Dictionary › 菜
菜
cài
菜 (cài) means "dish (type of food)". It is an HSK 3.0 level 1 word, and was HSK 1 in the old six-level list.
What 菜 means
- vegetable; greens
- dish (of food)
- (of one's skills etc) weak; poor
- colloquial(one's) type
Example sentences
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吃菜。Eat vegetables.
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小菜一碟。Xiǎocàiyīdié.It's a piece of cake.
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请吃点菜。Qǐng chī diǎncài.Please eat something.
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你要点菜吗？Nǐ yàodiǎn cài ma?Would you like to order?
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生菜要洗吗？Shēngcài yào xǐ ma?Do you need to wash fresh vegetables?
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饭菜不太好。Fàncài bùtàihǎo.The food isn't too great.
Words starting with 菜
- 菜单cài dānmenu
- 菜肴cài yáovegetable and meat dishes; dish
- 菜刀cài dāovegetable knife; kitchen knife; cleaver
- 菜市场cài shì chǎngfood market
- 菜馆cài guǎn(dialect) restaurant
- 菜谱cài pǔmenu (in restaurant); recipe; cookbook
- 菜园cài yuánvegetable garden
- 菜场cài chǎngfood market
- 菜地cài dìvegetable field
- 菜色cài sèdish; lean and hungry look (resulting from vegetarian diet)…
- 菜系cài xì(regional) cuisine
- 菜花cài huācauliflower; gonorrhea
- 菜农cài nóngvegetable farmer
- 菜市cài shìfood market
- 菜品cài pǐnculinary dish
- 菜式cài shìdish (food prepared according to a specific recipe)
- 菜心cài xīnchoy sum; Chinese flowering cabbage; stem of any Chinese cabbage
- 菜板cài bǎnchopping board; cutting board
- 菜油cài yóurapeseed oil; canola oil
- 菜瓜cài guāsnake melon; loofah
- 菜头cài tóu(Taiwan) radish, esp. white radish 白萝卜
- 菜包子cài bāo zisteamed bun stuffed with vegetables; (fig.) useless person; a good-for-nothing
- 菜单条cài dān tiáomenu bar (of a computer application)
- 菜市场名cài shì chǎng míng(Taiwan) popular given name…
Words containing 菜
- 蔬菜shū càivegetables
- 饭菜fàn càifood
- 白菜bái càiChinese cabbage, esp. napa cabbage (Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis)…
- 青菜qīng càigreen vegetables; Chinese cabbage
- 小菜xiǎo càiappetizer; small side dish; easy job
- 炒菜chǎo càito stir-fry; to do the cooking; stir-fried dish
- 咸菜xián càisalted vegetables; pickles
- 川菜Chuān càiSichuan or Szechuan cuisine
- 点菜diǎn càito order dishes (in a restaurant)
- 做菜zuò càito cook; cooking
- 泡菜pào càipickled cabbage
- 酸菜suān càipickled vegetables, especially Chinese cabbage
- 韭菜jiǔ càigarlic chives (Allium tuberosum), aka Chinese chives…
- 菠菜bō càispinach; (slang) gambling; gambler (alternative term for 博彩
- 野菜yě càiwild herb; potherb
- 种菜zhòng càito grow vegetables
- 名菜míng càifamous dishes; specialty dishes
- 上菜shàng càito serve food
- 主菜zhǔ càimain course
- 芹菜qín càicelery (Apium graveolens)
- 粤菜Yuè càiCantonese cuisine
- 生菜shēng càilettuce; raw fresh vegetables; greens
- 大白菜dà bái càiChinese cabbage; napa cabbage (Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis)
- 家常菜jiā cháng càihome cooking
Characters built on 采
These share the phonetic component 采 (cǎi), which is why their readings rhyme. Learning them as a family is far cheaper than learning them one at a time.
- 彩cǎi(bright) color; variety; applause
- 踩cǎito step on; to tread; to stamp
- 睬cǎito pay attention; to take notice of; to care for
Characters that look like 菜
Easy to confuse on sight. Compare them side by side once and the pair stops costing you.
- 策cèpolicy; plan; scheme
- 莱láiname of weed plant (fat hen, goosefoot, pigweed etc); Chenopodium album
- 巢cháonest
- 粟sùmillet; (metonym) grain
- 桨jiǎngoar; paddle
- 晟shèngbrightness of sun; splendor; also pr. chéng
Sounds the same
Read cài, tone for tone, but written differently.
Where 菜 is taught
In the GraphChinese course it is part of Food, Drink and Eating (HSK 1), HSK 1 Characters · Set 22 (HSK 1), each one a topic in the dependency graph of HSK 1–6 that opens only once its prerequisites are solid.
Go deeper
- Every HSK 1 word, with the rest of its level.
- How characters are built from components.
- How to learn Chinese characters.
- The four tones and the neutral tone, to read cài correctly.
- Look up another word in the free dictionary.
Looking a word up is not learning it. GraphChinese puts all of HSK 1–6 into one dependency graph, teaches each piece only once its prerequisites are solid, and schedules reviews to land just before you would forget.
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