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.

  • @ricecake@sh.itjust.works
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    fedilink
    96 days ago

    Same end result, but one refers to the actual and the other the state. The act of dying versus the state of being dead is kinda pedantic, but if you replace it with a state that can (conventionally) be left it’s a little more clear.
    “I thought he slept” vs “I thought he was sleeping”.