# 这班飞机



## Arabus

Hello,

Does 这班飞机 mean "flight"? What is its literal meaning?

Thanks,


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## Rockx

Literal meaning: 这班(this/the) 飞机（airplane）

Because it used 班 as measure word, yes, it means flight. 

这班飞机=this flight
这架飞机=this airplane 

And when "flight" is used separately, it should be translated as 航班：
CA123次航班=Flight CA123


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## Arabus

Thanks... I meant what is the literal meaning of 班飞机 if there is one related to its actual meaning.  An "airplane shift"? Is this what it means?


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## Rockx

班 is a measure word here, indicating "shift". 
e.g. 这班列车 / 这班巴士 / 这班轮船 / 这班飞机

班飞机 is not a correct usage. We do not say that. The correct form is 班机 or 航班 (both means regular flight or airliner, as you said, the literal meaning is airplane shift).
[这班][飞机] (班 as measure word)  [这][班飞机]
[这架][班机] (架 as measure word)
[这次][航班] (次 as measure word)
All of the three mean "this flight".


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## Arabus

In these dictionaries:

http://www.wordreference.com/zhen/班机
http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqb=班机
http://translate.google.com/#zh-CN|en|班机

班机 appears as meaning "airplane", not flight.


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## Rockx

Arabus said:


> In these dictionaries:
> 
> http://www.wordreference.com/zhen/班机
> http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqb=班机
> http://translate.google.com/#zh-CN|en|班机
> 
> 班机 appears as meaning "airplane", not flight.



It depends on context, to some extent. Which means you can use either 班机/飞机/航班 if you refer to an airplane *for passengers*.

examples:

#1 The flight was three hours late.(班机/飞机误点三小时。)
#2 There are no seats left on the flight.(班机/飞机上没有剩余的座位了。)
It's okay we use both 飞机 and 班机 in #1 and #2, because it's obviously means "passenger airplane" in the context.

#3 The airplane ascended into the cloudy sky.(飞机上升到阴云密布的天空中。)
It's not appropriate to translate "airplane" as "班机" here, because we have no idea if this airplane is for passengers.


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## Arabus

So what I understand from you is that 班 has to do with _passengers_?


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## Rockx

Arabus said:


> So what I understand from you is that 班 has to do with _passengers_?



When it refers to vehicles, yes. (e.g. 航班/班车/班机)

PS: If we consider it deep, 班 actually means "regular shift" here, but when we talk vehicles, it naturally means "something for passengers" to me (and I believe most Chinese).


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## Arabus

So 班飞机 literally means a "group plane" where "group" refers to the passengers on board? This is what I understand from the discussion.

I saw 班车 being used for "train trip." What is the classifier for this word when it means a _train _trip? Is it 列? (一列班车?)

Thanks,


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## Arabus

OK now I see your clarification. So it is "plane shift" like I assumed in the beginning.


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## Rockx

Arabus said:


> So 班飞机 literally means a "group plane" where "group" refers to the passengers on board? This is what I understand from the discussion.



Please check the PS I just added on. 班机 literally means "regular shift plane". Although 班 can be also explained as group, it's not what it means here.

一列班车 is perfectly correct. 班车 can also be "shuttle bus" or "regular bus". It's a wide range in Chinese.


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## Arabus

So it is:

一辆班车
一列班车
一架班机

This is neat.

Thanks.


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## Summer-Summer

这个单位的用法跟这个的大小有关系的，对吗？


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## SuperXW

I think 班 in 这班飞机 means 班次. There isn't such a measure word in English, so it's hard to explain. I think the idea is "shift for transportation".
班 in 航班, 班机, 头班车, 末班车... are all consistant with this idea, "shift for transportation".


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## Dragonseed

班 is any shift of a transportation on a schedule. Bus, train, airplane, even the lift in your building ("我坐下一班" = I'll take the next one). 
This is the beauty of measure words in Chinese: it allows to have a generic word (like 飞机 "plane"), and to vary the meanings (between the physical plane 一架飞机, the flight 這一班飛機, etc.).

Think of the sentence "I bought a newspaper" - in English, it is ambiguous without context, not sure if you bought the 10 pages daily, or the company that publishes it, but in Chinese, it is clearly indicated by the measure word:
- 我買了一分報紙
- 我買了這一家報紙


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