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What is the Kanji for 'Vegetable'? | 菜

If you are wondering what is the Japanese Kanji for 'Vegetable', you've come to the right place!

The Japanese Kanji for 'Vegetable' is 菜.

    kanji

    Meaning

    Vegetable

    Reading

    kunyomi

    na

    onyomiさい

    sai

    Parts

    Grab Grass

    Example Word

    菜: vegetable. The Japanese suffix '菜 (さい)' refers to 'vegetable' and is commonly used in the names of vegetables or dishes containing vegetables. It is often attached to the name of a specific vegetable to denote its type. For example: spinach is called 'ほうれん草 (ほうれんそう)' where '草 (そう)' also means 'grass' or 'herb', but '菜' is used in other contexts. Example sentences: I like vegetable dishes「野菜料理が好きです」(やさいりょうりがすきです). This soup has a lot of vegetables「このスープには野菜がたくさん入っています」(このスープにはやさいがたくさんはいっています). The suffix can also be used in compound words to specify a type of vegetable, such as '白菜 (はくさい)' which means 'Chinese cabbage'.

    Radical

    Stroke Count

    11

    JLPT

    N2

    Grade

    4

    Frequency

    1362

    Handwriting

Parts of the Kanji

If you visually break down this kanji, you can see it is made up of 2 parts:

    kanji

    Meaning

    Grab

    radical

    Meaning

    Grass

Words Using

This kanji is used in 3 words:

    word

    野菜

    Meaning

    Vegetable

    word

    Meaning

    Vegetable

    word

    白菜

    Meaning

    Napa cabbage

Kanji Related to Through the Part

These 2 kanji contain the part 采 as well.

    kanji

    Meaning

    Gather, Pick

    kanji

    Meaning

    Coloring, Beautiful coloring

Kanji Related to Through the Part

These 48 kanji contain the part 艹 as well.

    kanji

    Meaning

    Flower

    kanji

    Meaning

    Grass

    kanji

    Meaning

    Tea

    kanji

    Meaning

    Yellow

    kanji

    Meaning

    England, Distinguished

    kanji

    Meaning

    Young

    kanji

    Meaning

    Medicine

    kanji

    Meaning

    Fall

    kanji

    Meaning

    Suffer

    kanji

    Meaning

    Baggage

    kanji

    Meaning

    Art, Performance

    kanji

    Meaning

    Leaf

    kanji

    Meaning

    Lawn, Turf

    kanji

    Meaning

    Thin, Dilute

    kanji

    Meaning

    Dream

    kanji

    Meaning

    Bury, Burial

    kanji

    Meaning

    Amass, Store up

    kanji

    Meaning

    Steam

    kanji

    Meaning

    Vague, Desert

    kanji

    Meaning

    Renowned, Author

    kanji

    Meaning

    Fungus, Bacteria

    kanji

    Meaning

    Recommend, Mat

    kanji

    Meaning

    Solemn, Villa

    kanji

    Meaning

    China, Splendor

    kanji

    Meaning

    Bud, Sprout

    kanji

    Meaning

    Stem

    kanji

    Meaning

    Grow thickly, Luxuriant

    kanji

    Meaning

    Fruit, Cake

    kanji

    Meaning

    Wild, Rough

    kanji

    Meaning

    Seedling

    kanji

    Meaning

    Potato

    kanji

    Meaning

    Chrysanthemum

    kanji

    Meaning

    Algae, Seaweed

    kanji

    Meaning

    Fuel, Firewood

    kanji

    Meaning

    Fief, Fiefdom

    kanji

    Meaning

    Fragrant, Perfume

    kanji

    Meaning

    Balmy, Fragrant

    kanji

    Meaning

    Cocoon

    kanji

    Meaning

    Briar, Thorn

    kanji

    Meaning

    Wisteria

    kanji

    Meaning

    Wick

    kanji

    Meaning

    Numb

    kanji

    Meaning

    Bullying

    kanji

    Meaning

    Indigo

    kanji

    Meaning

    Cover over

    kanji

    Meaning

    Kudzu, Arrowroot

    kanji

    Meaning

    Neglect, Scorn

    kanji

    Meaning

    Lid

Learn the Kanji

Let's make sure you fully understand this kanji.

What does 菜 mean?

菜 means 'Vegetable'.

Japanese school students learn this kanji in Fourth Grade, while non-native learners often study it for the JLPT N2 exam.

To help you master this kanji, here's an interactive lesson where you'll practice its readings and meanings.