看 菜 吃 饭

kàn cài chī fàndictionary entry

(lit.) to eat depending on the dish (idiom) / (fig.) to act according to actual circumstances

Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-6eb3d8c61ff63c7f. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

看菜吃飯 看菜吃饭 [kan4 cai4 chi1 fan4] /(lit.) to eat depending on the dish (idiom)/(fig.) to act according to actual circumstances/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 看菜吃飯

看
kān
to look after / to take care of / to watch / to guard
kàn
to see / to look at / to read / to watch / to visit / to call on / to consider / to regard as / to look after / to treat (a patient or illness) / to depend on / to feel (that) / (after a verb) to give it a try / to watch out for
菜
cài
vegetable / greens (CL:棵[kē]) / dish (of food) (CL:樣|样[yàng],道[dào],盤|盘[pán]) / (of one's skills etc) weak / poor / (coll.) (one's) type
吃
chī
to eat / to consume / to eat at (a cafeteria etc) / to eradicate / to destroy / to absorb / to suffer (shock, injury, defeat etc)
饭
fàn
cooked rice / CL:碗[wǎn] / meal / CL:頓|顿[dùn] / (loanword) fan / devotee

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.