Swara Bhaskara’s English

Kata depan FROM (= dari) merupakan antonym (kebalikan) dari TO (= ke). FROM pada umumnya diikuti oleh noun berupa tempat (daerah, kota, negara, dll.) dan aktivitas. Jika aktivitas berupa verb, maka verb tersebut selalu dalam bentuk gerund (verb1+ing).

Phrase dan expression (ungkapan) umum yang menggunakan kata depan FROM antara lain:

a. to be + from / come + from

Kedua phrase ini (to be from dan come from) digunakan untuk:

1. Menyatakan asal seseorang (daerah/kota/negara tempat kelahiran), dengan catatan:

• Gunakan to be + from atau verb + from dalam pola simple present tense jika orang yang dimaksud masih hidup.

Contoh:

1. Hi everybody! My name’s Made. I’m from Bali. Atau, I come from Bali.
2. Where is Ricardo Kaka, the gifted football player, from? Atau, Where does Ricardo Kaka, the gifted football player, come from? I know him very well. He is from Brazil. Atau, He comes from Brazil. (gifted = talented = berbakat).
3. Ebiet G. Ade is from Yogyakarta, isn’t he? Atau, Ebiet G. Ade comes from Yogyakarta, doesn’t he?
4. Celine Dion is from Canada, but she lives in the United States of America now.

Dari keempat contoh di atas, Made, Ricardo Kaka, Ebiet G. Ade, dan Celine Dion berturut-turut berasal (tempat kelahirannya) dari Bali, Brazil, Yogyakarta, dan Canada, dan dinyatakan dalam simple present tense karena keempat orang tersebut masih hidup.

Note: Jika to be + from atau come + from diikuti oleh nama negara, phrase ini menunjukkkan kewarganegaraan orang tersebut. Pada contoh 2 dan 4 di atas, Kaka berkewarganegaraan Brazil sedangkan Celine Dion berkewarganegaraan Canada.

• Gunakan to be + from atau come + from dalam pola simple past tense jika orang yang dimaksud sudah meninggal dunia.

Contoh:

1. Mr. Soekarno, our first president, was from Blitar, wasn’t he? Atau, Mr. Soekarno, our first president, came from Blitar, didn’t he?
2. Lady Diana was from Wales. Atau, Lady Diana came from Wales.

2. Menyatakan starting point

Jika to be + from atau come + from diikuti oleh nama daerah/kota/negara, dan orang yang dimaksud masih hidup, phrase ini menunjukkan dari mana orang tersebut datang (bergerak). Dengan kata lain, daerah/kota/negara tersebut menjadi starting point atau tempat awal. Walaupun destination (daerah/kota/negara tujuan) pada phrase ini tidak disebutkan, secara implicit terkandung bahwa destination-nya adalah tempat dimana si pembicara berada.  (Bandingkan dengan poin b di bawah).

Contoh:

1. He came from Medan last night.
2. Paul Klassen, along with his wife and daughter, is going to come from Canada on December 22.

Selain mengikuti verb come, kata depan from juga sering mengikuti verb berikut: walk, drive, run, jump, return, arrive, fly, dll. Begitu juga starting point-nya, selain nama daerah/kota/negara,  starting point juga bisa berupa tempat/alamat/lokasi  bangunan, dll., atau berupa aktivitas tertentu.

Contoh:

1. She walked from school yesterday because her father didn’t pick her up. (pick up = menjemput).
2. It took me two hours to drive from that village.
3. Running from that blue building, which is only about a hundred meter long, made my breath short. (make my breath short = membuatku terengah-engah).
4. Someone committed suicide by jumping from the tenth floor of that apartment. (commit = melakukan; suicide = bunuh diri; the tenth floor= lantai kesepuluh; gunakan apartment jika komunikasi dengan orang Amerika atau Kanada, atau flat jika komunikasi dengan orang Inggris).
5. Tony and Rony will return from their trip tomorrow.
6. Jenny is at home now. She just arrived from visiting her grandparents.

Remember: Jika from diikuti oleh verb, verb tersebut harus dalam bentuk gerund (Lihat contoh 6).

Verb seperti : prevent (mencegah), block (memblokir), ban (melarang), bar (melarang), prohibit (melarang), shield (melindungi), protect (melindungi), dll.  juga diikuti oleh from. Dalam hal ini, noun setelah from mangandung makna “tujuan”, bukan sebagai starting point.

Contoh:

1. Plants should be watered regularly to prevent them from wilting. (wilt = layu).
2. Turtles use the hard shell on their back to protect themselves from predators.
3. Due to her erotic dances, Dewi Persik has been banned from performing in some provinces.
4. We should protect our traditional belongings such as batik, Pendet,  Reog Ponorogo, from being taken over by our neighboring country.
5. Even though Igloos are made of ice, they are very effective to shield the Eskimos from freezing air. (igloo = rumah orang Eskimo).

b. from + starting point + to + destination

Contoh:

1. Indonesia stretches from Sabang to Merauke.
2. Is it possible to drive from Jakarta to Surabaya in one day?

Note: Selalu gunakan FROM … TO, bukan from … till/until. Jadi, INCORRECT jika ditulis:

1. Indonesia stretches from Sabang till Merauke.
2. Is it possible to drive from Jakarta until Surabaya in one day?

c. from + waktu start + to + waktu berakhir

Yang dimaksud dengan waktu di sini antara lain: jam (7 a.m, 8 a.m. dst), bagian dari hari (dawn, morning, dst), nama hari (Monday, Tuesday, dst), bulan (January, February, dst), year (2000, 1945, dst).

Contoh:

1. The class was from 2 to 4 p.m.
2. The journey was from dawn to dusk. It was a long journey, wasn’t it?
3. I will be busy from Monday to Friday, but I will be free on Saturday and Sunday.
4. Meteorologically speaking, in Canada, as well as other temperate countries in northern hemisphere, spring is from March 1 to May 30, summer is from June 1 to August 31, fall or autumn is from September 1 to November 30, and winter is from December 1 to February 28. (temperate country = negara beriklim sedang, dengan 4 musim; northern hemisphere = belahan bumi utara; spring = musim semi; summer = musim panas; autumn = fall = musim gugur; winter = musim dingin).
5. Japan occupied Indonesia from 1942 to 1945. (occupy = menguasai/menjajah).

Note: Selalu gunakan FROM … TO, bukan from … till/until.

d. From time to time (= occasionally) = sekali-sekali.

Contoh:

1. Although we have broken up, we still get in touch with each other  from time to time. (have broken up = telah putus)
2. He is not a strict vegetarian. From time to time, he eats meat. (strict = ketat).

e. Different from vs different than

Gunakan from, bukan than, jika membuat kalimat perbandingan (comparison) yang menggunakan kata sifat different. (Lihat comparative comparisons (Comparisons part 2).

Contoh:

1. Although they are twins, they are different from each other. (Walaupun mereka kembar, mereka berbeda satu sama lain). INCORRECT jika: Although they are twins, they are different than each other.
2. The American English is different from the British one.
3. Apples produced in Malang taste different from those produced in the New Zealand.