小 xiǎo
- Strokes
- 3
- Radical
- 小 — small, tiny, insignificant
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
小菜一碟
xiǎocàiyìdié
a piece of cake; an easy task
Characters in this word
菜 cài
- Strokes
- 11
- Radical
- 艹 — grass, weed, plant, herb
- Made of
- 艹 grass, weed, plant, herb 采 to collect, to gather
- How it's built
- Phono-semantic — one part hints at the meaning, another at the sound
一 yī
- Strokes
- 1
- Radical
- 一 — one
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
碟 dié
- Strokes
- 14
- Radical
- 石 — stone, rock, mineral
- Made of
- 石 stone, rock, mineral 枼 table
- How it's built
- Ideograph — the meaning is built from its parts
Example phrases
- 这道数学题对他来说是小菜一碟。 Zhè dào shùxué tí duì tā lái shuō shì xiǎocài yìdié. This maths problem is a piece of cake for him.
- 你放心，搬这几个箱子对我来说小菜一碟。 Nǐ fàngxīn, bān zhè jǐ ge xiāngzi duì wǒ lái shuō xiǎocài yìdié. Don't worry, moving these few boxes is a piece of cake for me.
- 别担心，做一顿饭对他来说简直是小菜一碟。 Bié dānxīn, zuò yí dùn fàn duì tā lái shuō jiǎnzhí shì xiǎocài yìdié. Don't worry, cooking a meal is simply a piece of cake for him.
Related words
- 小 xiǎo small, little
- 小孩儿 xiǎoháir child
- 小姐 xiǎojiě miss, young lady
- 小朋友 xiǎopéngyǒu child, kid
- 小时 xiǎoshí hour
- 小学 xiǎoxué primary school
- 小学生 xiǎoxuéshēng primary school student
- 从小 cóngxiǎo from childhood
- 大小 dàxiǎo size
- 小 xiǎo little (affectionate prefix)
- 小声 xiǎoshēng in a low voice; quietly
- 小时候 xiǎoshíhou in childhood; when young