菜(cài)

HSK 111 strokes

vegetable

Print a 菜 worksheet PDFPractice writing 菜

Stroke order animation

Character information

Pinyin
cài
Meaning
vegetable; greens (CL:棵[ke1]); dish (of food) (CL:样,道[dao4],盘); (of one's skills etc) weak; poor; (coll.) (one's) type
Strokes
11
HSK level
HSK 1
Traditional
Same

Origin & structure

Where 菜 comes from and how its parts fit together.

Phonetic-semantic compound⿱艹采

In this compound, the meaning comes from 艹 (plant); 采 supplies the sound.

One part carries the meaning, the other suggests the sound.

Made of

艹ǎo采cǎi

Parts are arranged top to bottom.

How to write 菜 step by step

11 strokes — each frame adds one stroke, shown in dark ink over the lighter ones.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11

Words with 菜

Common words using 菜 — tap any character to open its stroke-order page.

shàng上cài菜

to serve food

Open 上菜 page →
zhǔ主cài菜

main course

Open 主菜 page →
gān干cài菜

dried vegetable

Open 干菜 page →
xià下jiǔ酒cài菜

dish that goes well with alcoholic drinks; snack eaten with drinks

Open 下酒菜 page →
zuò做cài菜

to cook

Open 做菜 page →
lěng冷cài菜

cold dish

Open 冷菜 page →
shèng剩cài菜

leftovers (food)

Open 剩菜 page →
bāo包xīn心cài菜

cabbage

Open 包心菜 page →

Related characters

More HSK 1 characters

一七三上下不东两

From 菜’s common words

上主干下酒做冷剩

Ready to master 菜?

Trace 菜 stroke by stroke in the online practice tool, or turn it into a printable worksheet PDF with Tianzige practice grids, pinyin, and stroke-order breakdowns.

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