Grammar of verb + noun + から


I just read [this
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/44712/translation-
difficulties-and-the-meaning-of-%E7%9D%80%E3%81%8F%E3%82%88%E3%81%86%E3%81%AB)
but was confused by a different aspect of the example sentence:

> 牛乳を **飲み終わった人から** 、紙パックを自分の番号のケースに戻して席に着くように。

The question's answer is perfectly clear about the meaning, but I don't
understand how the grammar of the part in bold works. When I see から I think of
either 'from', 'because' or (if it's て-form) 'after'. None of these seem to
work.

On it's own, the first clause (to me) reads

> from the person who has finished drinking milk

but such a translation clearly doesn't fit with the rest of the sentence.

Is it a geneal rule that

> verb-past + noun + から = as noun does verb

What about the tense/aspect of the verb? Some more examples would also be
appreciated.




According to 明鏡国語辞典:

> から  
>  〘格助詞〙  
>  ❼ 順序を表す。「好きなもの **から** 食べる」「子供 **から** 診察する」

And [デジタル大辞泉](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/45491/meaning/m0u/):

> 1⃣［格助］  
>  ５ 動作・作用の開始順序や発端を示す。「先着の人 **から** 入場してください」

I think the から indicates the starting point of order, meaning
「～～から順番に」「～～から順に」, "starting from~~, in order from~~".

「牛乳を飲み終わった人から」≂「牛乳を飲み終わった人から _順に_ 」  
"Starting from the person who has finished drinking milk, do ~~ in turn",
hence the translation "As you finish drinking the milk, take turns in..."

I hope this makes sense.




According to 明鏡国語辞典:

> から  
>  〘格助詞〙  
>  ❼ 順序を表す。「好きなもの **から** 食べる」「子供 **から** 診察する」

And [デジタル大辞泉](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/45491/meaning/m0u/):

> 1⃣［格助］  
>  ５ 動作・作用の開始順序や発端を示す。「先着の人 **から** 入場してください」

I think the から indicates the starting point of order, meaning
「～～から順番に」「～～から順に」, "starting from~~, in order from~~".

「牛乳を飲み終わった人から」≂「牛乳を飲み終わった人から _順に_ 」  
"Starting from the person who has finished drinking milk, do ~~ in turn",
hence the translation "As you finish drinking the milk, take turns in..."

I hope this makes sense.

