜 (cài) sound almost the same.
Common mistake: Learners often mix up 菜 (cài) with 采 (cǎi, to pick), which lacks the grass radical on top and has a third tone. Another trap is thinking 菜 only means vegetables, so a meat dish like 红烧肉 is still called a 菜.
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.
菜 cài · vegetable · 11 strokes
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Related words
Words that share a character with 菜.
| 菜单 | càidān | menu |
| 白菜 | báicài | Chinese cabbage, esp. napa cabbage (Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis); sometimes used to re |
| 蔬菜 | shūcài | vegetables |
| 菜市场 | càishìchǎng | food market |
| 菜鸟 | càiniǎo | (coll.) sb new to a particular subject; rookie |
| 泡菜 | pàocài | pickled cabbage |
| 小菜一碟 | xiǎocàiyīdié | a small appetizer; a piece of cake; very easy (idiom) |
| 菜品 | càipǐn | culinary dish |
| 做菜 | zuòcài | to cook; cooking |
| 饭菜 | fàncài | food |
| 菜肴 | càiyáo | vegetable and meat dishes; dish |
| 开胃菜 | kāiwèicài | starter; appetizer |
Questions about 菜
What does 菜 mean?
菜 (cài) means "vegetable; greens (CL:棵[ke1]); dish (of food) (CL:樣|样[yang4],道[dao4],盤|盘[pan2])" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 菜?
菜 is made of 1 character: 菜 (11 strokes). That is 11 strokes in total.
Is 菜 an HSK word?
Yes. 菜 is on the HSK 1 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
What does it mean when someone says 你好菜 (nǐ hǎo cài)?
It is slang meaning you are really bad at something, often used in gaming or among friends. Related is 菜鸟 (càiniǎo), a rookie or beginner. It can be teasing, so use it only with people you know well.
How do I say 'Chinese food' or 'Sichuan cuisine' with 菜?
Add 菜 after a place name to mean a style of cooking. 中国菜 (Zhōngguó cài) is Chinese food and 川菜 (chuāncài) is Sichuan cuisine. You can say 我喜欢吃川菜。(Wǒ xǐhuan chī chuāncài.) I like Sichuan food.