the elephant and its picture

[jctgf]

hi,
do I take a picture 'of' an elephant or 'from' an elephant?
once the picture is taken, do I have:
an elephant's picture?
an elephant picture?
a picture of and elephant?
a picture from an elephant?
thanks.

[stuartnz]

I'm not a teacher, but I would say that you take a picture "of" an elephant. I think most native English speakers would understand a picture "from" an elephant to mean a photo that was taken while the photographer was sitting on an elephant. Or, if you said "I took a photo from an elephant", it could easily be understood as meaning that the elephant was holding the picture and you took it back.

You could say, "an elephant's picture", but I think the most common construction would likely be " a picture of an elephant".

[Barb_D]

You take a picture of an elephant.
You can take a specific elephant's picture.

Wait, I want to take the elephant's picture.

Do you want to see my elephant pictures? I have about two dozen from my safari!

I'm going to have that picture of the elephant at the zoo enlarged.

I have a picture of an elephant, a lion, and a zebra, but I don't seem to have one of a giraffe.

(Never from.)

[okkidokitokki]

Originally Posted by jctgf

hi,
do I take a picture 'of' an elephant or 'from' an elephant?

you have a picture of an elephant unless you took a picture away from an elephant (which could be dangerous)

once the picture is taken, do I have:
an elephant's picture? yes
an elephant picture? no
a picture of and elephant? yes
a picture from an elephant? only if you took a picture away from the elephant
thanks.

hope this helps (I'm not a teacher)

[jctgf]

thank all of you.
when you say "away from the elephant" what dou you exactly mean?
thanks again.

[okkidokitokki]

to remove from its posession

I was playing with the toy he took away from me.

[stuartnz]

Originally Posted by jctgf

thank all of you.
when you say "away from the elephant" what dou you exactly mean?
thanks again.

Here's what I would understand that to mean, as I mentioned above:

Or, if you said "I took a photo from an elephant", it could easily be understood as meaning that the elephant was holding the picture and you took it back.

You removed it from the elephant and regained possession of it.

[Barb_D]

Stuart, I posted as you were posting and I think your "from an elephant" does indeed sound like you were riding on an elephant - which seems more likely than trying to take it away from an elephant holding on to it, doesn't it!

[stuartnz]

Originally Posted by Barb_D

Stuart, I posted as you were posting and I think your "from an elephant" does indeed sound like you were riding on an elephant - which seems more likely than trying to take it away from an elephant holding on to it, doesn't it!

Thanks. I was thinking of a recent holiday, when I used phrases such as "I took this one from a boat" or "I took this one from our hotel window", and that made me think that it would be rather cool to be able to say "I took this one from an elephant".