开船 (kāi chuán) — to set sail; to sail (a boat)

Definition

A verb-object phrase meaning to set sail or to sail a boat. Unlike 坐船 (take a boat as a passenger), 开船 is about piloting or departing.

verb

to set sailto sail (a boat)

Examples

开船。
Wǒ men míng tiān zǎo shàng liù diǎn kāi chuán.
We set sail at six o'clock tomorrow morning.
开船，。
Tā shì dì yī cì kāi chuán, yǒu diǎn jǐn zhāng.
It's his first time sailing, so he's a bit nervous.
。
Wǒ men qù nián zài zhè ge hú shàng kāi guò chuán.
We sailed on this lake last year.

Origin

Compound word

构词法gòucífǎ

动宾dòngbīnVerb + object

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

开kāistart/drive

船chuánboat

start or drive and boat combine to mean set sail.

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 開; 开 is its simplified writing.

門一廾開

門門méndoor
一一yīlatch and/or wooden pole that shuts a door
廾廾gǒnga pair of hands

The traditional form 開 shows 廾, a pair of hands, and 一, a latch or pole, inside 門, a door: hands opening a latched door. The simplified 开 is a shorthand form, so its parts are not the original pieces.

Open 开 →

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.

Open 船 →

Appears in

Boats & Water Travel