Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 9: 2/16

でできるMade of, Made from, Produced from, Come from

できている → more specific, できる → more general

Structure

Noun + で(1) + できる

(1) から

Details

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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.

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 (12 in total)

  • sweeterthansin

    sweeterthansin

    I have the same question

  • dalemartel

    dalemartel

    Similar question as those above me, but maybe I’m just misunderstanding the nuance.

  • nomius

    nomius

    I think it goes like this:
    [A is made of B]

    All B are made of A → （で・から）できる
    Some B are made of A → （で・から）できている
    This particular B is made of A ->（で・から）できている

    That being said, I’m still vexed by the plane sentence from above. The only way it would make sense is if there are some planes that are built out of non-light materials, which I don’t think is the case, even for military purposes. Nevertheless, I think that what matters in this example is what the collective unconscious knows about planes, not the actual facts. If movies/TV lead people to believe some planes are made of steel or lead, then I guess the logic checks out.

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