Chinese word dictionary

做菜

zuò cài · to cook; cooking

Practice word

Word information

Simplified做菜

Traditional做菜

Pinyinzuò cài

Part of speechDictionary

HSK 3.0Not listed

HSK 2.0Not listed

Character breakdown

Study each Hanzi separately, then return to the complete word so pronunciation, meaning, and movement stay connected.

做zuò

to work, to make; to act

菜cài

vegetables; order, dish; food

How to learn 做菜

Listen once without reading, repeat the pinyin with its tones, then write every character in sequence. Finally, recall the complete meaning instead of memorizing each character as an isolated translation.

When the word appears in a sentence, check whether its part of speech and meaning match the definition shown here. Chinese words can change nuance with context.

Related vocabulary

Words with the same characters

Compare how a familiar Hanzi changes meaning inside another word.

菜cài

vegetable; greens (CL:棵[ke1]); dish (of food) (CL:樣|样[yang4],道[dao4],盤|盘[pan2]); (of one's skills etc) weak; poor; (coll.) (one's) type

做zuò

to make; to produce; to write; to compose; to do; to engage in; to hold (a party etc); (of a person) to be (an intermediary, a good student etc); to become (husband and wife, friends etc); (of a thing) to serve as; to be used for; to assume (an air or manner)

做饭zuòfàn

to prepare a meal; to cook

菜单càidān

menu; CL:份[fen4],張|张[zhang1]

做客zuòkè

to be a guest or visitor

做法zuòfǎ

way of handling sth; method for making; work method; recipe; practice; CL:個|个[ge4]