ENGLISH
REFERENCE

far from sth

prep. phr..
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford

prep. phr.. not at all like something, or the opposite of what you expect.

prep. phr.. a prepositional construction used to express strong negation or to indicate that a quality is the complete opposite of what has been suggested.


SIMPLE

The hotel was far from perfect.

CONTEXTUAL

Far from being angry about the news, she actually seemed quite relieved.

COMPLEX

The initial results of the clinical trial were far from conclusive, necessitating a second round of testing with a larger demographic.

Usage

usually followed by an adjective, a noun, or a gerund (-ing form).

Teaching tip

highlight that this phrase functions as a emphatic 'not'; it is often used to correct a false assumption or to soften a criticism by using a positive word after 'far from'.

Pitfall

It is far from to be finished.It is far from finished.use an adjective or a gerund after 'far from', never an infinitive verb.

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