"from ten days ahead" in this context

Question

You should start the rehearsal from ten days ahead of the play.

You should turn the indicators on from one mile ahead of the hospital.

Is the sentence pattern from ahead of valid in these sentences?

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

No - when speaking about time and dates, "from" usually means "any time after", for example:

You can arrive from 1pm.

(this means you can arrive any time after 1pm)

If you actually mean to say that they should have exactly 10 days rehearsal time then you should simply say:

You should start rehearsals ten days ahead of the play.

Or, if you are saying that 10 days is the minimum rehearsal time, you should say:

You should start rehearsals at least ten days ahead of the play.

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With your second question about mileage, you can say "from [x] miles away", for example:

I can see the building from a mile away.

I can score a goal from 50 yards.

In the context of your sentence, however, it doesn't really work as it still sounds like you mean any time after, so the same advice above applies.

Answer 2

No. 'From ahead of' isn't used in this way. You can't be ahead of a play: only a performance of it. Your car can be ahead of another car. They can be ahead of you.

Rehearsals should start . . .

or

You should start rehearsing . . .

. . . ten days ahead of the first performance.

'From' is not needed. More than one rehearsal IS!

You should start rehearsals ten days before the first performance of the play.

Or

The play will need ten days' rehearsals.

But 'We will be rehearsing from Jan 5th.'

You should turn the indicators on one mile before the hospital.

If you are ahead of the hospital the hospital is following you!