Definition

1. Noun:
   • Greens; vegetables: "rau" refers to plants, typically herbaceous, that are cultivated or gathered to be eaten as food, either cooked or raw. This is the primary and most common meaning.
   • (Colloquial, short form): In some regional speech, "rau" can be a shortened, colloquial form of "nhau" (placenta). This usage is marked and less common.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Greens/Vegetables):
  • Mẹ tôi mua rau ở chợ. (My mother buys vegetables at the market.)
  • Bữa ăn cần có đủ rau xanh. (A meal needs to have enough green vegetables.)
  • Anh ấy trồng nhiều loại rau trong vườn. (He grows many types of greens in the garden.)

Advanced Usage

• "rau nào sâu ấy": A Vietnamese proverb literally meaning "Such vegetable, such worm." It is used to imply that a person's character or behavior matches their environment, family, or social group (e.g., "like father, like son" or "birds of a feather flock together").

Variants and Related Words

• Rau xanh (n): Green vegetables; leafy greens. Emphasizes the green, leafy types.
• Vườn rau (n): Vegetable garden.
• Người trồng rau (n): Vegetable grower; market gardener.
• Nghề trồng rau (n): Market gardening; vegetable farming.

Synonyms

• Thực vật ăn được (edible plants): A more general, formal term.
• Đồ ăn chay (vegetarian food): In specific contexts concerning diet, but not a direct synonym for the plants themselves.

Related Phrases

• Ăn rau: To eat vegetables.
  • Trẻ con nên ăn rau nhiều hơn. (Children should eat more vegetables.)
• Luộc rau: To boil greens.
  • Cô ấy đang luộc rau muống. (She is boiling water spinach.)

Related Idioms

• "rau nào sâu ấy": As explained in Advanced Usage.

noun

1. greens; vegetables
   • vườn rau
     vegetable garden