船 meaning and stroke order
Boat; vessel; ship
How to write 船, stroke by stroke
11 strokes in order. Each box adds the next stroke in red. Write top to bottom and left to right, and finish enclosing strokes last.
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Meaning of 船
Definitions from CC-CEDICT, grouped by pronunciation.
- boat
- vessel
- ship
- variant of 船[chuan2]
How 船 is built
Phono-semantic (sound + meaning) character. Ship.
舟 gives the meaning.
Radical: 舟 (boat), shared by 35 characters on this site.
How to remember 船
船 is a pictophonetic character. The left part 舟 (zhōu) means boat and gives the meaning, while the right side 几 over 口 points to the sound. Picture a boat 舟 next to a little table 几 with an open mouth 口 calling passengers aboard.
船 is the everyday word for any boat or ship, from a small rowboat to a large vessel, and it also appears in 飞船 (fēichuán) for spaceships. The measure word is usually 条 (tiáo) or 艘 (sōu). Example: 我们坐船去岛上。 (Wǒmen zuò chuán qù dǎo shàng.) We are taking a boat to the island.
Common mistake: Learners often write the right side as 八 over 口, making it look like 沿 without the water radical. The top is 几, which has a hooked final stroke. Also note the left radical 舟 is squeezed narrow and its last horizontal stroke rises to the right.
Common words with 船
Ordered by HSK level, then by how often they appear in everyday Chinese.
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning | Level |
|---|---|---|---|
| 划船 | huáchuán | to row a boat; rowing; boating | HSK 3 |
| 轮船 | lúnchuán | steamship; steamer; steamboat | HSK 4 |
| 船长 | chuánzhǎng | captain (of a boat); skipper | HSK 6 |
| 飞船 | fēichuán | spaceship; spacecraft | HSK 6 |
| 船员 | chuányuán | sailor; crew member | HSK 6 |
| 船只 | chuánzhī | ship; boat | HSK 6 |
| 帆船 | fānchuán | sailboat | HSK 7-9 |
| 渔船 | yúchuán | fishing boat | HSK 7-9 |
| 船舶 | chuánbó | shipping; boats | HSK 7-9 |
| 船桨 | chuánjiǎng | oar | HSK 7-9 |
| 游船 | yóuchuán | pleasure boat; cruise ship | HSK 7-9 |
| 水涨船高 | shuǐzhǎng-chuángāo | the tide rises, the boat floats (idiom); fig. to change with the overall trend; to develop | HSK 7-9 |
| 上船 | shàngchuán | to get on the boat | |
| 太空船 | tàikōngchuán | spaceship |
船 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Questions about 船
How many strokes are in 船?
船 is written with 11 strokes. The diagrams on this page number every stroke in the order it is written, with the new stroke shown in red.
What does 船 mean?
船 (chuán) means boat; vessel; ship. A common word with it is 划船 (huáchuán), meaning "to row a boat; rowing; boating".
How do you pronounce 船?
船 is pronounced chuán, in the second tone (rising).
What is the radical of 船?
The radical of 船 is 舟, which carries the idea of "boat". Dictionaries list 船 under this radical.
What is the traditional form of 船?
The traditional form of 船 is 舩. Traditional characters are used in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau; 船 is the simplified form used in mainland China and Singapore.
Is 船 on the HSK exam?
Yes. 船 is part of the HSK 2 character list in the HSK 3.0 standard, and you are expected to write it by hand from HSK 3.
What verb do you use with 船 for taking a boat?
Use 坐船 (zuò chuán) for riding a boat as a passenger, just like 坐车 for a car. Use 划船 (huáchuán) when you row it yourself, and 上船 (shàng chuán) or 下船 (xià chuán) for boarding and getting off.
What is the difference between 船 and 舟?
船 (chuán) is the normal modern word for a boat or ship. 舟 (zhōu) is literary and mostly appears in idioms, poems and set phrases, such as 同舟共济 (tóng zhōu gòng jì), to pull together in hard times.