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.

  • hddsx
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    7 days ago

    He’s dead -> he is in the state “dead”

    He died -> In the past, he transitioned from life to death

    He has died -> Prior to point of reference now, he transitioned from life to death

    He had died -> Prior to point of reference in the past, he transitioned from life to death

    Edit: After reading another comment about 50 times, and consulting a dictionary, there might be a slight nuance I missed.

    “He’s dead” may not mean “he is in the state of dead”. In this case, dead is an adjective describing “he”. Dead is not used in the noun form.