菜 (cài) — dish; vegetable; cuisine
Definition
菜 is the everyday HSK 1 word for both 'vegetable' and 'dish (cooked food)'. Compare 菜肴 (more formal/literary for a dish) and 料理 ('cuisine' as a whole, or the act of cooking).
noun
dishvegetablecuisine
Measure word · 盘, 道
Examples
- 菜。Zhè ge cài hěn hǎo chī.This dish is delicious.
- 菜。Wǒ mā ma zuò de cài hěn hǎo chī.My mom's cooking is delicious.
- 菜。Wǒ xiǎng chī cài hé mǐ fàn.I want to eat vegetables and rice.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost 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
菜 has 艹 (grass/plants) on top and 采 below; the top part shows it is a plant, while 采 gives the sound.
Appears in
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