Spanish Language Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for linguists, teachers, students and Spanish language enthusiasts in general wanting to discuss the finer points of the language. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
In English, we have many words to describe the different types of vessels that travel on water:
Do these have direct translations into Spanish?
Also, what are the most common generic terms for a boat or ship, and what are the differences between them?
boat: barco, barca (smaller)
ship: barco, buque
yacht: yate
dinghy: bote neumático
canoe: canoa
kayak: Kayac
raft: balsa (Floating platform, originally formed by timbers together)
watercraft: embarcaciones (generic)
vessel: navío
sailboat: velero
barge: barcaza
catamaran: catamarán
lifeboat/liferaft: bote salvavidas
The generic word for describe a board/ship in Spain is barco. But if you want do be more specific you could use other words like ship.
