From/of Issue ..

Question

Hi there,I'm really confused about whether to use OF or FROM in a sentence. I made up the following sentences which I believe not all of them are correct gramatically.I am afraid from you.I would buy three christmas trees from you.You are far away (from, of) me. I believe both are correctI want to take one (from, of) your cars. I believe both are correctI have more examples which I don't understand why they use FROM or OF in .. please can you help me by giving me some rules to follow (if there are).Thanks very much ..

Yoong Liat · Accepted Answer

The GraduateHi there,

I'm really confused about whether to use OF or FROM in a sentence. I made up the following sentences which I believe not all of them are correct grammatically.

I am afraid ~~from~~ of you.

I would buy three Christmas trees from you.

You are far away from, of me.

I want to take one ~~from,~~ of your cars.

I have more examples which I don't understand why they use FROM or OF in .. please can you help me by giving me some rules to follow (if there are).

I hope it helps.

CalifJim · Answer

I am afraid from you. No. afraid of is the combination.

I would buy three christmas trees from you. OK. buy from.

You are far away (from, of) me. Only from is correct. far from and away from are the combinations.

I want to take one (from, of) your cars. Only of is correct. one of is the combination.

Many words are followed by prepositions which are essentially arbitrary, that is, there is not always a rule. The combinations have to be memorized as you encounter them in reading.

afraid of, fear of, fond of,
one of, some of, a few of, all of,
out of, in front of, on top of,

far from, away from,
take from, buy from,
keep from

Motion: come from, drive from, ...

CJ

The Graduate · Answer

Thanks CalifJim, you were helpful .. so there is no way other than Memorizing them <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/3.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/3.gif' alt='Emotion: surprise'/>

CalifJim · Answer

I'm sure there is some theoretical approach that attempts to group the usage into 20 or 30 common categories, but then you would have to memorize the categories, too! So, believe it or not, memorizing them as word groups is probably the easiest way to become skillful at using them. You'll be surprised how easy it is if you begin to think in terms of word groups instead of just individual words.

CJ

The Graduate · Answer

Thanks again CalifJim <img class='emoticon' style='Width:19px;Height:19px;' data-delaysrc='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' src='https://uat-englishforward-forums-backend.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/Emoticons/1.gif' alt='Emotion: smile'/>

Boyonfire · Answer

1) This is the result (of/form) the explosion. <--- I suppose each has its own meaning? Like...
2) This is the result from the lab. <-- indicating that the result just got back from the lab.

What do you think?

CalifJim · Answer

I suppose each has its own meaning?

Yes.

the result of the explosion implies that the explosion was the cause of the result, not its locational origin.
the result from the lab implies that the lab was the locational origin of the result, not its cause.

CJ

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