船 chuán — a boat; vessel; ship
我们坐船游览了这条河。Wǒ men zuò chuán yóu lǎn le zhè tiáo hé.We toured this river by boat.
Common words: 划船 (huá chuán)、轮船 (lún chuán)、飞船 (fēi chuán)
Meaning Index
Chinese characters meaning "ship"
Learn Chinese characters with the meaning "ship", including 船 (chuán), 航 (háng), 舶 (bó). Study pinyin, English meanings, traditional forms, common words…
How to Study This Meaning Group
The English word "ship" covers 3 different Chinese characters — 船 (chuán), 航 (háng), 舶 (bó) — and each is its own word with its own feel. These 3 characters do not share a sound — their readings span chuán, háng, bó — so confirm the pinyin and tone for each one separately. The example sentences further down show how 船 and the others are actually used, so you learn them in context rather than as a single translation.
- 船 chuána boat; vessel; shipUseful words: 划船, 轮船
- 航 hángboat; ship; vessel; craft; to navigate; to sailUseful words: 航空, 航班
- 舶 bósea-going vessels; shipUseful words: 船舶, 舶来品
Common words for these 3 "ship" characters
Anchor each of these 3 characters in a word you can picture — start with 船 (chuán) — so "ship" turns into concrete usage instead of a one-to-one translation.
划船huá chuánto row a boat; rowing; boating; small boat轮船lún chuánsteamship; steamer; steamboat飞船fēi chuánspaceship; spacecraft; dirigible; airship航空háng kōngaviation航班háng bān(scheduled) flight; (scheduled) sailing导航dǎo háng(lit. and fig.) to navigate船舶chuán bóshipping; boats舶来品bó lái pǐn(old) imported goods; foreign goods
See each character in a sentence
Each character below is shown in a short example sentence with pinyin and an English translation — the quickest way to feel the difference between the 3 ways to say "ship".
航 háng — boat; ship; vessel; craft; to navigate; to sail
这趟航班准时起飞了。Zhè tàng háng bān zhǔn shí qǐ fēi le.This flight took off on time.
Common words: 航空 (háng kōng)、航班 (háng bān)、导航 (dǎo háng)
舶 bó — sea-going vessels; ship
港口里停靠着许多大型船舶。Gǎng kǒu lǐ tíng kào zhe xǔ duō dà xíng chuán bó.Many large ships are docked in the harbor.
Common words: 船舶 (chuán bó)、舶来品 (bó lái pǐn)
All 3 characters
Open 船、航、舶 or any character below to hear it read aloud and see it used in an example sentence.