I have a feeling I’ll look at this again in a while and find the answer screamingly obvious. Do these parallel the form of “independent” exactly? As “independence of” seems really wrong, though “independent of” seems ok. I’m confused.
“independence from” or “independence to”?
May 26th, 2009 by Richie
8 Responses to ““independence from” or “independence to”?”
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We (i.e. the creators of Pain in The English) developed a series of iPhone apps to teach preschool kids how to recognize letters and words. (My wife developed the characters and I did the coding.) Our own 4-year old daughter has been enjoying them. They are now available on Apple's App Store. You can search for "bitskis" on your iPhone, or visit the official website at bitskis.com.
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“Independence from.”
+1
“independence of”: John declares the independence of John Republic.
“independence from”: The union, though weak and poor, managed to remain their independence from other big, influential interest groups.
Can you sense the difference there?
Regarding: “The union, though weak and poor, managed to remain their independence from other big, influential interest groups.”
This isn’t quite right. I would suggest that it should be either “…maintained their independence from…” or “…remained independent from…”
Oops, wrong tense. That’s …maintain…remain…, no “-ed” at the end.
1) Argentina gained independence from Spain in 1816. (New Oxford American Dictionary, 2nd Edition. © 2005 by Oxford University Press, Inc.)
2) independence of irrelevant alternatives; independence of random variables
independence FROM {named object}
independence OF {subject}, no named object that subject is independent from; general idea of independence meant.
Or as the irregular verb bashers would have it, “meaned.” (joke)
also
The union, though weak and poor, managed to remain their
1- remain may be a typo for RETAIN?
2- THEIR is not allowable here since it is not the union and something else, e.g. the army. Therefore THEIR must be ITS to match the singular subject.