でできる・からできる (JLPT N4)

About でできる・からできる

でできる, or からできる are two structures that share very similar meanings. Basically, they both mean '(B) was made from/out of (A)'. These constructions highlight the 'ingredients', or 'materials' that something is/was made out of. Let's look at some examples.

から and で are both case marking particles in this grammar point, and while they express much the same thing when translated into English, there is a slight nuance difference. These differences are as follows:

から - Literally 'prepared from'. Tends to be used more frequently when the material is not obvious at first glance. May also put focus on the ingredients/materials before there was any alteration.

で - Literally 'prepared with'. Tends to be used more frequently when the materials are more obvious.

Despite this, recent generations use で in most situations, regardless of if the material is visible at first glance or not. As a result, でできる and からできる are almost indistinguishable in modern Japanese.

Caution

There is also a small nuance difference between できる, and できている, when used as part of this construction. できる is usually used when talking about something broadly 'everything in category (B) is made from (A)', while できている is used more frequently when examining a specific item 'this particular (B) is made from (A)'. Like the difference between で and から though, they are largely interchangeable.

最近(さいきん)はコンクリートでできる家(いえ)が人気(にんき)だ。

Recently, houses made of concrete are popular. (Houses in general)
この箸(はし)は竹(たけ)でできている。

These chopsticks are made from bamboo. (This specific pair of chopsticks)

Examples

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裏面(りめん)がガラスでできているスマホは最近(さいきん)売行(うれゆ)きがいい。

Recently there has been demand for smartphones with the back made of glass.

このワインはトップクラスのブドウからできています。どうぞ飲(の)んでください。

This wine is made from top-class grapes. Please, try it.

スーパーは木曜日(もくようび)にミルクからできている製品(せいひん)のセールをするよ！

The supermarket is having a sale of products made from milk on Thursday! (come from)

飛行機(ひこうき)は軽(かる)い素材(そざい)でできている。

Airplanes are made from light materials.

プラスチックやアスファルトは石油(せきゆ)からできます。

Things like plastic and asphalt are made from oil. (come from)

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でできる・からできる – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (11 in total)

soundjona
Hello, for this example
sweeterthansin
I have the same question
dalemartel
Similar question as those above me, but maybe I’m just misunderstanding the nuance.