to me, they seem the same, but surely there’s a subtle nuance.
like, for example, i’ve heard: “i thought he died.” and “i thought he was dead” and they seem like synonyms.
to me, they seem the same, but surely there’s a subtle nuance.
like, for example, i’ve heard: “i thought he died.” and “i thought he was dead” and they seem like synonyms.
Linguistically, the difference between “he died” and “he’s dead” is called aspect. As for your specific sentences:
“I thought he died” -> There was some event that ocurred which I witnessed or which I was made aware of in someway which I thought had resulted in him dieing.
“I thought he was dead” -> My understanding was that for some time up to now he was a corpse (or in some other such state). I do not necessarily know about the time or event in which he died.
Thank you for this explanation. I got as far as an example that highlights the difference (“I made sure he died.” vs. “I made sure he was dead.”), but couldn’t nail down why there is a difference between those things.
It’s an action vs a state of being.
I made sure he died is making sure that the action of dying was completed. In that sense it sounds like you contributed to them dying. E.g. a mobster telling his boss he made sure someone died.
I made sure he was dead, is confirming their state of being as dead. E.g. a professional would ensure someone was dead before they’re cremated.
There is a lot of nuance in there though. E.g. a mobster might also make sure someone was dead after e.g. shooting them. (But again it’s checking their state of being rather than ensuring their act of dying was complete. I.e. finishing them off)