Japanese kanji 船: boats, ships and fares

The idea

船 has 11 strokes; follow the linked stroke-order diagram. 船 is read ふね on its own, while 船賃（ふなちん） uses ふな and 漁船（ぎょせん） uses せん. Learn the reading with each word.

Examples

• 船ふねで島しまへ行いきました。We went to the island by boat.
• 大おおきな船ふねが港みなとに着つきます。A large ship is arriving at the port.
• 船賃ふなちんを払はらいました。I paid the boat fare.
• 父ちちは漁船ぎょせんで働はたらいています。My father works on a fishing boat.
• 船ふねは朝あさに出発しゅっぱつしました。The ship departed in the morning.
• 川かわの船ふねを見みていました。I watched the boats on the river.

Watch out

船 can refer to both a small boat and a large ship; context tells you which. 船賃 is the fare, not the vessel itself.

Try it yourself

1. Write the reading of 船 in hiragana.

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   ふね

   船 is ふね. In 船で島へ行きました, it means a boat used for the journey.

2. Write the reading of 船賃 in hiragana.

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   ふなちん

   船賃 is ふなちん: 船 takes the form ふな in this word, and the word means boat fare.

3. Choose the missing kanji: 漁＿（ぎょせん）［船／舟］.

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   船

   船 completes 漁船（ぎょせん）, a fishing boat. The compound uses the reading せん.

Use it today

Write 船 following the diagram. Cover the readings, read 船 and 船賃, then make a sentence about a journey.