"be made of" & "be made from"?

Status
Not open for further replies.

simile

Junior Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Taiwan
Current Location
Taiwan
What's the difference between "be made of" and "be made from"?

Right :D or wrong :( ?
Please mark in front of the sentences below with emoticons.
:D for right; :( for wrong.
----------------------------------------
The slipper is made of a tire.
The slipper is made from a tire.
----------------------------------------
These customes are made of animal skins.
These customes are made from animal skins.
-----------------------------------------------------
This special dress is made of silk.
This special dress is made from silk.
-----------------------------------------------------
The beads were made of hardened yellow pine sap.
The beads were made from hardened yellow pine sap.
-----------------------------------------------------
The box is made of gold.
The box is made from gold.
-----------------------------------------------------

And also,
could anyone offer more ambiguous sentences using "be made of" or "be made from"?
 

Red5

Webmaster, UsingEnglish.com
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
British English
Home Country
England
Current Location
England
simile said:
----------------------------------------
:( The slipper is made of a tire.
:) The slipper is made from a tire.
----------------------------------------
:) These costumes are made of animal skins.
:) These costumes are made from animal skins.
-----------------------------------------------------
:) This special dress is made of silk.
:) This special dress is made from silk.
-----------------------------------------------------
:) The beads were made of hardened yellow pine sap.
:) The beads were made from hardened yellow pine sap.
-----------------------------------------------------
:) The box is made of gold.
:) The box is made from gold.
-----------------------------------------------------
 

RonBee

Moderator
Joined
Feb 9, 2003
Member Type
Other
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
If I say a dress is made of silk I mean the dress is silk. If I say the dress was made from silk I mean that silk was used to make it. In the second instance, it is possible (tho not likely) that it is not a silk dress.

There has been a discussion about this before. I will see if I can find it.
 

Casiopea

VIP Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2003
Member Type
Other
This is a lot of fun! I can tell by the way in which you've ordered your sentences that there is a definite logic going on here. Thanks for the mental gymnastics. :D

----------------------------------------
:( The slipper is made of a tire.
The slipper belonged to / used to be part of the tire.

:D The slipper is made from a tire.
The slipper was constructed out of tire material.
----------------------------------------
:( These customes are made of animal skins.
The costumes belonged / used to be part of the animal skins.

:D These customes are made from animal skins.
The costumes were constructed out of animal skins.
-----------------------------------------------------
:D This special dress is made of silk.
The silk threads belonged to / used to be part of the silk.

Note, 'dress' refers to 'threads'.

:D This special dress is made from silk.
The dress was constructed out of silk.
-----------------------------------------------------
:( The beads were made of hardened yellow pine sap.
The beads belonged to / were part of the pine sap.

Note, hardened tree sap is not round or molded like the shape of the beads. It's the shape that was not part of / did not belong to the tree sap.

:D The beads were made from hardened yellow pine sap.
The beads were constructed out of pine sap.
-----------------------------------------------------
:D The box is made of gold.
The box is gold = gold box; The dress is silk =silk dress

Note, the slippers are tire :cry: The beads are sap :cry: *problem

:D The box is made from gold.
The box is constructed out of gold.
-----------------------------------------------------
could anyone offer more ambiguous sentences using "be made of" or "be made from"?

:D My house is made of wood.
The boards of my house used to be / were part of trees.

:D My house is made from wood.
The boards of my house were constructed out of trees.

:D Heart of stone.
Heart used to be / is part of a stone.

:D Heart from stone.
The heart was constructed out of stone.

Cas :D
 

simile

Junior Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
Chinese
Home Country
Taiwan
Current Location
Taiwan
RonBee said:
If I say a dress is made of silk I mean the dress is silk. If I say the dress was made from silk I mean that silk was used to make it. In the second instance, it is possible (tho not likely) that it is not a silk dress.

There has been a discussion about this before. I will see if I can find it.

