Translation guide
The English word 'grounding' has several distinct meanings. This guide covers the most common uses for learners: electrical grounding, grounding in knowledge/foundation, grounding as punishment, and grounding of ships/aircraft.
To connect an electrical circuit or device to the earth for safety.
The standard technical term for electrical grounding.
This equipment must be grounded.
Commonly used in everyday contexts, from English 'earth'. Often seen on outlets or appliances.
Please connect the ground wire.
Colloquial phrase meaning 'to ground' or 'to connect to ground'.
Please ground the washing machine.
A solid base of knowledge or training in a subject.
Means 'foundation' or 'basics'. Used for fundamental knowledge or skills.
He has a solid grounding in mathematics.
Literally 'foundation' or 'base', often used metaphorically for a grounding in something.
Compound meaning 'basic knowledge' or 'grounding'.
Restricting a child's activities as a disciplinary measure.
Common phrase meaning 'to forbid going out'. Equivalent to grounding a child.
I was grounded for a week by my parents.
Literally 'to forbid going out to play'. A more explicit way to describe grounding.
Formal term for 'confinement' or 'suspension', sometimes used for grounding in a strict sense. More common in school or club contexts.
When a ship runs aground or an aircraft is prevented from flying.
Specifically for ships running aground or stranding.
The tanker was grounded.
Means 'landing', but can be used in the context of an aircraft being grounded (forced to land). Not a direct translation for 'grounding' as a prohibition.
This is not the same as 'grounding' an aircraft fleet; for that, use 飛行禁止 (hikou kinshi).
Means 'flight prohibition', used when aircraft are grounded by authorities.
There is no single Japanese word that directly corresponds to 'grounding' as a punishment. Use phrases like 外出禁止 (gaishutsu kinshi) or describe the restriction explicitly.
接地 (secchi) is the formal technical term, while アース (aasu) is more common in everyday speech and on household appliances. Both are correct for electrical grounding.
To build a solid grounding in languages.
このコースではプログラミングの基礎知識を学びます。
In this course, you will learn the grounding of programming.
I didn't do my homework, so I was grounded.
彼は一週間の謹慎を命じられた。
He was ordered to be grounded for a week.
The plane was grounded due to bad weather.
The airline was grounded for safety reasons.