Starting point and origin
Where does it start or come from?
Meaning
We can show where something starts, comes from, or is taken from. This may be a departure point, a place of origin, or the person who provides an object or information. Languages use words, endings, or parts of the verb, and some have no special origin endings. Unlike Direction and destination, Starting point and origin concerns where something comes from, not where it is headed.
How to spot it
Look for the part that names where something starts, comes from, or is removed from, including who provides it.
In your native language
English uses from for starting points, origins, and people who provide things or information. Out of emphasizes leaving an inside space, while off can show removal from a surface. Away from emphasizes increasing distance.
I got this recipe from a friend.
From names the person who provided the recipe.
A cat ran out of the garage.
Out of shows that the cat moved from inside to outside.
Take your bag off the chair.
Off shows removal from a surface.
In your learning language
Spanish uses de to mark where someone or something comes from, including a place of origin or a person who supplies something. Desde highlights the starting point of movement or a stretch of space. Both can mark departure points, but desde does not replace de in ordinary statements of origin such as ser de.
El tren viene de Sevilla.
The train is coming from Seville.
Este queso es de Asturias.
This cheese is from Asturias.
De states the cheese's place of origin.
Caminamos desde la estación hasta casa.
We walked from the station all the way home.
Desde marks the starting point of the walk.
Learners whose language has one general marker for origin and starting point may treat de and desde as interchangeable. Using desde in a statement such as *Este queso es desde Asturias does not express the intended origin.