depart, depart for, depart from

Depart for means to start a journey towards a particular destination.

  • The bus departing for Toronto is about to close its doors.

Depart from means to leave a place or to stray from something.

  • Passengers flying to Moose Jaw will depart from Gate 6.
  • Please do not depart from the script.

The preposition from is usually dropped when the meaning is “to die.”

  • We pray for those who have departed this life.

However, using depart without the preposition from when the meaning is “to leave a place” can lead to confusion or unintentional humour.

  • Ambiguous: Three professors have departed during his term as department head.
  • Clear: Three professors have departed from (or left) the university during his term as department head.

Copyright notice for Writing Tips Plus

© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, represented by the Minister of Public Services and Procurement
A tool created and made available online by the Translation Bureau, Public Services and Procurement Canada

Search by related themes

Want to learn more about a theme discussed on this page? Click on a link below to see all the pages on the Language Portal of Canada that relate to the theme you selected. The search results will be displayed in Language Navigator.

 

Date modified: