Ways to say it
| Chinese | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| 蔬菜 | shūcài |
| 菜蔬 | càishū |
| 青菜 | qīngcài |
| 菜 | cài |
The term refers to a plant raised for some edible part of it. It can be used as a noun to mean vegetables, or as an adjective to describe things relating to plants.
What does it mean word for word?
蔬菜 (shūcài) is composed of 蔬 (shū), meaning vegetable/greens and 菜 (cài), meaning dish/vegetable.
Which one should you use?
蔬菜 (shūcài) is the standard, formal noun for vegetables. In daily conversation, people often shorten this to just 菜 (cài) to refer to either vegetables or dishes. The term 青菜 (qīngcài) specifically refers to green leafy vegetables, although it is frequently used colloquially to mean any vegetable in a general sense. 菜蔬 (càishū) is another form for vegetable.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
蔬菜 is a mass noun and does not change its form to indicate plurality. Context or a quantifier determines if it is singular or plural.
How do you pronounce it?
shūcài
When do people say it?
The phrase 吃菜 (chī cài) is commonly used to encourage someone to eat their vegetables or when discussing the consumption of vegetable-based dishes.
Did you know?
- In some contexts, 菜 (cài) is used as slang for someone who is a 'noob' or unskilled at a game or task. This comes from the idea of being a 'small vegetable' or a basic ingredient.
- The word 菜 (cài) is used to mean both the raw 'vegetable' and the cooked 'dish'. This means a menu item like 'Kung Pao Chicken' is called a 菜 even though it contains no vegetables.
- The word 菜 is etymologically linked to the concept of 'gathering' or 'plucking', as the character contains the element 采 which means 'to pluck'.
Examples in context
- 番茄是蔬菜而不是水果。The tomato is a vegetable, not a fruit.This sentence distinguishes a tomato as a vegetable rather than a fruit.Tatoeba #1788075 by sadhen, translation #37442 by CM
- 你最喜欢什么蔬菜？What vegetable do you like best?This sentence asks about a person's favorite vegetable.Tatoeba #9489476 by BobbyLee, translation #6949909 by CK
- 她昨晚做了蔬菜湯。She cooked vegetable soup last night.This sentence shows the use of the word in the context of vegetable soup.Tatoeba #10365090 by DaoSeng, translation #313848 by Barbiche0
- 3 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Haoran and Jiayi are grocery shopping together.
- 梓涵 Zihan我们需要买一些新鲜的蔬菜。Wǒmen xūyào mǎi yīxiē xīnxiān de shūcài.We need to buy some fresh vegetables.
- 伟 Wei好的，你想买哪几种蔬菜？Hǎo de, nǐ xiǎng mǎi nǎ jǐ zhǒng shūcài?Okay, which kinds of vegetables do you want to buy?
- 梓涵 Zihan我想买胡萝卜和西兰花。Wǒ xiǎng mǎi húluóbō hé xīlánhuā.I want to buy carrots and broccoli.
- 伟 Wei没问题，我知道它们在哪里。Méi wèntí, wǒ zhīdào tāmen zài nǎlǐ.No problem, I know where they are.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “vegetable” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries 菜, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
