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free of or free from

English translation: either or both

17:39 Aug 29, 2010
English language (monolingual) [PRO]
Art/Literary - Linguistics
English term or phrase: free of or free from
Is it correct to say "The bathtub must be free of chemical residues" or The bathtub must be free of chemical residues"? Along the same lines:
"The diet must be free of protein", or "The diet must be free from protein"?
(NB I deliberately avoided protein-free in this case, so please do not propose it as an answer)
aromaded
Local time: 01:46
Selected answer:either or both
Explanation:
I'm searching for an "official reference" on this question but have not found one yet. In my own usage, I would tend to say "free from" when the topic is something undesirable - chemical residue, additives in food, even free from worry; but "free of" in a more neutral context (like protein). However, it seems to me that both variants could be used without too much damage.
Selected response from:

Deborah Hoffman
Local time: 19:46
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



SUMMARY OF ALL EXPLANATIONS PROVIDED
4 +5either or both
Deborah Hoffman
4diet must be free of protein
Lynda Bogdan (X)


Discussion entries: 1





  

Answers


7 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +5
either or both


Explanation:
I'm searching for an "official reference" on this question but have not found one yet. In my own usage, I would tend to say "free from" when the topic is something undesirable - chemical residue, additives in food, even free from worry; but "free of" in a more neutral context (like protein). However, it seems to me that both variants could be used without too much damage.

Deborah Hoffman
Local time: 19:46
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 4
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Jack Doughty
2 hrs
agree  Tina Vonhof (X)
2 hrs
agree  Alexandra Taggart: Agree with everything you wrote,but it would be more natural to shorten:"proten free", "residue free" -?
3 hrs
agree  Veronika McLaren
5 hrs
agree  Phong Le
4 days
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

6 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
diet must be free of protein


Explanation:
"free of" implies that the bathtub must not contain any chemical residues.

"free from" implies that the bathtub must be protected from any chemical residues.

So "the diet must be free of protein" would be the correct choice rather than 'free from' since it appears the meaning is that the diet must not contain any protein.


Lynda Bogdan (X)
Canada
Local time: 17:46
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  B D Finch: Do you have any source for this interpretation?
8 hrs
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