Dictionary › 菜

菜

cài

HSK 1 Character Measure word 棵、样、道、盘

What 菜 means

1. vegetable; greens
2. dish (of food)
3. (of one's skills etc) weak; poor
4. colloquial(one's) type

Example sentences

• 吃菜。
  Eat vegetables.
• 小菜一碟。
  Xiǎocàiyīdié.
  It's a piece of cake.
• 请吃点菜。
  Qǐng chī diǎncài.
  Please eat something.
• 你要点菜吗？
  Nǐ yàodiǎn cài ma?
  Would you like to order?
• 生菜要洗吗？
  Shēngcài yào xǐ ma?
  Do you need to wash fresh vegetables?
• 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.

• 采used in 采邑
• 寀feudal estate
• 蔡surname Cai
• 縩see 綷縩
• 埰old variant of 采