Word "Ship" in English: Meaning, Examples & Forms

Ship – as a noun, “ship” refers to a large boat that is used to transport people or products from one location on water to another.

Ship as a verb implies the act of sending items or products from one location to another through mail/sea/airways or trucks.

Part of speech:

Noun and verb

Phonetic transcription (IPA):

/ʃɪp/

CEFR level:

А2

Word frequency:

How to Pronounce “Ship”?

Audio (UK):

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Audio (US):

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Say “ship” with one short, sharp syllable: /ʃɪp/. Be careful not to pronounce it like “sheep” /ʃiːp/, because the vowel sound changes the meaning completely.

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“Ship” as a Noun: Grammar and Plurals

Since “ship” is a countable noun, you may use expressions such as “a ship”, “the ship”, or “ships”. It is worth noting that while transport terms may be treated rather broadly by foreign English speakers, the word “ship” functions the same way as other countable things.

Form	Example	Meaning
Singular	A ship arrived at the port this morning.	One large vessel
Plural	Several ships were waiting outside the harbour.	More than one vessel
With “the”	The ship left Southampton at midnight.	A specific ship
With adjectives	A cargo ship crossed the Atlantic.	A described type of ship

Common Types of “Ships” in English

The word “ship” often appears with another noun before it. That first word tells you what the “ship” does, who uses it, or what it carries.

Type of ship	Meaning	Example
Cargo ship	A ship that carries goods	The company sent the cars by cargo ship.
Cruise ship	A ship for holidays and leisure travel	Tourists spent ten days on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean.
Fishing ship	A ship used for catching fish	The fishing ship returned before the storm.
Container ship	A ship that carries large metal containers	A container ship can carry thousands of products at once.
Naval ship	A military ship	The naval ship took part in a training exercise.

“Ship” as a Verb: Forms and Patterns

Despite being a nautical term, its meaning in contemporary English can be expanded to refer to “shipping” through road, air, rail, or water modes of transport. “Ship” is a regular verb, but its spelling changes slightly. Because it is a one-syllable verb ending in one vowel followed by one consonant, the final p is doubled before -ed and -ing.

Basic Forms of the Verb “Ship”

Form	Structure	Example
Base Form	ship	We ship orders worldwide within two business days.
Past Simple	shipped	The warehouse shipped the package yesterday afternoon.
Past Participle	shipped	Your order has already been shipped.
Gerund	shipping	Shipping fragile items requires extra protective packaging.
Third Person Singular	ships	The company ships food products to more than fifty countries.

Continuous and Perfect Forms

Tense	Structure	Example
Present Continuous	am/is/are shipping	We’re shipping today’s orders before 5 p.m.
Past Continuous	was/were shipping	The supplier was shipping replacement parts when the system failed.
Future Continuous	will be shipping	This time next week, we’ll be shipping the new product line.
Present Perfect	have/has shipped	They have shipped thousands of parcels this month.
Past Perfect	had shipped	By Friday morning, the factory had shipped every outstanding order.
Future Perfect	will have shipped	By the end of the week, we’ll have shipped all customer orders.
Present Perfect Continuous	have/has been shipping	The business has been shipping glasses internationally for over ten years.
Past Perfect Continuous	had been shipping	The company had been shipping medical supplies across Europe before expanding to Asia.
Future Perfect Continuous	will have been shipping	By next spring, the retailer will have been shipping eco-friendly products for five years.