Made + preposition – made of, made from, made by
What preposition do you use after MADE?
Made by or Made in?
Made from or Made of?
Made out of or Made with?
Let’s look at the difference between all of these:
Made by + method / process
Made by refers to the method or process used to make something.
- The noodles were made by hand and not by a machine.
- The small figure was made by a 3D printer
Made by + person / company
Made by can also be used to say WHO made the item. This can be a person or a company.
- The tools were made by a local company.
- That lovely table was made by Fred in his free time.
Made in + place
Made in is used to say the place the item was created. This is normally a country though can also be a city or region.
- The copper wires were made in
- The beautiful carving was made in New Zealand.
- These items were made in California.
Made from + origin (how something is manufactured) substance?
Made from is used when the raw material used to make the item is not recognizable after the process (it physically looks different). The material is transformed into something else.
- Paper is made from
- Wine is made from
- Cheese is made from
You cannot reverse the process to obtain the origin material. You cannot change wine back into grapes.
Made of + material
Made of is used when the material used to make the item is still recognizable. The material is NOT transformed into something else completely different. Made of = composed of.
- Her necklace was made of gold.
- Most toys are made of plastic.
- My socks are made of pure wool.
You can reverse the process to see the original material.
e.g. The necklace can be reduced to gold again.
Made out of + reused material
Made out of is similar to made of though usually refers to reusing or recycling something for another purpose.
- The table will be made out of recycled wood.
- They will make the table out of recycled wood.
- The shirt is made out of an old sheet.
- He made a shirt out of an old sheet.
(Notice how the object can in the middle)
Made with + ingredients (food/drink)
Made with refers to the individual ingredients used to make food or drink.
- The rolls were made with avocado, cream cheese and rice.
- The dish is made with a lot of garlic and olive oil.
- The drink is made with apple juice and pieces of pineapple.
