from
part of speech
preposition
meaning for a pupil
1) From shows where something starts or comes from: a letter from Grandma, from home. tree →
2) From shows where something is taken off: take 3 from 10. tree →
3) From shows the start of a time or a range: from 9 to 3, from 1 to 10. tree →
4) From shows what something is made of or why: made from wood, tired from running. tree →
5) From shows a difference: different from, apart from, far from. tree →
6) (casual) «Where you from?» asks someone's home town or country; «from scratch» means from the very start; «from the get-go» (US) means from the beginning. tree →
7) (formal) The exam voice says «deducted from», «subtracted from», «derived from», «with effect from», «originating from», «as of». tree →
sense in the lessons
taking things off the table, or one number off another («take A from B», «subtract A from B» = B − A); the giver in «gets 5 from her brother»; a range «from 1 to 10»; in everyday life «where are you from?», «from now on», «apart from»; in science «ice is made from water»; in casual talk «from scratch», «where you from?»; in the exam voice «deducted from», «derived from», «with effect from»
examples
- I eat one banana from the table. tree →
- Take 16 away from 17. tree →
- Subtract 6 from 14. tree →
- Lucy gets 5 cards from her brother. tree →
- I walk home from school. tree →
- My uncle is from Canada. tree →
- Count from 1 to 20. tree →
- The shop is open from 9 to 5. tree →
- Paper is made from trees. tree →
- nicked 2 chips from your plate, soz tree →
- We made the cake from scratch. tree →
- A sum of 6 dollars is deducted from an initial balance of 14 dollars; state the residual balance. tree →
- There was good news from Cincinnatus. tree →
note
«take A from B», «subtract A from B» or «A is deducted from B» = B − A: the number after «from» is the starting one. Trap: «gets 5 from her brother» means she gets more: add for her (and her brother has 5 less). «From 1 to 10» includes both 1 and 10. «nicked 2 from your plate» means the plate has 2 fewer. «from scratch» is about starting anew, not a number.
In the corpora
- Child benefit is a small regular payment from the government to families with children, to help with things like shoes and food.
- Some families rent their home from a landlord; others are buying it with a huge loan from a bank called a mortgage.
- A debit card spends money already in the account; a credit card borrows money from the card company to be paid back later.
- A food bank is a charity that gives free food parcels, usually after a referral from someone like a school or a doctor.
- A welcome card from new neighbours is a friendly hello, and getting on with neighbours makes life easier.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «from» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.