Grammar Info
N4 Lesson 9: 2/15

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
Casual
Polite
Noun + (1) + できる

(1) から
Noun + (1) + できます

(1) から
Details
Register Standard
使用域 一般
Information
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.
  • 今日(きょう)卵(たまご)鶏肉(とりにく)でできる料理(りょうり)紹介(しょうかい)します
    Today we will introduce a food that is made from eggs and chicken.
  • 味噌(みそ)苦手(にがて)なので、味噌(みそ)からできるもの食(た)べれません。
    Because I don’t like miso, I can't eat things made from it.
から and are both 格助詞(かくじょし) (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.
- Literally ‘prepared with’. Tends to be used more frequently when the materials are more obvious.
Despite this, recent generations use 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 and から though, they are largely interchangeable.
  • 最近(さいきん)コンクリートでできる家(いえ)人気(にんき)
    Recently, houses made of concrete are popular. (Houses in general)
  • この箸(はし)竹(たけ)でできている
    These chopsticks are made from bamboo. (This specific pair of chopsticks)
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裏面(うらめん)ガラスでできるスマホ最近(さいきん)売行(うれゆ)きいい
Recently there has been demand for smartphones with the back made of glass.
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このワイントップクラス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.
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スーパー木曜日(もくようび)ミルクからできる製品(せいひん)セールする
The supermarket is having a sale of products made from milk on Thursday!
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