made of

[carlafed]

I noticed many of you seek help for their job, so I will do the same.
I have to edit a scientific paper. I edit the scientific content, but, being written by Chinese scientists, I have to improve the English as well to make it understandable.
Now to my very silly question.
The author wrote:
made from polyethylene

From my basic English I recall the correct form is
made of polyethylene

Oddly enough, I could not find any example of the kind in MW or WR.
Am I right?
Thank you very much

 

[danalto]

Too lazy to write this in English, Carla:
forse intendono dire (in qst caso specifico) che si tratta di un prodotto "derivato" dal (o del???) polietilene? Questo giustificherebbe il "from".
Altrimenti a mio avviso è come hai detto tu!

(azzardo, eh?)

 

[carlafed]

Too lazy to write this in English, Carla:
forse intendono dire (in qst caso specifico) che si tratta di un prodotto "derivato" dal (o del???) polietilene? Questo giustificherebbe il "from".
Altrimenti a mio avviso è come hai detto tu!

(azzardo, eh?)

Per chiarire : si tratta di "tubetti di polietilene"

Polyethylene is the stuff the tubes are made of

Grazie, grazie

 

[mimitabby]

I noticed many of you seek help for their job, so I will do the same.
I have to edit a scientific paper. I edit the scientific content, but, being written by Chinese scientists, I have to improve the English as well to make it understandable.
Now to my very silly question.
The author wrote:
made from polyethylene

From my basic English I recall the correct form is
made of polyethylene

Oddly enough, I could not find any example of the kind in MW or WR.
Am I right?
Thank you very much

you know, made of Polyethylene or made from Polyethlylene
both sound okay to me, a native english user.
but. if it is made from
Polyeth. it implies that the Polyeth. has been transformed.
if it is "made of" the implication is that the Polyeth. is still
Polyeth.
does that make sense?

 

[Rob625]

I would say that "made from" is wrong in this sort of context. It should be "made of" -
"The tubes are made of polyethylene".

It may be preferable to simplify by saying -
"The polyethylene tubes ..."

 

[mimitabby]

I would say that "made from" is wrong in this sort of context. It should be "made of" -
"The tubes are made of polyethylene".

It may be preferable to simplify by saying -
"The polyethylene tubes ..."

Well said.
Knowing the context would be helpful.

 

[Focalist]

I think you put your finger on it, mimitabby, when you mentioned transformation (the presence or absence of).

Wine is made from grapes
(the grapes are transformed into something else: wine)
The bottle is made of glass
(the glass is still glass)

F

 

[danalto]

I think you put your finger on it, mimitabby, when you mentioned transformation (the presence or absence of).

Wine is made from grapes
(the grapes are transformed into something else: wine)
The bottle is made of glass
(the glass is still glass)

F

Fine! That's the explanation I was looking for! Thank you Focalist!!!

 

[carlafed]

Thank you all.
I think "made of" is what I was looking for.
But "the polyethylene tube" is even better.

btw - I realized that this thread was more fit for the English only forum.
My apologies to other users.
and I am surprised the moderators did not take out their whip (or maybe lash
)

 

[Alfry]

wait, they are polishing the whip.
the more you wait the more you are going to suffer.

 

[walnut]

wait, they are polishing the whip.
the more you wait the more you are going to suffer.

W.

 

[Silvia]

Well, well, well... is that what you think of us fellow moderators?!

 

[danalto]

Well, well, well... is that what you think of us fellow moderators?!

*yes, we do*

​

 

[Silvia]

Questo è ciò che si suol dire... dalle stelle alle stalle!

 

[lsp]

... dalle stelle alle stalle!

You must add this to our growing list of expressions. Let's see what the English come up with as our equivalent. It's on the tip of my toungue but I just can't think of it.