Meaning of 船员
Definitions from CC-CEDICT.
- sailor
- crew member
How to use 船员
船员 refers to anyone who works on a ship, from deckhands to engineers, and is common in news and travel contexts. It is often counted with 名 (míng) or 个 (gè). Example: 这艘船上有二十名船员。(Zhè sōu chuán shàng yǒu èrshí míng chuányuán.) There are twenty crew members on this ship.
船 (chuán) means boat or ship, and 员 (yuán) means a member of a group, like in 成员 (chéngyuán). A 船员 is simply a member of a ship, someone who works on board.
Common mistake: Learners sometimes use 船员 for passengers, but passengers are 乘客 (chéngkè). Also keep the tones straight: both syllables are second tone, chuán yuán, not chuàn or yuàn.
船员 in example sentences
Real sentences from the Tatoeba project, with pinyin and English.
Stroke order for each character
Open a character for its meaning, components and more words.
船 chuán · boat · 11 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
员 yuán · person engaged in a certain field of ac… · 7 strokes
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
Related words
Words that share a character with 船员.
| 人员 | rényuán | staff; crew |
| 演员 | yǎnyuán | actor; actress; performer |
| 成员 | chéngyuán | member |
| 员工 | yuángōng | staff; personnel; employee |
| 队员 | duìyuán | team member |
| 服务员 | fúwùyuán | waiter; waitress |
| 会员 | huìyuán | member |
| 公务员 | gōngwùyuán | civil servant; public servant |
| 划船 | huáchuán | to row a boat; rowing; boating |
| 运动员 | yùndòngyuán | athlete |
| 轮船 | lúnchuán | steamship; steamer; steamboat |
| 售货员 | shòuhuòyuán | sales clerk; sales associate; retail salesperson |
Questions about 船员
What does 船员 mean?
船员 (chuányuán) means "sailor; crew member" and is used as a noun.
How do you write 船员?
船员 is made of 2 characters: 船 (11 strokes), 员 (7 strokes). That is 18 strokes in total.
Is 船员 an HSK word?
Yes. 船员 is on the HSK 6 vocabulary list of the HSK 3.0 standard.
How is 船员 written in traditional Chinese?
In traditional characters, 船员 is written 船員.
Can 船员 be used for airplane crew?
No. 船员 is only for ships and boats. Flight crew are called 机组人员 (jīzǔ rényuán), and flight attendants are 空乘 (kōngchéng) or 空姐 (kōngjiě).
What is the difference between 船员 and 水手 (shuǐshǒu)?
水手 means sailor in a more traditional or literary sense, often a deckhand. 船员 is broader and more formal, covering every crew member on a vessel, including officers and cooks.