Confusing to Students 3 – Made From, Made Of, Made Out Of, Made With

Made from

We often use made from when we talk about how something is manufactured:

Made of

• Plastic is made from oil.
• The earliest canoes were made from tree trunks.

We use made of when we talk about the basic material or qualities of something. It has a meaning similar to ‘composed of’:

She wore a beautiful necklace made of silver.

A:What’s this table made of?

B:It’s oak, American white oak.

A:It’s lovely.

Made out of

We usually use made out of when we talk about something that has been changed or transformed from one thing into another:

• In the 1970s, it was popular to have candle-holders made out of wine bottles.
• They were living in tents made out of old plastic sheets.

Made with

We use made with most often to talk about the ingredients of food and drink:

• This dish is made with beef, red peppers and herbs.
• Is sushi always made with raw fish or do the Japanese use cooked fish too?