Difference between 溺れた人, 溺れている人 and 溺れる人 > **** > At that time, near the coast, some people were practicing rescuing people who **have drowned** using a drone. > **** > The people who new the boys **had drowned** flew the drone to the open sea. > **** > The drone dropped a device to rescue the people who **had drowned** right next to them. I don't understand why is used in these sentences, rather than , or even . It seems to me that at the time of rescue the people are either drowning now or will drown rather than having already drowned. I'm not sure if I'm having a problem with this specific verb or if it indicates a bigger hole in my understanding of aspect in relative clauses. I tried reading this, this and this but I have to admit to being completely mystified.

Your confusion is due to your translation of to mean drown (to death). This is a better translation:

> Fall into water and potentially die.

The only definite thing that we can ascertain from the use of is that they were submerged. In this case, in water.

> Person who WAS under the surface (was drowning).
>
> Person who IS under the surface (is drowning).