Chinese words starting with “cai”
33 words in our HSK vocabulary start with the syllable cai. They are sorted by how common they are, so the ones you are most likely to meet come first. The 6 most useful of them have their own page — they are listed first below.
Initial c · final ai · hear the four tones and see example characters →
- 1st tone 4
- 2nd tone 17
- 3rd tone 10
- 4th tone 2
Word counts by tone are counted on the first syllable of each word.
Common words with this syllable
- 采取cǎi qǔHSK 3
to adopt or carry out (measures, policies, course of action); to take
- 采访cǎi fǎngHSK 4
to interview; to gather news; to hunt for and collect; to cover
- 才能cái néngHSK 3
talent; ability; capacity
- 采用cǎi yòngHSK 3
to adopt; to employ; to use
- 菜单cài dānHSK 2
menu
- 彩色cǎi sèHSK 3
color; multicolored
All 33 words
| # | Word | Pinyin | POS | Meaning | Study list |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 才 | cái | d,c,n | ability; talent; sb of a certain type; a capable individual; then and only then; just now; (before an expression of quantity) only | |
| 2 | 菜 | cài | n | dish (type of food); vegetable; cuisine; (coll.) (one's) type; (of one's skills etc) weak; poor | |
| 3 | 材料 | cái liào | n | (raw) material; data; (fig.) person who has the potential to do the job | |
| 4 | 猜 | cāi | v | to guess | |
| 5 | 财产 | cái chǎn | n | property; assets; estate | |
| 6 | 踩 | cǎi | v | to step on; to tread; to stamp; to press a pedal; to pedal (a bike); (online) to downvote | |
| 7 | 财富 | cái fù | n | wealth; riches | |
| 8 | 财务 | cái wù | n | financial affairs | |
| 9 | 财政 | cái zhèng | n | finances (public); financial | |
| 10 | 裁判 | cái pàn | n,v | judgment; to referee; umpire; judge; referee | |
| 11 | 采 | cǎi | v | to pick; to pluck; to collect; to select; to choose; to gather | |
| 12 | 猜测 | cāi cè | v,vn | to guess; to conjecture; to surmise | |
| 13 | 彩票 | cǎi piào | n | lottery ticket | |
| 14 | 才华 | cái huá | n | talent | |
| 15 | 采集 | cǎi jí | v,vn | to gather; to collect; to harvest | |
| 16 | 彩虹 | cǎi hóng | n | rainbow | |
| 17 | 采购 | cǎi gòu | v,vn | to procure (for an enterprise etc); to purchase | |
| 18 | 裁决 | cái jué | vn,v | ruling; adjudication | |
| 19 | 猜想 | cāi xiǎng | v,vn | to guess; to conjecture; to suppose; (math.) hypothesis | |
| 20 | 裁 | cái | v | to cut out (as a dress); to cut; to trim; to reduce; to diminish; to cut back (e.g. on staff); decision; judgment | |
| 21 | 裁定 | cái dìng | v,vn | ruling | |
| 22 | 财物 | cái wù | n | property; belongings | |
| 23 | 采纳 | cǎi nà | v,vn | to accept; to adopt | |
| 24 | 裁员 | cái yuán | v,vn | to cut staff; to lay off employees | |
| 25 | 财经 | cái jīng | n | finance and economics | |
| 26 | 财力 | cái lì | n | financial resources | |
| 27 | 采矿 | cǎi kuàng | vn,v | mining | |
| 28 | 才干 | cái gàn | n | ability; competence | |
| 29 | 裁缝 | cái féng | n,v | to make an item of clothing; to tailor | |
| 30 | 彩电 | cǎi diàn | n | color TV | |
| 31 | 菜市场 | cài shì chǎng | n | food market | |
| 32 | 猜谜 | cāi mí | v | to answer a riddle; to guess (i.e. form an opinion without much evidence) | |
| 33 | 彩霞 | cǎi xiá | clouds tinged with sunset hues |
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