從 — Marks the point an action sets out from (a time, place, or step); the action runs forward from there, with no endpoint fixed.

TSUMUGU · TBCL 2 (est.) · 語法

從 grammar point · tier 1 · 從 starting point: from X (onward)

· cóng

Marks the point an action sets out from (a time, place, or step); the action runs forward from there, with no endpoint fixed.

字源 FORM what the parts do

從 holds the road (彳) and a foot (止) around 从, two people one behind the other; 从 also carries the sound, cóng. A path walked out of one place: the point you leave from.

故事 STORY a scene to remember it by

A foot set down on one mark, and the walking runs forward from it with no far mark in sight.

字源記憶法

框 · Frame

從 [start point] (開始)，… (就) …

觸 · Trigger

You have one point the action begins at and want it to run forward from there, with no endpoint to name.

序 · The move

1從 + the point it begins at (time, place, or step)is this where the action sets out from?

2put the 從 phrase at the front, before the subject or clause it scopesdoes it frame what follows, not sit after the verb?

3leave the end open; add 就 if the result holds right from that pointam I pinning a start only, with no 到 endpoint?

例 · Examples

1從from (start point)早上開始starting，郵局排隊的人就already / right then很多。

From the morning on, the line at the post office is already long.

界 · Boundary

從…到…

從…到… pins both ends and reads off the bounded stretch between them. 從 alone pins only the start; the action runs forward open-ended, no far mark.

在1

在 + place fixes where something sits or happens, a still point. 從 + point names where it sets out and moves forward from.

endpoint smuggled in: 從早上到 → 從早上開始 (no 到 when only the start is meant)

phrase placed after the verb: 排隊從早上 → 從早上排隊 (the 從 phrase fronts the clause)

在 used for a start point: 在早上開始排隊 → 從早上開始排隊

English 'from the morning' has no overt 'onward', so learners stop after 從早上 and drop 開始 or the 就 that makes the action run forward from that point.