preposition problems

[balakrishnanijk]

What is the difference between the sentences " He died of AIDS" and " He died from AIDS"?

[Teia]

Originally Posted by balakrishnanijk

What is the difference between the sentences " He died of AIDS" and " He died from AIDS"?

He suffered from AIDS.
He died of AIDS.

[Harry Smith]

Originally Posted by teia_petrescu

He suffered from AIDS.
He died of AIDS.

Hi, Teia!
Nice answer! Yes, we say:To suffer from.. but to die of...

[balakrishnanijk]

Dear Harry and Teia
Your sentences are all right but you don't seem to have got the message. My question is whether the preposition "from" can be used instead of "of" to denote the same idea because in the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English one comes across the following sentences:
1.The animals died of starvation in the snow.
2.My grandfather died from a heart attack.
Doesn't it mean that the two sentences have the same meaning?
Please comment.

[mykwyner]

Yes, the sentences have the same meaning in regards to the use of the preposition.

English preposition choice is difficult for non-native speakers to learn because the rules of usage are largely idiomatic and vary from one dialect to the next.

If you say, "He died of AIDS," or, "He died from AIDS," most (if not all) English speakers would consider them the same sentence and not even notice which pronoun you used. You could even say, "He died with AIDS." It may sound somewhat unusual to native speakers, but the meaning would be clear.

In New York City, people stand on line to see a movie while everyone else in the US stands in the same line.
Most of the people in the US wait for a bus, but people in the Southeast wait on it.

[Teia]

Originally Posted by balakrishnanijk

Dear Harry and Teia
Your sentences are all right but you don't seem to have got the message. My question is whether the preposition "from" can be used instead of "of" to denote the same idea because in the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English one comes across the following sentences:
1.The animals died of starvation in the snow.
2.My grandfather died from a heart attack.
Doesn't it mean that the two sentences have the same meaning?
Please comment.

I prefer:

My grandfather died of a heart attack.

I found out that these two prepositions are interchangeably used with this verb[ die] but I always used "of"

[Ouisch]

Technically speaking, AIDS itself doesn't kill a person; they die from complications of AIDS, or AIDS-related pneumonia (or cancer, etc).