The old man looked up." Mustafa was my brother" he said.
"I wanted to see him again, and now you tell me he is dead.
我的問題點在於
為什麼不能夠說 he was dead 呢？
畢竟這個人已經死亡了，是發生在過去的事情，所以用過去式比較合理吧？
感謝您的回覆。

dead 是狀態不是動作，他現在的確是死了的狀態