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Mr. Tom Posted 10 years ago
Vocabulary

Use of ground

Hi

In India English, the word ground (verb) is used this way very frequently:

Ground (figuratively: to brink someone in the air back to earth; to humble someone)

The experience grounded me completely.  (humbled me)
My husband’s frank assessment of my work kept me grounded.

I want to know if the use sounds natural to native ears. Do you find the above sentences OK?

Thanks,

Tom
  

Top answer

Mr. Tom I want to know if the use sounds natural to native ears. Do you find the above sentences OK?

— Mister Micawber

  • Mr.
  • Tom I want to know if the use sounds natural to native ears.
  • Do you find the above sentences OK?
  • To me, the meaning in both sentences is 'ground' = 'keep one realistic in attitude and outlook'.
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4 Answers
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Mr. TomI want to know if the use sounds natural to native ears. Do you find the above sentences OK?
To me, the meaning in both sentences is 'ground' = 'keep one realistic in attitude and outlook'.
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Thanks, MM.

Just to make sure that I understood you correctly...

These sentences are fully natural?

ground = keep someone realistic in attitude and outlook

The experience grounded me completely. (kept me realistic about...)
My husband’s frank assessment of my work kept me grounded.

Tom
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In American English the verb "ground" is not used like this, and the definition, "keep someone realistic," is not part of the US lexicon. In the US, "ground," as a verb, is used almost exclusively in set expressions like:

Our concerns were well grounded.

He based his conclusions on data that was well grounded in experimental results.

In the two sentences you quoted, "gr
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Mr. TomThe experience grounded me completely. (humbled me)
This doesn't ring true to me. We don't use 'grounded' like this. (AmE)
Mr. TomMy husband’s frank assessment of my work kept me grounded.
This sounds fine. It seems I'm only comfortable with 'grounded' as a past participle adjective.

CJ
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