Meaning
菜 is one of the most essential words in Mandarin, referring to cooked dishes, vegetables, or food in general. It can mean a prepared dish at a meal, raw vegetables, or even an entire cuisine style. The character originally depicted a plant or vegetable growing from the ground.
Usage
菜 is extremely common in daily conversation about food. When ordering at restaurants, Chinese speakers say 点菜 (to order dishes). It can refer to both the vegetable itself and prepared vegetable dishes. In casual speech, 菜 often means the main dishes of a meal, as opposed to rice or noodles.
Examples
- 01今天的菜很好吃。.Today's dishes are very delicious.
- 02我去市场买菜。.I'm going to the market to buy vegetables.
Measure words
- 道一道菜
- 盘一盘菜
Common collocations
- 点菜to order dishes
- 做菜to cook, to prepare dishes
- 买菜to buy groceries/vegetables
- 上菜to serve dishes
Origin
The character 菜 consists of the grass radical 艹 on top, indicating its connection to plants, with 采 below (originally meaning 'to pick'). This reflects the agricultural origin of gathering edible plants.