made of vs. made from

[Curious Cat]

Hi dear teachers,

Seems I've got mixed up with prepositions. Do they mean the same, or is the meaning changed somehow? I thought they were interchangable, but couldn't find the rules explaining that.

I'll give examples:

Pipelines are made *of* steel tubes
Pipelines are made *from* steel tubes

Which is better?

The same with the material - tubes are made *of* steel or *from* steel?

I'd appreciate your help with that.

Thanks

[Dandelion]

Hi dear teachers,

Seems I've got mixed up with prepositions. Do they mean the same, or is the meaning changed somehow? I thought they were interchangable, but couldn't find the rules explaining that.

I'll give examples:

Pipelines are made *of* steel tubes
Pipelines are made *from* steel tubes

Which is better?

The same with the material - tubes are made *of* steel or *from* steel?

I'd appreciate your help with that.

Thanks

I think you'll enjoy reading the following discussions.

http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/sh...ight=made+from

http://www.usingenglish.com/forum/sh...ight=made+from

Hope this helps.

[Casiopea]

Additionally, and something a little less time consuming,

I have a table and it's made from bamboo. The carpenter took stocks of bamboo, cut them, halved them, and made them into a table. The carpenter modified the bamboo's structural integrity, so my table is made from bamboo.

I have a vase and it's made of bamboo. The carpenter took a stock of bamboo and carved a vase out of it. The carpenter didn't modify the bamboo's structural integrity, so my vase is made of bamboo.


All the best,

[Curious Cat]

Thanks a lot!
I was sure this problem had been discussed before, but I had a glitch with the function of search for the threads throughout the forums - it doesn't work :( I presume it's because of some settings operating on my computer.