從 — From: marks the place a motion sets out from.

TSUMUGU · TBCL 2 (est.) · 語法

從 grammar point · tier 1 · source 從 (from a starting point)

· cóng

From: marks the place a motion sets out from.

字源 FORM what the parts do

A road (彳) and a foot (止) frame 从, two people one behind the other; 从 carries the sound and the following. A path traced back to the spot it left becomes from.

故事 STORY a scene to remember it by

A line of footprints runs across the ground; 從 points to the spot where the first print was set down.

字源記憶法自撰

框 · Frame

[subj] 從 [origin] [verb of motion]

觸 · Trigger

You want to name where a coming or going started.

序 · The move

1Put 從 before the subject's motion, then name the origin.Is what follows 從 the place left behind, not the place reached?

2Close with the verb of motion (來 / 去 / 出發).A motion verb lands at the end — 從 needs somewhere the motion goes.

3Keep 從 + origin in front of the verb, never trailing after it.The origin is announced before the move, the way the start comes before the journey.

例 · Examples

1我I從from法國France來come。

I come from France.

界 · Boundary

向 / 往 (toward a target)

從 names the spot left behind (從法國來, set out from France); 向 and 往 name the spot aimed at (向北走, head north). Same road, opposite ends — origin against destination.

在 (located at)

從 needs motion away from a place; 在 sites something still at a place with no leaving. 從法國來 travels, 在法國 stays.

我來從法國。 → 我從法國來。

我從法國。 → 我從法國來。

我在法國來。 → 我從法國來。

English 'from' is a tail preposition ('I come from France'); Chinese 從 leads, sitting before the origin and ahead of the motion verb.