"He died of/from hunger and thirst"
Which of the two prepositions works here??
Could you help me by telling any other use of "die from" ??
***** NOT A TEACHER *****
(1) Questions like yours also interest and confuse me.
(2) According to one excellent book (
A Comprehensive Grammar of
the English Language):
He died
of hunger. (cause)
He died
from exposure. (means)
(3) My daily newspaper is considered one of the top 4 newspapers in the
United States. Every day I check the obituaries (death notices) to see
what prepositions are used. I have found that most (not all) writers say:
She died
from the complications
of cancer.
(4) I found these examples in
Webster's New International Dictionary
2nd Edition Unabridged (1959):
die
of old age
die
by another's hand [murdered]
die
in poverty
a plant dies
from lack of care
(5) I found these in
Funk & Wagnalls New Standard Dictionary of the
English Language (1958):
die
of fever
die
by violence
die
for one's country
die
in agony
die
to the world [NOTE: this means, I think, that some very religious people do not do the things that most people do. That is, they pay attention only to religious matters -- not to the usual things that interest most people in this world/life.]