名人教英文：他哥哥因心脏衰竭去世
his brother died of heart failure
他哥哥因心脏衰竭去世
tyrone: well, we may have another election in our district fairly soon.
蒂龙﹕ 嗯，我们这一区可能不久又有一场选举。
gussie: what do you mean? we elected barry carter only six months ago for the second time.
古西﹕ 你说什么？我们六个月之前，才选了巴里．卡特第二度做区代表。
tyrone: yes, but he's just had a severe heart attack. it was the lead item in the tv news tonight. he might have to retire.
蒂龙﹕ 不错，但他刚刚心脏病发，病情十分严重，成为今晚电视头条新闻。他也许要退休。
gussie: what a coincidence! his father was our representative before him and he had to give up politics because of a heart attack.
古西﹕ 怎么这样巧合！本区上一位代表是巴里的父亲，而他父亲也因心脏病而须退出政坛。
tyrone: i think heart disease runs in the family. i heard that his brother died of heart failure last year.
蒂龙﹕ 我猜心脏病是他们家族遗传的。据说，巴里哥哥去年就因心脏衰竭去世。
gussie: it'll be a shame if he has to give up his seat. he's been a very effective representative for our district.
古西﹕ 要是他须放弃议席，会很可惜。他做区代表，工作十分出色。
蒂龙说﹕i heard that his brother died of heart failure。died之后的of，可不可改为from？
答案是「可以」。die of或die from都可以带出死因，包括疾病、伤员、饥渴等，例如﹕(1) people rarely die of / from tuberculosis today（今天，很少人因肺结核去世）。(2) he died of / from a bullet wound（他死于枪伤）。有人认为，「通常die of指死于疾病、饥饿、衰老等，die from则指由于外伤或不注意的原因而死，但后者也有用of的」（见一九九一年台湾文馨出版社出版《文馨最新英汉辞典》）。参考日用英文例证，这说法不能成立。英国麦美伦出版社一九九四年出版的the good english guide说得很清楚﹕"it is more usual to die 'of' an illness, old age.... die 'from' is equally correct but less common（因疾病、衰老等等而死，多说die of，说die from同样正确，但较为少见）"。
有时，你会看见die for这说法，那是「渴望」的意思，die一般用进行时式（the continuous tense），例如﹕he was dying for a good sleep（他很想好好睡一觉）。这个意思的die，也常和「to + 原形动词（infinitive）」连用﹕例如﹕after a separation of more than three years, he is dying to see his wife（他和妻子阔别三年多，很想见她一面）。
表示惋惜，英文常用it's a shame、what a shame等说法，改为it's a pity、what a pity也可以，意思没有分别，例如﹕what a pity / shame that you were not there（你当时不在那里，真可惜）。