船 (chuán) is a Chinese character meaning “boat”. It is written from 舟 (boat) and 㕣 (marsh; sound part of 沿, 铅, 船), side by side, and takes 11 strokes.
Build the character for “boat; ship”
Four steps: break it apart, build it, recall it, use it in a word.
StartLearn this character
Structure
舟 + 㕣
Left–right structure
Structure from: Unicode U+8239 与 hanzi-writer-data 现代字形核验（左「舟」6 笔 + 右「㕣」5 笔 = 11 笔）；说文：船，舟也。从舟，鉛省聲。仅为现代字形拆分
Memory aid
A boat (舟) glides past a marsh (㕣) — a real boat, the everyday word for a ship.
This is a memory aid, not the historical origin.
Stroke order
11 strokes
In real words
- 划船huá chuánto row a boat; to paddle船 = chuán
- 帆船fān chuánsailboat; sailing ship船 = chuán
- 船舶chuán bóships; vessels船 = chuán
- 船桨chuán jiǎngoar (of a boat)船 = chuán
- 船舱chuán cāngship cabin; hold of a ship船 = chuán
Go deeper
All readings
boat; ship
boat; ship; vessel
水上的交通工具，船只。 — studyhanzi 编写
Words with this reading
- 划船huá chuánto row a boat; to paddle船 = chuán
- 帆船fān chuánsailboat; sailing ship船 = chuán
- 船舶chuán bóships; vessels船 = chuán
- 船桨chuán jiǎngoar (of a boat)船 = chuán
- 船舱chuán cāngship cabin; hold of a ship船 = chuán
Sound component
㕣 family diverged
Stroke data: hanzi-writer-data (Arphic Public License) · licenses & attributions
Questions people ask about this character
What does 船 mean?
船 (chuán) means boat; ship; vessel.
How do you pronounce 船?
It is pronounced chuán.
What parts is 船 made of?
舟 (boat) and 㕣 (marsh; sound part of 沿, 铅, 船), side by side. The recorded source is: Unicode U+8239 与 hanzi-writer-data 现代字形核验（左「舟」6 笔 + 右「㕣」5 笔 = 11 笔）；说文：船，舟也。从舟，鉛省聲。仅为现代字形拆分. Components are the building blocks of the shape; the radical used for dictionary lookup is a separate thing.
How many strokes does 船 have?
11. You can watch the stroke order on this page, or trace it yourself.
What is the radical of 船?
舟. The radical is how the character is filed in a dictionary — it is not the whole story of how the character is built.
What words use 船?
Common ones are 划船, 帆船, 船舶. The reading of 船 is not the same in every word, so each word on this page shows which reading applies.