Example sentences
zhè这gè个cài菜hǎo好chī吃ma吗？
Is this dish tasty?
mā妈mā妈qù去mǎi买cài菜le了。
Mom went to buy vegetables.
The story behind the character
菜
菜 is 艹 (plants) over 采, which supplies the sound. 采 is a hand reaching into a tree, to pick, so the sound part happens to be a picture of harvesting. Xu Shen's gloss is short: 菜, 艸之可食者, the plants you can eat. Every vegetable on your plate traces back to that one line.