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Photon Posted 6 years ago
Grammar

The train departed (from) Boston at 3.15 p.m.

(1) The train departed Boston at 3.15 p.m.
(2) The train departed from Boston at 3.15 p.m.

Question: Do both of these sentences sound idiomatic in American English?

  

Top answer

m. This is right, except time is written with a colon in the US: "3:15". m.

— Anonymous

  • m.
  • This is right, except time is written with a colon in the US: "3:15".
  • m.
  • You hear this enough to make it a variant, but it is strictly wrong.
  • This "depart" is a transitive verb.
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2 Answers
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Photon(1) The train departed Boston at 3.15 p.m.

This is right, except time is written with a colon in the US: "3:15".

Photon(2) The train departed from Boston at 3.15 p.m.

You hear this enough to make it a variant, but it is strictly wrong. This "depart" is a transitive verb. There is confusion with other uses of

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PhotonDo both of these sentences sound idiomatic in American English?

Yes.

The pattern in (2) has been used for centuries, but around the year 1960 the pattern without "from" (1) started to become popular. Now both forms are used about equally often.

CJ

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