Made of vs made from

[Monica]

Is there a difference between "made of" and "made from"? I can find lots of examples of both in google. However, when looking at the answer to the following fill-in-the-gap exercise : "don't buy those shoes - they are made ... plastic", the only answer given is "of". Thank you.

[Alan]

Hi Monica,

I would suggest that made of is more direct in the sense that you are referring to the constituent substance itself as in 'made of plastic' -meaning the material is plastic.

'Made from' is less direct since it refers to the source rather than the constituent substance. You could say: This table is made of wood (direct) or This table is made from the wood of trees grown in a sustainable forest (indirect)

Alan
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