Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[missdaredevil]

Dear teachers,
Please help me out with the questions I have.
1.
Miles wants to give his friend a nice sendoff before married life, while Jack simply wants to have a fling beforehand. As they're both nearing middle age with not much to *show for it*, the two will explore the vineyards while ultimately searching for their identities

What does *show for it* mean?

2.Full supervision on all activities and excursions *fom* a staff.

Why is it not *of*?


THnak you.

[Suzanne]

1. "Show for it" means the result of something. "Nothing to show for it" means the result was worthless.

In this sentence, you could also say, "Miles and Jack are nearly middle-aged, but neither one has accomplished much of anything."

Other examples:
* He won a million dollars, but after spending it carelessly, there was nothing to show for it.
* She worked on her novel every day, and when it was published, she felt she had something to show for her hard work.
* The United States spends the most money on health care, but we don't have the life expectancy to show for it.

2. We use "from" here because the staff is giving (or providing) the supervision, so it is coming from the staff.
Other examples:
* Here's a gift from me to you.
* Support for the project came from Microsoft.
* The best advice I ever got came from my mother.

Does that help?