We have a "traditional" idea about these two phrases:
be made of --> non-chemical change (only physical change)
be made from --> chemical change
(Do you agree?)
This concept has been very popular and widely taught here in Taiwan.
But a teacher here argued that this is not proper!
He is the chief editor of the Time Express magazine, which is a bilingual version for Time magazine.
And he also got a full score of TOEFL.
==============================================
He said that it's the problem of "direct" or "indirect."
ex: These shoes were made ___ rubber tires.
In Taiwan's grammar reference books, this sentence will be interpreted
as a "non-chemical" change in the relationship between shoes and rubber tires.
Therefore, those books just give the answer "of."
But native speakers would say "These shoes were made from rubber tires."
If the saying of chemical and non-chemical change stands, then this sentence would be an exception, which implies a bad grammar!
(A good grammar should be a universal one.)
So it's not the problem of chemical change or physical change!
It's the problem of "more direct" or "not so direct."
Ex:
1. a chair made of wood --> more direct --> direct!
You can still see the wood.
2. wine made from grapes --> not so direct --> indirect!
You cannot see the grapes anymore!
(Above is my rephrasing his ideas, not his original article.)
=============================================
So I've got a little confused here by your version of answers.
Any further explanation?
 
Last edited:

RonBee

Moderator
Joined
Feb 9, 2003
Member Type
Other
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Let me look at your examples.

  • 1. a chair made of wood --> more direct --> direct!
    You can still see the wood.
    2. wine made from grapes --> not so direct --> indirect!
    You cannot see the grapes anymore!

I agree in both cases. A wooden chair has is made of wood. The wood is still wood. Wine is not made of grapes but from grapes. The grapes no longer exist.

I would also say, "These shoes were made from rubber tires" just like native Taiwanese. Those shoes are not rubber tires. Thus, they are not made of rubber tires, but they were made from rubber tires.

:)
 

Casiopea

VIP Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2003
Member Type
Other
:) :
We have a "traditional" idea about these two phrases:

be made of --> non-chemical change (only physical change)
be made from --> chemical change

ex: These shoes were made ___ rubber tires.

In Taiwan's grammar reference books, this sentence will be interpreted
as a "non-chemical" change in the relationship between shoes and rubber tires. Therefore, those books just give the answer "of." But native speakers would say "These shoes were made from rubber tires."

The reason why native speakers use 'from' is because the slippers, unlike the tires, are not round in shape. They share different structure. That is, there's more to the definition than 'change', there's physical structure as well. That's why both 'of' and 'from' work well with 'silk dress'. :D There's been no chemical change (of) and no structural change (from). The threads are still threads.

1. a chair made of wood. (no physical change)

2. wine made from grapes. (physical change)

Cas :D

One should take into consideration the natural shape of a given object before determining whether to use 'of' or 'from'.
 
J

jwschang

Guest
RonBee said:
Let me look at your examples.

  • 1. a chair made of wood --> more direct --> direct!
    You can still see the wood.
    2. wine made from grapes --> not so direct --> indirect!
    You cannot see the grapes anymore!

I agree in both cases. A wooden chair has is made of wood. The wood is still wood. Wine is not made of grapes but from grapes. The grapes no longer exist.

I would also say, "These shoes were made from rubber tires" just like native Taiwanese. Those shoes are not rubber tires. Thus, they are not made of rubber tires, but they were made from rubber tires.

:)

What do you think of this?

Of = constituted
From = constructed or derived.
 

RonBee

Moderator
Joined
Feb 9, 2003
Member Type
Other
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
What do you think of this?

Of = constituted
From = constructed or derived.

That looks good to me.

Cas's explanation is quite good. She is quite right that there is no need to choose between the dress is made of silk and the dress was made from silk.

(I can't believe I said "has is". :( )

:wink:
 
J

jwschang

Guest
RonBee said:
Cas's explanation is quite good. She is quite right that there is no need to choose between the dress is made of silk and the dress was made from silk.
:wink:

Yes, Cas's got an incisive analytical approach.
 

Casiopea

VIP Member
Joined
Sep 21, 2003
Member Type
Other
jwschang said:
RonBee said:
Cas's explanation is quite good. She is quite right that there is no need to choose between the dress is made of silk and the dress was made from silk.
:wink:

Yes, Cas's got an incisive analytical approach.

