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Japanese vocabulary · Beginner
How do you say "ship" in Japanese?
船
fune
In Japanese, "ship" is 船 (fune).
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Pronunciation
Fune is two short even syllables, fu-ne, with a light final vowel rather than a clipped English ending.
Writing and usage
船 is written using kanji. It's a noun, and this word is also taught inside the Noun Town language learning game, where it appears in interactive lessons alongside hundreds of other everyday words.
Example sentence
船は海を渡って航行した。
fune ha umi wo watatsu te koukou shita.
The ship sailed across the ocean.
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How to remember 船
Fune sounds like 'foo-nay' -- picture a grand old ship gliding smoothly, its name sung out in two gentle notes.
Related words
- airplane 飛行機 hikouki
- helicopter ヘリコプター herikoputaa
- boat ボート booto
- ferry フェリー ferii
- submarine 潜水艦 sensuikan
- train 列車 ressha
- subway 地下鉄 chikatetsu
- tram トラム toramu
- taxi タクシー takushii
Browse all Japanese words in the glossary.
Questions about 船
How do you pronounce 船?
Fune is two short even syllables, fu-ne, with a light final vowel rather than a clipped English ending.
Is 船 formal or casual?
船 is a neutral, everyday word that works in both casual and polite speech. The level of formality comes from the sentence structure around it, not from the word itself.
How is 船 written in Japanese?
船 is written using kanji. Romanised, it reads as fune.
Where can I practice Japanese words for free?
You can play free Japanese minigames in your browser on the Noun Town online games page, with no sign-up needed. Every word in the Japanese glossary also has native audio and an example sentence you can revisit any time.
"Ship" in other languages
Curated by Callan Ratcliffe
This word is part of the vocabulary taught in the Japanese language learning game Noun Town, where words are introduced through play rather than memorisation. Want to play the full game? Get Noun Town on Steam.
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