Difference between Killed Murdered and Dead in English | Confusing words in English

Hey guys, teacher Harry here. Welcome back to my English lessons where I help you to

get a better understanding of the English language. And try and avoid or clear up some

of those confusions that we have with certain words that might sound the same or have similar

meanings. And you want to know how to use them. So what are we going to talk about today?

Well, there are three words. They're a little bit grim, because but we that's part of life.

So we often get them confused I... in my students when I'm giving lessons, they get them confused.

So the words are killed, dead, murdered, okay, killed, dead murdered. So when do we use them?

Now, if we look at the news, and we see a headline 10 people were killed yesterday,

it usually means that some accident happened. Okay, so a cable car crashed or a bus went

off the road and 10 people were killed. So it wasn't a deliberate action. And that's

the first important point people are killed not normally by deliberate action. Normally,

they're killed because of an accident. So a car crash or a bus crash or something happened.

Some weather storm lightning or volcano erupt in or tsunami effects. So in that sense, any

victims of that are people who have been killed. Okay,

so be careful how we construct it.

10 people were killed today.

10 people have been killed in an accident, okay. So that that's something usually because

of natural disaster, or some other accident.

When we use the word murdered, that it's a deliberate act, somebody killed somebody,

but they did it viciously and deliberately. So somebody shot 10 people in a town in America,

or somebody went into a bank and murdered the bank manager, or somebody murdered their

wife, or their husband deliberately because they were having an affair with somebody else,

or they're a deliberate act. And then we say the person was murdered. Now, they were killed,

but they were killed through violence, and therefore we use one person was murdered today,

10 people were murdered during the bank raid now. So there's a deliberate act on somebody's

part to kill those people. And we use the word murdered.

So a person has been accused of murder, okay, to murder somebody, you have to plan it in

advance and they call it premeditated murder. So somebody said yes, I'm going to kill that

person. So they shot them or they stabbed them with a knife or whatever way they use

it. So it's premeditated. So that person, when they were caught has been charged with

murder. To murder somebody. So there's the verb to murder. 10 people were murdered.

And then when we use the word dead, you have to be really, really careful with here. The

verb to die, okay? Dead is the adjective. How many people died in the accident? Okay.

How many people died in the accident?

Oh, 10 people died in that accident. Not were. Okay. So be very careful. We don't need the

auxiliary verb just 10 people died. 10 people were killed. So you can see the difference

there with kill, we have to use the auxiliary verb 10 people were killed. But not 10 people

were died. 10 people died in that particular accident.

One person is dead after the storms. 50 people are dead or presumed dead after the storms.

Okay, so again, just using it in a slightly different way. How did he die? He died because

of a lightning strike. He is dead. He has been dead for two weeks. Or if you're talking

to a friend about a particular book you'd like to read and an author and you say, Oh,

I must read some, some more books of his. Oh it's impossible now because he has been

dead for two years or six months or six years. Okay, so we use it in that context just to

describe what has happened to that person. Okay, so we've got killed, dead, murdered.

So just to be careful, they were killed. Perhaps by accident. They died as a result of an illness.

They were murdered because it was premeditated. Okay, so similar.

Life has ended when somebody is killed, their life ends when somebody dies. Their life ends

when somebody has murdered. Unfortunately, their life ends but the verb or the adjective

we use to describe it will very much depend on the way in which the They, their life ended

they were killed by an accident. They died as a result of an illness. They were murdered

by a gang of thieves. Okay, killed, dead murdered.

If you don't understand it again, if you need some further explanation well of course that

you can contact me and I'd be very happy to explain it to you. And, as always, thanks

for listening. Join me again.