This is an All-There's English podcast. What do you make of this grammar?
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What is the difference between make-of and made-of?
Find out today as we answer a listener question and learn how to ask someone's opinion about
an issue that is happening now. Listen in today.
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Hello, Lindsay. How are you? Excellent. I'll break how are you today?
I am great. Did you hear that California's government just created a happiness committee? What do you
make of that? I love that idea. I love the idea of governments looking into what makes human
beings happy and what governments can do. I don't- I think a lot of happiness honestly comes from inside.
That's my- my kind of sense, but I think there probably are things that governments can do to kind
of help out a little bit. And now I want to see that movie that this came from. Yes, a documentary
called Happy that it was sort of inspired this- the creation of this committee. I know I want to see
it too. And I agree and it's interesting to think about how much the economy could affect a
person's happiness, which the government definitely has a lot to do with that. So that's a fair
point. Right. It's- yeah. If people are really struggling financially, it's hard to
reset level of happiness. In many cases, it's a complicated topic, right? Yeah. Interesting.
Guys, hit follow on this show. We're going to talk about some really interesting grammar today
that you are going to build to immediately take out into the world and use it for connection.
Right. Exactly. We got this great question about a couple of phrasal verbs that are very tricky
because they're very idiomatic and the meanings are different if they're in past tense or present tense.
So let's read this question. All right. And I even so you guys can confidently use these phrasal
verbs. All right. So this student is Ezben and he says, I'm a student from Taipei City and I always
hear allers English when I'm on the way to school. All the episodes are useful and they improve my
speaking skills. I like the way you teach and the subjects that you've talked about. I'm not so
afraid to communicate with native speakers now. That is so good. I love that so much. Yes. What a win.
Yeah. What a win. But I do have a question. How can- I hope that you can teach me or even explain
more details on the podcast if possible. Could you teach me what is the difference between
make-of and make-from? The school teacher told me that it's based on the element of the object.
However, I'm still confused. Is it really based on the substance? Are there other correct and
easier ways to know how and when to make use of these different but similar phrases? I hope you
can- I can get your response. Have a good one. Ezben, your big fan. Amazing. Yes. Such a great specific
question. I can totally understand why this answer from this teacher would be confusing,
especially where they're switched here, right? Ezben is sharing make-of and make-from,
which have totally different meanings. But the meanings he's referring to that this teacher's
talking about are actually past tense of these phrasal verbs made of and made from. So we're
going to share both today so that you understand how they're different, what they mean and how to use
them. Okay. I'm excited to get into- Today we're really getting into this grammar and going to
kind of take this head-on so you guys can use it. Getting into number one, the present tense of both
of these verbs, right? Exactly. Make-of, which is what we used at the top of the episode when I
said, what do you make of that? We use this very idiomatically. It means understand or what do you
think about something? Right? We'd say what do you make of this? What do you make of that? It just
means what do you think about that? Right. Right. Or I don't know what to make of her behavior.
Right? I don't understand her behavior. So if you say I don't know what to make of it, you just
don't know what to think. Right? Exactly. Yeah. And then make from is a little bit different.
That means to create something from various other things. Like what can you make from this clay?
So this is very much more using it as a verb. Like what can you make from this other substance?
Right. And sometimes we might say that kind of food is made from, for example, oat flour instead
of traditional flour, right? And that you have given a little bit of a highlight into what we're
about to talk about. Oh, I just use the past tense, didn't I? Made from. But these are similar,
right? Because if you use it in present tense, that's similar to the past tense one made from.
What is this made from? Right. Or you can say what can you make from this? Both of those are
about taking some other kind of substance, changing it to create something new. Okay. So with the
from, we're not completely changing the meaning when we go from the present tense to the past tense,
but with make of, we do when we move into the past tense. Is that right, Aubrey? Okay.
Make of, it's a whole new meaning. Okay. They're both very idiomatic. Make from, that one's a
little bit different where the meaning is more similar. Just the grammar changes when you make a past tense.
All right. And that's what we're going to get into right here. All right. Let's take a quick break.
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University, private, Christian, affordable, visit gcu.edu. All right, Aubrey. Now we're back. So
where do we go into the past tense? What do we want to know here? So these are the meanings that
Esben's teacher talked to them about where we're referring to something based on the type of material
or how something changes. So first, made of, how do we use made of? All right. So made of, the raw
material that something is made of. So for example, this table is made of wood, right? The wood
that is used to make the table is wood. Exactly. It's still wood. It hasn't changed really, right?
The sidewalk is made of cobblestones. We didn't change those cobblestones. We just threw them down and
made a sidewalk. Got it. Okay. All right. And then something that is made from, Aubrey, what do we
think here? Yeah. So this is used when talking about a material that has been changed. This sculpture
is made from clay. So that clay was changed quite a bit. Maybe it was put in a kiln and now it's
a bronze sculpture, but the original material was clay. We made it from clay. Got it. Okay. And
then so where do we go from here, Aubrey? What should we do next? Yeah, we have one more example. This
is where I hear this phrasal reviews the most, really. Wine is made from grapes. And this is a
little tricky because you wouldn't say wine is made of grapes. There's quite a change that happens
to take these grapes and turn them into wine. So this is when we use this phrasal verb in the past
tense to talk about what something is made from. Oh, boy. Okay. And so what could be a good pro tip
for today, Aubrey? In terms of, yeah, what do you think? I love this pro tip. So when in doubt,
use made of because for all of our examples, no one's really going to baton eye if you just say
made of, right? Even though there has been a change, like there's quite a big process, it still,
you know, native speakers might even say made of for all of this. Wine is made of grapes. Not
the end of the world. The sculpture is made of clay. Sure. Even though it changed, right? Whereas
when we say made of, it will sound more off to us if we use made from. So when in doubt, use
made of. Let's listen to these examples with made from and see if they sound off to you, Lindsay.
