A good example of a descriptive Mandarin Chinese noun is cài dān – “menu.”

Cài dān consists of two characters: 菜單. The first character, cài, means “vegetables,” or “a type of dish.” The second character, dān, means “list,” or “form.”

The literal translation of cài dān, then, is “a list of dishes.”
Examples of Cai Dan
 
    Qǐng gěi wǒ kànkan càidān.
    請給我看看菜單｡
    请给我看看菜单｡
    Can I see the menu, please?

    Huānyíng. Qǐng zuò. Zhè shì cài dān.
    歡迎｡ 請坐｡ 這是菜單｡
    欢迎｡ 请坐｡ 这是菜单｡
    Welcome. Please have a seat. Here is the menu.