炒菜 (chǎo cài) — stir-fried dish; stir-frying (as a cooking method)

Definition

A 离合词 (separable verb): 炒 and 菜 can split, as in 炒一份菜. As a noun it means a stir-fried dish; as a verb phrase it means to stir-fry.

noun
stir-fried dishstir-frying (as a cooking method)
Measure word · 个

Examples

  • 炒菜。
    Jīn tiān zhōng wǔ wǒ diǎn le yí fèn chǎo cài.
    I ordered a stir-fried dish for lunch today.
  • 炒菜。
    chǎo cài Bǐ zhǔ cài gèng shěng shí jiān.
    Stir-frying saves more time than boiling.
  • 炒菜。
    Zhè jiā cān guǎn de chǎo cài wèi dào bú cuò.
    The stir-fried dishes at this restaurant taste good.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

炒chǎostir-fry
菜càidish

炒 means stir-fry and 菜 means dish, naming dishes made by stir-frying.

Characters in this word

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
火火huǒ
Sound part声符shēngfú
少
少shǎo炒chǎo
Close in sound todayThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

The shape combines 火 (fire) as the meaning part with 少 as the sound part.

Open 炒 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
艹Written in full as艸cǎograss; plant
Sound part声符shēngfú
采
采cǎi菜cài
Same sound today

菜 has 艹 (grass/plants) on top and 采 below; the top part shows it is a plant, while 采 gives the sound.

Open 菜 →

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