Neil: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak
– I’m Neil and this is Feifei. Feifei?
I had a really late night last night so I’m
Neil: You’re dead tired, Feifei? Are you dying?
That’s awful! What have you got? Is it
Feifei: Oh Neil, don’t be silly! I’m not sick
or contagious or dying! I’m just really
Neil: That’s a relief! But, you said you were
‘dead’ tired. But you’re not dying?
Feifei: Oh really, Neil – I think you’re more
tired than I am! I said ‘dead’ tired because
Neil: So we can use ‘dead’ to mean ‘really’
Feifei: That’s right – if you want to
emphasise an adjective, you can use
Neil: Well that’s dead confusing –
perhaps we should take a look at some examples.
Is it lunch time yet? I’m dead hungry!
The man sat next to me on the train this
morning kept falling asleep on my
shoulder – it was dead annoying!
I was dead happy when I passed my
Feifei: This is The English We Speak from
BBC Learning English and we’re talking
about a different use of the word ‘dead’.
Normally it means the opposite of the
adjective ‘alive’, but native English-
speakers, particularly people in the north
of England, often use it before an
adjective to emphasise what they
are saying. Could you tell us a time when
Neil: Well, when I woke up this morning
and found I had another hour until my
alarm went off! I was dead thrilled!
Feifei: Not quite, Neil! You were dead
happy, but not dead thrilled! You can’t use
‘dead’ with extreme adjectives.
Neil: Oh OK, so you can say ‘dead cold’
but not ‘dead freezing’ Or ‘dead good’
Feifei: That was a dead good explanation,
Neil! I see you have woken up a bit now,
Neil: Well how about you make us both a
coffee while I finish the programme – it’s
your turn to make the coffees!
Feifei: Err, no, Neil – I always make the
I’ll go make a coffee for me, not you, while
Neil: Uh oh. I’d best go and make the
coffees - she’s dead sensitive when she