Mr.Maru: Those are nice shoes. Where did you buy them?

Sparky: I bought them in Holland last year.

Mr.Maru: Really?

Sparky: They are made of European Willow trees.

Mr.Maru: Yes, they are quite nice. Something smells good. Are you cooking?

Sparky: Yes, I'm making a cake from bacon.

Mr.Maru: It's not really a cake. It's just a big pile of bacon.

Sparky: Exactly! It is the greatest cake, ever!

Mr.Maru: I'm going to pass. I think I'll eat a salad instead.

How do you use 'made of' and 'made from'? Some native speakers even have trouble with these two verbs. They can be very difficult. I'll help you out, and talk about some rules and examples.

How to use 'made of'

We use 'made of' when there is little change in the material. We can still see the material that the item has been constructed with. The material is used directly in making the item we are talking about. We did not change the original material a lot. For example,

These shoes are made of wood. (Wood is a type of material. It is already cut up and ready to use. We didn't change it much to make the shoes.)
There were sculptures made of ice at the wedding reception. (Ice is a type of raw material. It is ready to use. It wasn't changed much to make the sculptures.)

The verb 'made of' is usually used with raw materials, such as wood, ice, metal, steel, iron, silk, cotton, aluminum, wheat, rye, etc...

How to use 'made from'

We use 'made from' when there is more change in the material. We can usually not see the material in the item it has been constructed with. The material is usually used indirectly in the item we are talking about. We changed the original material in some way (chemically or through another process). For example,

Vodka is made from wheat. (We took the wheat and fermented it, then distilled it. We chemically changed the wheat to make vodka.)

The paint on this car was made from solid gold, so it shines brightly in the sun. (You can't see gold in the paint. It was added to the paint and now the paint is shiny because of that.)
This sidewalk was made from recycled plastic bottles. (You can not see the plastic bottles in the sidewalk. They were melted together. They were changed with heat into a different form.)

The verb 'made from' can be used with raw materials as well as other materials.

How to use 'made with'

We can use 'made with' when we are cooking or mixing drinks. For example,

This dish was made with bell peppers and pork. ( I used bell peppers and pork to construct this dish.)
A margarita is made with tequila. (You use tequila to mix a margarita.)

We usually don't say the following:

Chicken soup is made from vegetables and pieces of chicken.
A Long Island Iced Tea is made from tequila, vodka, gin, and rum.

Do you think you understand? Let's take a short quiz.

1) This table is ________ coconut trees.

A) made of

B) made from

C) made with

2) At Legoland, you can see various sculptures __________ Legos.

A) made of

B) made from

C) made with

3) Tonight's special is __________ freshly-picked tomatoes, fresh fish and hand-made pasta noodles.

A) made of

B) made from

C) made with

Answers

1) B) – The coconut trees were changed. They were cut and the bark was taken off of them. It is hard to see the coconut trees anymore.

2) A) – The Legos were not changed very much. They were directly used to construct the sculptures.

3) C) – We are talking about cooking, so we need to use 'made with'.

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