Translation guide
The concept of drowning in Japanese is expressed through specific verbs and nouns that distinguish between dying by drowning, nearly drowning, and the state of being submerged. The most common and direct equivalent is 溺れる (oboreru), but other terms are used for formal, technical, or literary contexts.
Expressing the act of dying from being unable to breathe underwater.
The most common verb meaning 'to drown' (die by drowning). It is an intransitive verb. Can also be used figuratively to mean 'to indulge in' something.
彼は海で溺れた。
He drowned in the sea.
溺れる者は藁をも掴む。
A drowning man will clutch at a straw.
A formal or technical term meaning 'to die by drowning', often used in news reports or official documents. Literally 'water death'.
その事故で2人が水死した。
Two people drowned in the accident.
A medical or formal term for 'death by drowning'. Less common in everyday speech.
死因は溺死だった。
The cause of death was drowning.
Describing the ongoing action of struggling in water and being unable to breathe.
The progressive form of 溺れる, used to describe someone currently drowning.
助けて！溺れている！
Help! I'm drowning!
Means 'to almost drown' or 'to be on the verge of drowning'. Combines 溺れる with かける (to be about to).
子供の頃、川で溺れかけた。
When I was a child, I almost drowned in a river.
Referring to an incident where someone almost drowned but survived.
A noun meaning 'drowning' or 'near-drowning', often used in medical or safety contexts. Can refer to both fatal and non-fatal submersion.
溺水事故に注意してください。
Please be careful of drowning accidents.
A more colloquial way to say 'almost drowned'. Literally 'became likely to drown'.
プールで溺れそうになった。
I almost drowned in the pool.
Referring to drowning as a general concept, cause of death, or phenomenon.
The noun for 'death by drowning'. Used in formal and medical contexts.
溺死は予防できる。
Drowning is preventable.
A broader term meaning 'water accident' or 'distress at sea', which often implies drowning. Used in compound words like 水難事故 (water accident).
To cover or overwhelm a sound with a louder one.
Means 'to drown out' or 'to muffle' a sound. Literally 'scratch out'.
彼の声は騒音にかき消された。
His voice was drowned out by the noise.
A more general phrase meaning 'to become inaudible', often used when a sound is drowned out. Not specific to drowning out, but natural in context.
音楽が大きすぎて、彼の声が聞こえなくなった。
The music was so loud that his voice was drowned out.
To drink alcohol to forget one's problems.
Literally 'to drown in alcohol', this is the closest idiomatic equivalent. It implies excessive drinking to escape reality.
彼は失恋の悲しみを酒に溺れて忘れようとした。
He tried to drown his sorrows in alcohol after the breakup.
Means 'to drink in desperation' or 'to drown one's sorrows'. やけ means despair or desperation, and 酒 is alcohol.
昨日はやけ酒を飲んだ。
I drowned my sorrows yesterday.
沈む (しずむ) means 'to sink' (intransitive) and does not imply death by drowning. A person can 沈む without drowning, and a drowning person may not necessarily sink. Use 溺れる for drowning.
溺れる is the everyday verb for drowning. 水死する and 溺死する are formal terms used in news or medical reports. 水死 is more common in news headlines, while 溺死 is more clinical.
水難事故が増えている。
Water accidents (drownings) are increasing.