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Google "ring is made from silver" & it returns 53000 results.

Google "ring is made of silver" & it returns 226000 results.

This site says "We often use made from when we talk about how something is manufactured" & "We use made of when we talk about the basic material or qualities of something. It has a meaning similar to ‘composed of’".

So, if we say "This ring is made from silver", we want to emphasize how it is manufactured but if we say "This ring is made of silver", we want to emphasize the basic material of it.

So, "This ring is made of silver" & "This ring is made from silver" are both correct but have different meanings, right?

Tom
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1 Answers1

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In this case, the two mean exactly the same thing.

Your linked site says "made from" is for manufacturing process and "made of" is for composition. This is a basic guideline but for most of the "composition" cases, "made from" would be valid, but possibly less likely than "made of".

"Made from" on the other hand, would be used when there is some process occurring, so that the original substance isn't the same.

The link has

Plastic is made from oil

Plastic isn't composed of oil, but it is derived from it, so "made from" is better. (In this case though, "Plastic is made of oil" sounds weird, but not entirely wrong).

This table was made from a barn door

It's now a table, not a barn door; it has been processed and transformed so it's "made from"

The chair was made from a tree which stood in our yard

It's now a chair, not a tree.

For either of those, you could say "made of wood", but you wouldn't likely say "made of a barn door" or "made of a tree"

eques
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  • I agree with your conclusion. However, between example 2 and 3, you suggest the right answer should be "made of" instead of "made from" in your conclusion. There is a contradiction there, or you are missing some detail. – MorganFR Jul 27 '16 at 11:48
  • silver is still silver, so either works. You would say "This ring was made from an old silver coin" but not likely say "This ring was made of an old silver coin". Made from emphasizing a process whereas made of emphasizes the material, but for words like "silver" or "wood" or "paper" (general substances), this results in no real difference in meaning. – eques Jul 27 '16 at 11:51
  • I am talking about the "table made from a barn door" example, which is followed by "it has been processed and transformed so it's made of," which is the exact opposite of what you say before and after. – MorganFR Jul 27 '16 at 11:53
  • ah yes. still early here. that should be "made from" – eques Jul 27 '16 at 11:57
  • This table was made out of a barn door: since you transformed it see http://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/made-from-made-of-made-out-of-made-with – Tom Jul 27 '16 at 14:26
  • For the barn door example, "made from" or "made out of" could be possible. For that particular case, "made from" sounds more natural to me. – eques Jul 27 '16 at 14:47