"made of" or "made from"

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi;
I would appreciate if you explain the differene between: made of & made from

2

You use made of for something that after it’s made, the material is still the same. You use made from for things that the material is no longer the same. Examples:

The house is made of bricks -->the bricks on the walls of the house are still bricks
The shirt is made of silk --> the silk in the shirt is still silk

Wine is made from grapes —> the grapes are no longer there. It has turned from grapes into wine
Paper is made from trees —> the trees are no longer in the same form, they have turned into paper

3

Hi,

We recently had the same discussion, but I couldn’t find the thread.

[i]This table is made from wood. (a genuine wooden table)

This window is made of glass (amongst other things).

My legs are made of rubber. (they’re not really strong, but not made ‘from genuine rubber’)

But my heart is made of gold[/i] :wink:

4

“This table is made from wood. (a genuine wooden table” -
If i am correct, the wood in the table is still visible and the table doesn’t got mixed with other things.
Would not i use -of- instead of -from-. The content of the table(wood) is not changed.

5

Hi Suresh

I agree with you. I would say “The table is made of wood”.

In order to use “from”, you could theoretically say this, for example:
“Wooden tables are made from trees.”
.

6

Here are some interesting points on the subject:

english-test.net/forum/ftopi … html#95325
english-test.net/forum/ftopi … html#78625

7

I agree, tables are usually made of wood.

But, honestly, can you not imagine a table that’s made from wood? OK, I probably should have said ‘acacia wood’ or something more specific…

8

I would say that “made of” tells us the nature of the material, while “made from” slightly enhances the sense of processing.

Thus the former is (to some extent) stative, and the latter dynamic. Cf.

  1. The panel is made of wood, probably oak, and consists of seven separate panels at the bottom and two at the top.

  2. The panel is made from wood, probably oak, and consists of seven separate panels at the bottom and two at the top.

To put it fancifully, #1 tells you what it is; but in #2, there also seems to be a glimpse of the workshop.

MrP