Ready? Okay. The people is made from wood. Okay. Sounds change, right? It does sound a little off.
So I think that nothing has changed. Right. We're just when we say something is made of plastic,
something is made of wood, whatever it's made of and it's just sort of in its own form,
made of definitely sounds more correct. Right. I agree with that. Yep. And then the sidewalk
is made from cobblestones, right? Not quite right, right? Right. Because we haven't taken these
stones and done anything to change them. So that sounds more off. So this is a great pro tip when
you're trying to decide whether to use made of and made from as Ben's asking, like,
what are some tips? How can I know which to use? Your pro tip is when in doubt, use made of.
Yeah. My mom makes me think of my mom because she was always a stickler for making sure that she
was buying things made of real wood. She was with all about the real wood thing. Nowadays,
we're seeing more and more kind of composite coming into furniture, right? But she was just a
quirk of her personality. She was kind of an old fashion or she is a little old fashion, I would
say. Yes. And we want to think about when we're trying to think about this reminds me of the
episode we did about diamonds, right? And we're talking about things being ethically sourced,
right? What is something made of if we're talking about lab-grown diamonds? That's where these
fraisal verbs would really come into play, right? If we're saying this is made from calcium and magnesium
or carbon and you're talking about a process, that's when you're going to need these fraisal verbs.
All right, Aubrey. Let's go into a role play for today's episode. Shall we? Yes. You and I are at
a weekend arts and crafts festival in this role play. Want to start us out? Yeah. Here we go. So,
um, so what do you make of this event? I'm blown away. I came to this festival last year and it was much
smaller. Oh, nice. Other so much jewelry. This bracelet is beautiful. What do you think it's made of?
Maybe silver? Oh, it looks like there are metals blended here, though. I'll bet the artist made it
from several different metals. You're probably right. It's stunning. I wish it could make something
beautiful like that from metal. Nice. I love it. We used all of them here. Yeah, this is useful.
And these are great examples, right? Of how broad and diverse, you know, made from made of really is.
So exactly, but such different meanings if it's present or past tense. So first you said,
what do you make of this event? Which this is the most useful way to say it, right? Meaning like,
what do you think? What do you think about this event? So native and natural. Yeah. And I
want to, I don't know if we mentioned this earlier, but if we do we sometimes say what did you make of
it? We do sometimes, right? But not talk about that. But we will sometimes like afterwards say
afterwards. What did you think about that? What did you make of that? Would you make of that?
Would you make of that? I guess it's okay. Yeah. Maybe it's more common in the present, but we do
sometimes say, what'd you make of that? Right? Absolutely. Okay. So all right. What else, Aubrey?
I knew you said, you know, I said, I'm blown away and you're talking about jewelry. You said,
what do you think this is made of? So that's that third use, past tense, meaning like a raw material
that something is made out of. Yeah. And then you said, oh, maybe silver. Oh, it looks like there
are metals blended here. I'll bet the artist made it from several different metals. So this is
number four, right? Made from meaning that the materials have been changed. That's where it's a
little tricky. We would say it's made of silver. Oh, it's made from several different metals.
Mm. Interesting. Okay. And then what's the last thing that I said? Yeah. You said, I wish I could
make something beautiful like that from metal, which really highlights how these
phrasal verbs are separable. You've got make and then the direct object here, make this from metal.
And that's number two there, present tense, the phrasal verb meaning to create it out of other things.
Great. This is good. So I know our listeners love to see these words come alive in a role play.
Absolutely. So what would be our takeaway for today, Aubrey? Yeah. Phrasal verbs can be extremely
tricky. Today is really highlight how sometimes they're very idiomatic. You can't tell the meaning of
it just from taking the verb and its auxiliary. It might change the meaning entirely depending on
the verb tense. If it's in present tense or past tense, it might have a totally different meaning.
Got it. And I think the biggest connection skill here today is getting deeper into guys,
what do you make of this? What do you make of that? It's a really great way to start a conversation
to get someone's opinion on anything. Yes. This is so native and natural instead of saying,
what do you think about that? Not that that's wrong, but it just feels like you said, Lindsay,
it's such a great way to connect to throw out something that you have. Even with the diamond
thing again, if you say, you know, oh, I heard this podcast about diamond, what do you make of that?
What an interesting, it sort of makes it a little more informal, a little more friendly. The conversation,
I agree. 100%. And guys, if you don't know what we're referring to, we did an episode,
2192, just earlier this week about the conflict around diamonds and how to start a conversation
on that one. So go back and listen to that episode and hit follow on the podcast while you're at it.
All right. Awesome. So fun and use this in your next conversation. Ask somebody, bring up any
news article you've written, read a podcast you've listened to, maybe a TV show, and then follow up
with this question to spark the conversation. What do you make of that? All right. Good stuff.
Thanks for hanging out today. I'll talk to you soon. Awesome. Thanks, Lindsay. Bye. Bye.
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