1.gran had been dead for six years now.解释一下句子中“had been dead

1.gran had been dead for six years now.解释一下句子中“had been dead"语法
第一个句子的意思是“奶奶去世至今已经有6年了”,就是无法理解“had been dead "
还有第二个问题2.”like a dried apricot ,but with a puff of thick white hair standing out in a cloud around it"意思是：她像一个干瘪的杏,只不过她头上还顶着一团蓬松浓密的白发,像云朵一样盘旋在他的周围,飘浮在空中.“第二句的整句都无法理解,
好吧虽然我知道学口语是不能想太多语法的,要想外国人一样形成一种语言习惯,可我还是忍不住要问.
（如果我认为你说的正确的话,

叹息的美 回答得很好了,本不想答了. 可PM楼主,楼主不回复.
又发现第一句可能有误：
gran had been dead for six years now.
这句话如单独出现,是有时态错误的.
应用现在完成时has been dead
但在叙述性故事中是可以的,这时的now=then
now=by now 可以与完成时连用.
经搜索,果然是这样：
《暮色》
I WAS NINETY-NINE POINT NINE PERCENT SURE I WAS dreaming.
The reasons I was so certain were that, first, I was standing in a bright shaft of sunlight—the kind of blinding clear sun that never shone on my drizzly new hometown in Forks, Washington—and second, I was looking at my Grandma Marie. Gran had been dead for six years now, so that was solid evidence toward the dream theory.
Gran hadn't changed much; her face looked just the same as I remembered it. The skin was soft and withered, bent into a thousand tiny creases that clung gently to the bone underneath. Like a dried apricot, but with a puff of thick white hair standing out in a cloud around it.
不知道你第一个不理解“had been dead”,到底是什么?是不明白为什么不用 had died呢还是为什么不用has been dead?
前则他们已经答过了.后则我答了.
第二个问题,先问你,到底是学口语呢还是学翻译呢?如果学口语,这个材料不合适.学翻译,你要看翻译教程.好的翻译是有技巧的,不可能是一字一词对译的.
要光是理解,这句话一不是很难.in a cloud字面意思是 以.的形式,翻译就成了“象.一样”.
再问： 当然不是学翻译，是学口语，除了暮色这种，我也有看其他的，还有，能不能再解释一下第二句。你说的NOW 和THEN是当然的，但是我看的很多关于口语的，都不是很注意这样的语法。本来我也是不想问这种语法，但最后想，作为中国学生，就还是问一下，毕竟对于我这种中学生来说，确实蛮深奥的...记得再解释一下第二句哦..
再答： now =then你知道了。 in ..., 表示以。。。的形式，翻译是灵活的，要照顾汉语的习惯，第二句还有什么要解释的吗？