菜 (cài): vegetable, dish
菜 (cài) is a Chinese character meaning “vegetable, dish.” Classified as HSK Level 1 (HSK 3.0 Standard, CLEC 2022), it is composed of 艹 (semantic) and 采 (phonetic). It ranks #1258 in character frequency (SUBTLEX-CH corpus).
Etymologically derived, 菜 plant. Its radical form 艹 (grass) appears in many related characters such as 花 (huā, flower), 茶 (chá, tea), 节 (jié, festival, section).
Definitions
- vegetable, dish
Etymology & Origin
Stroke Order
Practice writing 菜 with real-time feedback — trace each stroke in the correct order and build muscle memory in the HanziFeed app.
Words & Compounds
HSK Vocabulary with 菜
Common Compounds
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 泡菜noun | pào cài | pickled cabbage |
| 小菜noun | xiǎo cài | appetizer |
| 饭菜noun | fàn cài | food |
| 点菜verb | diǎn cài | to order dishes (in a restaurant) |
| 卷心菜noun | juǎn xīn cài | cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata) |
| 菠菜noun | bō cài | spinach |
| 菜谱noun | cài pǔ | menu (in restaurant) |
| 生菜noun | shēng cài | lettuce |
| 主菜noun | zhǔ cài | main course |
| 做菜verb | zuò cài | to cook |
| 剩菜noun | shèng cài | leftovers (food) |
| 甜菜noun | tián cài | (sugar) beet |
| 花椰菜noun | huā yē cài | cauliflower |
| 芹菜noun | qín cài | celery (Apium graveolens) |
| 白菜noun | bái cài | Chinese cabbage, esp. napa cabbage (Brassica rapa subsp. pekinensis) |
菜 appears in 105 compound words: 30 as the first character, 70 as the last, and 0 in a middle position. Compound statistics computed from SUBTLEX-CH and HSK 3.0 vocabulary data.
Strongest Collocations
Characters that most frequently co-occur with 菜 in natural Chinese text, ranked by NPMI (Normalized Pointwise Mutual Information) — a statistical measure of association strength.
Idioms & Chengyu (2)
Example Sentences
这家餐厅的菜味道很好，价格也不贵。
Zhè jiā cāntīng de cài wèidào hěn hǎo, jiàgé yě bù guì.
The food at this restaurant tastes great and is not expensive.
青菜煮熟能过夜吗能吃吗?这些隔夜菜知识要牢记
qīng cài zhǔ shú néng guò yè ma néng chī ma ? zhè xiē gé yè cài zhī shí yāo láo jì
Can you eat greens overnight when cooked? This overnight dish knowledge should be kept in mind
无糖的食物一览表有哪些?燕麦、坚果、蔬菜都算吗
wú táng de shí wù yī lǎn biǎo yǒu nǎ xiē ? yān mài , jiān guǒ , shū cài dōu suàn ma
What is the list of sugar-free foods? Oats, nuts, and vegetables all count
不升糖的食品有哪些?绿叶菜、鸡蛋、豆腐几乎不升糖吗
bù shēng táng de shí pǐn yǒu nǎ xiē ? lǜ xié cài , jī dàn , dòu fǔ jī hū bù shēng táng ma
What are the foods that do not raise blood sugar? Green leafy vegetables, eggs, and tofu hardly raise sugar
过年年菜吃不完!3招简单清冰箱 剩菜新吃法一次看
guò nián nián cài chī bù wán ! 3 zhāo jiǎn dān qīng bīng xiāng shèng cài xīn chī fǎ yī cì kàn
Can't finish the New Year's dishes! 3 simple ways to clear the refrigerator and see a new way to eat leftovers at once
视频丨空间站的年夜饭都有什么?听航天员报菜名收祝福
shì pín 丨 kōng jiān zhàn de nián yè fàn dū yǒu shén má ? yǐn háng tiān yuán bào cài míng shōu zhù fú
Video 丨What is the New Year's Eve dinner on the space station? I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to make it.
有没有什么好菜推介？
Yǒuméiyǒu shénme hǎo cài tuījiè?
What would you recommend we eat?
可以介绍几道素菜吗？
Kěyǐ jièshào jǐ dào sùcài ma?
Can you recommend any vegetarian dishes?
这种蔬菜英语叫什么名字？
Zhèzhǒng shūcài Yīngyǔ jiào shénme míngzi?
What do you call this vegetable in English?
你喜不喜欢日本菜？
Nǐ xǐ bù xǐhuan Rìběn cài?
Do you like Japanese food?
Character Family
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 菜 (cài) mean in Chinese?
How many strokes does 菜 have?
What is the radical of 菜?
What are the components of 菜?
What are common words containing 菜?
What characters sound the same as 菜 (cài)?
Is 菜 the same in simplified and traditional Chinese?
Practice writing 菜 with real-time feedback
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