verb
1
BAD : Her husband was died two years earlier.
GOOD : Her husband had died two years earlier.
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When you are talking about an event, use die ( dying, died, died ).
When you are talking about a state, use be dead . Compare: He died in an ambulance on the way to hospital.' 'By the time the ambulance reached the hospital, he was dead.'
See also note at DEAD 1 (↑ dead )
2
BAD : People say she died with pneumonia.
GOOD : People say she died of pneumonia.
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die of/from a disease, heart attack, hunger etc (NOT with ): 'Of these, one in ten will die of lung cancer.' 'Her husband died of a heart attack.' 'Each year over a million children die from diarrhoea.'
die of shame/embarrassment/grief/despair/shock etc: 'When he told me the price, I nearly died of shock.' 'The poor girl almost died of fright.'
die from the effects of violence, pollution etc: 'He died from a bullet wound in the chest.' 'Police predict that more people will die from their injuries.'