:oops: :oops: :oops: :oops:
uhm, well, thanks.
I really need to work on my communication skills, though.
Cas :oops:
 
J

jwschang

Guest
Casiopea said:
(I can't believe I said "has is". :( )

You're being way too hard on yourself. To me, you're the tops!

Cas :D

Certainly very true. On top of giving very practical explanations, Ron makes this a very friendly and relaxed forum, in which people can learn best.
Which makes me enjoy taking a dig: Ron needs typing lessons for the "has is" bit. :wink:
 

Ibeke

Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2004
simile said:
What's the difference between "be made of" and "be made from"?

Right :D or wrong :( ?
Please mark in front of the sentences below with emoticons.
:D for right; :( for wrong.
----------------------------------------
The slipper is made of a tire.
The slipper is made from a tire.
----------------------------------------
These customes are made of animal skins.
These customes are made from animal skins.
-----------------------------------------------------
This special dress is made of silk.
This special dress is made from silk.
-----------------------------------------------------
The beads were made of hardened yellow pine sap.
The beads were made from hardened yellow pine sap.
-----------------------------------------------------
The box is made of gold.
The box is made from gold.
-----------------------------------------------------

And also,
could anyone offer more ambiguous sentences using "be made of" or "be made from"?

I think "of" goes with non-animate sources and "from" goes with animate sources... :?
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
Made of = no substancial change- the chair is made of wood (you can see it'swood)
Made from = substantial change- wine is made from grapes(hard to see the source)
;-)
 

Ibeke

Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2004
tdol said:
Made of = no substancial change- the chair is made of wood (you can see it'swood)
Made from = substantial change- wine is made from grapes(hard to see the source)
;-)


aj si :p
 

Voskresenie

New member
Joined
Oct 21, 2008
Member Type
English Teacher
And what about phrases given in a dictionary

The table is made of stone.
and
The canoe is made from an impermeable wood.
???????:shock:
 

BobK

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Location
Spencers Wood, near Reading, UK
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
And what about phrases given in a dictionary

The table is made of stone.
and
The canoe is made from an impermeable wood.
???????:shock:

I thought Tdol had had the last word, with the chair/grapes thing, :up: ; but this looks like a counterexample:-(; try this:

of marks a constituent, and is in effect an elided form of 'out of'.

from denotes a process. In making the canoe (out of wood) the process involved using a particular sort of wood.

b

PS couldn't resist this childhood memory, prompted by Cas's request:
could anyone offer more ambiguous sentences using "be made of" or "be made from"?

Q What was Joan of Arc /meɪd/ of?
A Orleans
 

sws1234

Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2009
Member Type
Student or Learner
We have a "traditional" idea about these two phrases:
be made of --> non-chemical change (only physical change)
be made from --> chemical change
(Do you agree?)
This concept has been very popular and widely taught here in Taiwan.
But a teacher here augued that this is not proper!
He is the chief editor of the Time Express magazine, which is a bilingual version for Time magazine.
And he also got a full score of TOEFL.
==============================================
He said that it's the problem of "direct" or "indirect."
ex: These shoes were made ___ rubber tires.
In Taiwan's grammar reference books, this sentence will be interpreted
as a "non-chemical" change in the relationship between shoes and rubber tires.
Therefore, those books just give the answer "of."
But native speakers would say "These shoes were made from rubber tires."
If the saying of chemical and non-chemical change stands, then this sentence would be an exception, which implies a bad grammar!
(A good grammar should be a universal one.)
So it's not the problem of chemical change or physical change!
It's the problem of "more direct" or "not so direct."
Ex:
1. a chair made of wood --> more direct --> direct!
You can still see the wood.
2. wine made from grapes --> not so direct --> indirect!
You cannot see the grapes anymore!
(Above is my rephrasing his ideas, not his original article.)
=============================================
So I've got a little confused here by your version of answers.
Any further explanation?


Students in China mainland also have the very same traditional idea about that.:up:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top