菜
dish; vegetable; cuisine
cài
What does 菜 mean?
菜 (cài) is a noun that covers three closely related meanings: a vegetable, a prepared dish, and a cuisine as a whole. Context decides which: 买菜 (mǎi cài) means 'buy groceries / vegetables,' 点菜 (diǎn cài) means 'order dishes' at a restaurant, and 中国菜 (zhōngguó cài) means 'Chinese cuisine.' English forces learners to choose between 'vegetable' and 'dish,' but in Chinese the same word covers raw produce and the cooked plate it becomes. The umbrella term 菜 is also why 'food' on a restaurant menu is 菜单 (cài dān), literally 'dish list.' Register is neutral and the word works in spoken and written Chinese.
Character breakdown
vegetable; dish; cuisine (radical 艹 'grass' on top, suggesting plants)
Memory hook: The grass radical 艹 on top reminds you 菜 starts as something growing in the ground, before it becomes a dish on the table.
Measure word for 菜
Example sentences
我妈妈做的菜很好吃。
Wǒ māma zuò de cài hěn hǎochī.
The food my mom makes is delicious.
spoken
我们点几个菜吧。
Wǒmen diǎn jǐ ge cài ba.
Let's order a few dishes.
spoken
他不吃肉，只吃菜。
Tā bù chī ròu, zhǐ chī cài.
He doesn't eat meat, only vegetables.
neutral
中国菜很有名。
Zhōngguó cài hěn yǒumíng.
Chinese cuisine is famous.
neutral
Common phrases with 菜
Synonyms
蔬菜 means specifically 'vegetables' as a food category. Use 菜 in casual speech ('I'll buy some vegetables'), but 蔬菜 on packaging, in nutrition contexts, or when contrasting with meat (肉).
饭菜 means 'meal' as the whole spread of rice plus dishes. Use 菜 alone for a single dish; 饭菜 when referring to the full meal.
Don't confuse 菜 with
采 (cǎi, third tone) is a verb meaning 'to pick / gather.' 菜 (cài, fourth tone) is a noun. Same components without the grass radical = different word.
彩 means 'color / colorful' (彩虹 'rainbow'). Same right-side component as 菜 but no grass radical and third tone, not fourth.