student asking question

If I say "all the way back from 1972", is it wrong?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

It would sound okay to say "date all the way back from 1972", however, it would sound better to use the preposition "to" here. Prepositions in English are very idiomatic, and often just depend on what is commonly used. When referring to something "dates back" to a certain time, it is most common to say "dates back to". However, you could use the preposition "from" if you don't say "dates back" in this context. Ex: This house dates back to the mid-nineteenth century. Ex: These books are all the way from the late 1920s.

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