of or for

Question

HiPlease help me with this.As I was looking at the meaning of groundswell in the dictionary, an example read as " It is the starting point for an activity".Can we use of here?

Terryxpress · Accepted Answer

Why?
What do you see as the difference in meaning?

Vsuresh · Answer

I feel 'of' seems to be a natural choice there and was wondering why it is 'for' in the example.

Vsuresh · Answer

Hi Terryxpress
I feel 'of' seems to be a natural choice there and was wondering why it is 'for' in the example.

Terryxpress · Answer

Remember, we are referring to 'groundswell', and there is a difference between 'the starting point of a marathon' and 'groundswell being the starting point for...'

So - in the phrase, 'the starting point of a marathon', what does 'of' mean in the words 'starting point of'?

Vsuresh · Answer

I think it refers to the position here.

Terryxpress · Answer

'starting point' is the position...
but 'of' is expressing the relationship between a part (the starting point) and a whole (the marathon race).
One day of the week
The sleeve of my shirt
A piece of cake
The sentence you give is
The groundswell is the starting point for activity.
Here, 'for' means that the 'groundswell' is the cause/the reason for the activity.
This might be easier to understand with an example:
In Tunisia, there had been a great deal of suppressed anger towards the government, about widespread corruption among officials, and more recently, about the economy, with so many people with no jobs. Then, a vegetable seller in a small town, who could no longer make a living and so could no longer support his family, self-emmolated(= set himself on fire and burned to death in the town square). People in the town began to riot. This provided a groundswell of emotion that spread across the country, so that rioting turned into open rebellion and toppled the government.
So - the self-emmolation was the starting point of the rioting in the small town, but the groundswell of simmering, suppressed anger across the country was the reason for the widespread nature of the rebellion.

Vsuresh · Answer

Thank you very much for an exhaustive explanation,Terryxpress.
I think I understood all of what you have said.

This place is the starting point of the race.
Her speech was the starting point for their fight.

I think these examples are in line with your reasoning, aren't they?

Terryxpress · Answer

Yes, in terms of the difference between 'of' and 'for'...but don't get stuck using the phrase 'the starting point' just because the dictionary used it when talking about 'groundswell'.
We have been talking about 'starting point of/for'.

But how we would actually say your two sentences is:
"This is where the race starts."
and
"Her speech led to( an outbreak of fighting among...) / caused / iincited their fight." (Each word has a slightly different meaning in terms of why there was fighting.)

Vsuresh · Answer

Terryxpress, thank you very much for your efforts to make me understand the idea.

Suresh

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