TongTong
Sign in

菜单 (cài dān) — menu

Definition

noun
menu
Measure word · 份, 张

Examples

  • ，菜单。
    Fú wù yuán, qǐng gěi wǒ yí fèn cài dān.
    Waiter, please give me a menu.
  • 菜单。
    Zhè zhāng cài dān shàng de cài dōu bú guì.
    The dishes on this menu are all not expensive.
  • 菜单？
    Nǐ men yǒu zhōng wén cài dān ma?
    Do you have a Chinese menu?

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

菜càidish
单dānlist

“菜” means dish, “单” means list; together they mean a list of dishes.

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
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 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 單; 单 is its simplified writing.

The form 單 originally pictured a Y-shaped wooden stick with two stones on top.

Open 单 →
Appears in
HSK 3.0 Level 3HSK 2.0 Level 3Dining & Restaurants

Browse more HSK 3 words or search the full 43,000-word dictionary.