boat

boat, ship

这两个词都可译为“船”。它们的区别是：
1.boat指小船, ship指大船,但这并无严格界限,一般说木制的船叫boat,能吊离水面的船叫boat,靠帆和桨行驶的船叫boat,个人拥有的船叫boat; 宇宙飞船用ship,航海的船叫ship。一般机动船则称boat或ship都可。泛指大大小小的各种船只时可用boats,也可用ships。试比较:They rowed the boat down the river.他们划着船顺河而下。
The boatmen pulled their boat onto the sand.船工们把船拖上沙滩。
Australia ships meat to England.澳大利亚用船把肉运到英国。
He has taken ship for India.他已乘船到印度去了。
The ship is bound for America.这艘轮船是开往美洲去的。
The ship is now on her first voyage.这只船是初次航行。
A camel is known as the ship of the desert.骆驼被认为是沙漠之舟。
2.boat, ship各自构成的复合词和短语很多,各有固定的意思。例如:
shipmaster船长〔船主〕, shipwreck船只失事, shipyard船厂,这些词不能用boat 代替ship; 反之, boat 的复合词也不能用ship取代之。如下列船只通常称 boats:fishing boats 渔船, sailing boats帆船, rowing boats划艇, motorboats汽艇, ferryboats渡船。国家海军较大的舰船 battleship等通常称ships。
3.表示“划船游玩”用go boating,不可用 go to boat。boat people 不指普通意义的“船民”,而指“乘船逃亡者”,如越南、海地等靠船出逃的难民。例如:
Many boat people left their homeland only to die on the sea.许多难民乘船逃出了他们的家园却又葬身于大海之中。