蔬菜 meaning in English

shūcài

vegetables

HSK 5noun26 strokes

Meaning of 蔬菜

Definitions from CC-CEDICT.

shūcài

vegetables

How to use 蔬菜

蔬菜 is the general, slightly formal word for vegetables, common in health advice, menus, and shopping. In everyday speech people often just say 菜 (cài). Example: 多吃蔬菜对身体好。(Duō chī shūcài duì shēntǐ hǎo.) Eating more vegetables is good for your health.

Both 蔬 (shū) and 菜 (cài) have the grass radical 艹 on top, so think of two plants growing side by side in a garden. Two leafy characters together make 蔬菜, vegetables.

Common mistake: Learners often say shùcài with a fourth tone, but 蔬 is first tone, shū, like 书 (shū). Also do not use 蔬菜 to mean a cooked dish. For a dish, use 菜 alone, as in 点菜 (diǎn cài), to order dishes.

蔬菜 in example sentences

Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.

这zhè种zhǒng蔬shū菜cài英yīng语yǔ叫jiào甚shén么me名míng字zì？

What do you call this vegetable in English?

这zhè里lǐ有yǒu个gè装zhuāng满mǎn蔬shū菜cài的de篮lán子zi。

Here is a basket full of vegetables.

新xīn鲜xiān水shuǐ果guǒ和hé蔬shū菜cài有yǒu益yì健jiàn康kāng。

Fresh fruits and vegetables are good for your health.

我wǒ买mǎi了le蔬shū菜cài、牛niú肉ròu和hé奶nǎi油yóu。

I bought vegetables, beef and butter.

汤tāng姆mǔ认rèn为wéi我wǒ应yīng该gāi多duō吃chī点diǎn蔬shū菜cài。

Tom thinks I should eat more vegetables.

Stroke order for each character

Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.

蔬 shū · vegetables · 15 strokes

菜 cài · vegetable · 11 strokes

Related words

Words that share a character with 蔬菜.

菜单	càidān	menu
白菜	báicài	Chinese cabbage, esp. napa cabbage (Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis); sometimes used to re
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
小菜	xiǎocài	appetizer; small side dish

Questions about 蔬菜

What does 蔬菜 mean?

蔬菜 (shūcài) means "vegetables" and is used as a noun.

How do you write 蔬菜?

蔬菜 is made of 2 characters: 蔬 (15 strokes), 菜 (11 strokes). That is 26 strokes in total.

Is 蔬菜 an HSK word?

Yes. 蔬菜 is on the HSK 5 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.

What is the difference between 蔬菜 and 菜?

蔬菜 only means vegetables. 菜 can mean vegetables, but it also means a dish of food or a cuisine, as in 中国菜 (Zhōngguó cài), Chinese food.

How do you say fruits and vegetables in Chinese?

Say 蔬菜水果 (shūcài shuǐguǒ) or the shorter 果蔬 (guǒshū). Both are common on market signs and in nutrition advice.