"dans" and "depuis" meaning "from

I just discovered “dans” used as “from.” Examples given were:

Je l'ai pris dans le tiroir. I took it from the drawer.

Je l'ai pris dans le salon. I took it out of the lounge.

boire dans un verre to drink out of a glass, to drink from a glass

How would you say “I took it into the lounge” versus the second sentence?

I’ve also seen “depuis” used for “from” -- “directement accessible depuis le jardin.” Is there a rule or pattern for this?

I also see "dans" used as “approximately.” I will use “environ” but I saw it yesterday in the sentence: “Ce livre doit coûter dans les 15 dollars.” When I then looked up “dans” I got the example “Ça va chercher dans les 20 euros.”

Seeing “chercher” used this way is new. Is this heard?

merci d’avance

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Permalink Reply by Yannick on March 15, 2013 at 12:22pm

I think the meaning is different, isn't it ?

Take from = remove while take to/into = bring, carry

So if I'm right I would translate it as "Je l'ai amené dans le salon"

Re depuis : I don't see any rules or pattern. Here are différent possibilities with the exact same meaning

directement accessible depuis le jardin

directement accessible à partir du jardin

directement accessible du jardin

so it offers more possibilities not to use the same word while speaking or writing

"Dans" can be used as "approximately" or "Around" when you don't known exactly how much (many/often ...) it costs but you have a rough idea : it should cost around 20 bucks

chercher used in this way is heard as well. Again with the same meaning as above i.e when it comes to talking about ball park figure

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Permalink Reply by alan gould on March 15, 2013 at 4:49pm

I think you meant to say "apporter" rather than "amener" since the latter is used for a person and the former for an object.

I neglected to think of "bring into" rather than "take into." In English, there is less of a distinction.

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Permalink Reply by Yannick on March 15, 2013 at 5:51pm

Right, I didn't pay attention to 'it' so yes it refers to an object so apporter is a better answer

FYI Amener is often used for an object as well even if it is not really correct dictionary wise