plate比dish要浅；dish还可以指菜肴和泛指餐具。plate主要是指比较平、比较浅的盘子；dish通常指较深的椭圆形盘子，一般放在餐桌中央。dish可以泛指各式各样的盘子，所以plate也是dish的一种。

plate例句

Don't touch that plate ─ it's hot!

别碰那个盘子，烫手！

She dropped the plate and it broke into pieces.

她把盘子掉在地上打碎了。

He piled as much food as he could onto his plate.

他把食物猛往自己盘子里堆。

The tanks were mainly constructed of steel plates.

这些坦克车主要是用钢板制造的。

dish例句

Here in the dining hall the cooks dish out chicken à la king.

在餐厅这儿厨师们把皇家奶油鸡装盘。

Here's a dish that is simple and quick to make.

这是一道简单易做的菜。

Try this new dish, created by our head chef.

品尝一下这道新菜吧，是我们厨师长首创的。

Never mind washing the dishes ─ I'll do them later.

别管洗碟子的事了——等一下我会洗。