Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[hiromi525]

I have to choose the best answer for the blank to complete the sentence.

#1 Sales of Fonseca electronic equipment have been increasing steadily........
the past five years.
(A) from
(B) toward
(C) by
(D) over

I understand chice (D) is correct answer but I am not confident that (A) is wrong chice.
Can you please teach me how to use the preposition "from"?
If the sentence were following, would it be grammatically correct?
"Sales of Fonseca electronic equipment have been increasing steadily from five year anniversary.

[pugachevV]

From indicates the point in time or space where a journey , action or process starts:

He started from London.
He worked from Friday until the following Monday.

From indicates the source or provenance, the raw material of manufacture.

Made from real leather...
Flown from Spain...

From indicates the starting point of a specified range.

From 0 to 100
TV's from $100 to $1000

From indicates a separation, removal, or prevention.

Get the girls away from the boys!
Remove the pits from the oranges.
Stop the fire from spreading.

From indicating a cause.

Her horse was lame from a stone bruise.

From indicating a distinction

John differs from Bill in that he has a crooked nose.

[hiromi525]

I do understand how to use the preposition "from"

Then, Can I put the preposition "for" into the blank of the sentence #1?

Sales of Fonseca electronic equipment have been increasing steadily for
the past five years.

If the sentence above is correct, is there any difference of a nuance from the sentence using "over"?

Best regards

[pugachevV]

You can use "for" as in your sentence. It is correct English. It means essentially the same thing as the original Fonseca sentence.