下船 (xià chuán) — to disembark, to go ashore (from a ship) | TongTong Chinese Dictionary

Definition

A verb-object phrase: literally 'get down + boat,' meaning to leave a ship and step onto land. Pairs with 离船 rather than 上船 (board).

verb

to disembarkto go ashore (from a ship)

Examples

下船。
Lǚ kè men zhèng zài xià chuán.
The passengers are disembarking.
，。
Wǒ men xià le chuán, zuò chē qù jiǔ diàn.
We got off the ship and took a car to the hotel.
。
Zhè cì lǚ xíng wǒ zhī xià guò yí cì chuán.
During this trip, I only disembarked once.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

An action followed by what it acts on, fused into one word.

下xiàgo down

下 (go down) and 船 (ship) combine to mean going down from a ship.

Characters in this word

An abstract idea shown by a mark or a diagram rather than by a picture of an object.

下 is drawn as a short horizontal line below a long curved line.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú

舟舟zhōuboat

Sound part声符shēngfú

㕣

㕣㕣船

The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

船 pairs 舟 (boat) with 㕣 for its sound.

Appears in

Boats & Water Travel Travel & Tourism

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