Learning English and want to know more about it? A bi-weekly post from our Blog at http://www.theenglsihasset.com/blog/go-from-there-lesson

1. As a foreigner in a new country, I understand very well the importance of being able to
communicate in a different language. One part of everyday life, wherever you are, is
having the ability to get from one place to another. If I need to ask for directions, I can
usually understand enough words to be able to follow their instructions, provided they
give me simple, short answers. However, sometimes the answers are not so simple or
short.
Have you ever heard anyone use the phrase “go from there” when giving directions?
This is a complete sentence, but it is almost always used as a part of a longer sentence.
The word “there” means that there is a point you will start at, and then you will continue
from there until you reach another point. Suppose I ask, “How do I get to the bus
station?” The person I asked would then pick some point that I can see or might know
about (Well-known areas within a city are often referred to as Points-of-Interest.), and
then say, “Go from there and continue straight until you come to the park. Turn left there
and it will be on your right.” Did you notice in the answer to my question I used the
phrase, “some point that I can see or might know about?” Why didn’t the directions start
from where I was? Because if the directions started from where I was, the answer would
have had to be “go from here.”
The above example using “go from there” was an example of how it is used when
requiring actual movement from one place to another. A different usage of the phrase
also communicates movement from a starting point to the next point, but in a more
abstract way. For example, you are seeing a doctor about a pain you are experiencing.
The doctor has concluded there are a few possible reasons why you are having this pain,
so he wants to do some more tests. He might then say something like, “I want to do an
ultrasound examination first and see what we find, and then we can go from there.” Like
the first example, this sentence has a starting point (the ultrasound) and moves forward to
the next place (the next step in determining the problem). However, there is no actual
motion, just a movement from one idea to the next, depending on the outcome of the first
idea.
Many English sentences have a literal and abstract meaning behind them. Practice is
always the best teacher.